Who is Aaron Ross? 'RHOA' star Sanya Richards-Ross partner a constant for two decades

Ross started dating Longhorn track and field standout Sanya Richards, a four-time Olympic gold medalist, during his freshman year at Texas in 2003
UPDATED MAY 2, 2022
Sanya Richards-Ross & Aaron Ross (Instagram/rossboy31)
Sanya Richards-Ross & Aaron Ross (Instagram/rossboy31)

Sanya Richards-Ross is the newest peach holder on Season 14 of 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta.' Along with Marlo Hampton, Kenya Moore, Sheree Whitfield, Drew Sidora, and Kandi Burruss, the six-time Olympic winner joins the Bravo roster.

Sanya Richards-Ross, an Olympic gold medalist, and Aaron Ross, a two-time Super Bowl champion, met as students at the University of Texas-Austin. While we wouldn't call it love at first sight, it certainly felt like it! Sanya, 17, was not about to take any chances. She approached Aaron and asked him on a date, and the rest, as they say, is history. Sanya met her present husband while she was competing in track and field. On Sanya's birthday in 2010, the pair married at Hyde Park Baptist Church in Austin. Sanya and Aaron juggled their relationship and their successful careers during their first years of marriage. She would go on to become the first American woman to win several global 400-meter titles two years after their wedding.

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What was the couple's first date like?

The pair has known each other since college. Aaron was the first to see Sanya and fell in love with her right away. "When I first saw her, I just liked her," he claimed in one of the interviews, "And I even vowed to my mother, 'I'm going to get her.'" He did not, however, speak with Sanya at the moment. Sanya subsequently ran into Aaron while strolling into a cafeteria with her sister Shari. She, like Aaron, began to like him right away. Sanya presented herself to her now-husband Aaron when her sister, Shari, summoned him over. The newlywed couples begin dating after a week. In 2007, four years after their affair began, the couple got engaged, and the rest is history.

The dark phase in the relationship

She wrote about the painful decision she took to have an abortion just one week before the 2008 Olympics in her memoir 'Chasing Grace: What the Quarter Mile Has Taught Me About God and Life'. Over the phone, she discussed terminating her pregnancy. Both felt guilty, but they recognized that they were both at the start of their careers, with Sanya aiming for Olympic gold.

Sanya also talked about how she feels ashamed about having a child out of wedlock because her family is very religious and holds traditional beliefs. The Jamaican-American Olympian didn't want to let her fans down or lose out on all she had fought so hard for up to that moment. Sanya and Aaron's relationship suffered as a result of the abortion. Because he was at training camp, he couldn't be with Sanya for the procedure. Before going to Beijing for the 2008 Olympics, Sanya had to go through the abortion alone. She pushed through the emotional turmoil and concentrated on the task at hand. She proceeded to run over the doctor's recommendations barely days after the abortion.

The couple's TV debut

'Glam & Gold', a docu-series following Olympic gold winner Sanya Richards-Ross and her husband, NFL player Aaron Ross, was green lit by WE TV in 2013. That July, the network ordered six hour-long programs to air. In February, the series began filming in Austin and Jacksonville. 'Glam & Gold' joined 'Mary Mary,' 'Braxton Family Values,' 'Tamar & Vince, and 'L.A. Hair' in WE tv's portfolio of African American-starring shows at the time.

Richards-Ross, a four-time gold medalist who won two gold medals in London during the summer of 2012, and her spouse, a two-time Super Bowl champion who signed a three-year, $15 million contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars the year before, were featured in the documentary 'Glam & Gold.' Sanya juggled appearances, operating a business, and balancing life with Aaron and her own family, who make up her staff, in each episode. This was a fascinating side of a professional athlete that few people know. Their wedding was featured on an episode of 'Platinum Weddings' on WeTV. Aaron Jermaine Ross II, the couple's kid, was born in 2017.

Cornerback to Quarterback: What does Aaron Ross do now?

Aaron Jermaine Ross is a former cornerback in the National Football League. The New York Giants selected him in the first round of the 2007 NFL Draft. With the Giants, he won Super Bowls XLII and XLVI, defeating the New England Patriots both times. Ross now manages 18 vehicles, has purchased two businesses, and has collaborated with ATX Limousines. He wants to establish a full-service concierge company that arranges cruises, planes, and, of course, chauffeurs.



 

The all-new season of 'The Real Housewives of Atlanta' airs on Sunday, May 1 at 8/7c, on Bravo TV.

RELATED TOPICS THE REAL HOUSEWIVES OF ATLANTA (RHOA)

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