Kornacki: Ross Credits Hockey Background for Football Success
8/7/2015 12:00:00 AM | Football
Aug. 7, 2015
James Ross
By Steve Kornacki
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- James Ross could crash the boards and go from blue line to blue line with speed and authority. He loved playing hockey at the Adams Butzel Recreation Center in Detroit, but wasn't too keen on football in the beginning.
That changed as he grew older and eventually abandoned the sport he came to love in the heart of "Hockeytown." Football became the calling for Ross, a hard-nosed linebacker entering his senior season at Michigan.
"I played hockey first," said Ross. "I was six and you had to be seven or eight to play football. And my dad wanted to get me active in sports. There was a hockey rink at Butzel in Detroit in my neighborhood and I got pretty good at it.
"We only had seven players on the team, and me and another guy pretty much played the whole, entire game. I played defense, and they let me rush the puck whenever I wanted to in order to score. And I think that was a very key factor in being a success in football and getting me to Michigan."
How so?
"It was a lot of toughness," said Ross. "It gives you a high motor. And we played the whole game with no shifts, no coming out. So, getting used to going 20 mph all the time had an impact."
He stopped playing hockey right before entering Orchard Lake (Michigan) St. Mary's as a high school freshman.
"Football was what I wanted to play from the start," said Ross, who also played baseball. "I started playing for the West Side Cubs for William Tandy, and this is a funny story. I went to the first practice wearing gym shoes, and my grandma took me and I hated it. My grandma said, 'Don't take him back!' But my dad didn't listen, and took me to practice the next day.
"And I started liking it. I started to be pretty good at it."
Ross made 151 tackles as a senior and led St. Mary's to a state championship for longtime Eaglets coach George Porritt.
He studied linebackers Ray Lewis of the Baltimore Ravens, Michigan's Larry Foote (Arizona Cardinals) and Nebraska's Lavonte David (Tampa Bay Buccaneers).
However, he also got the proper instruction early from Tandy, a legend in Detroit pee-wee league football. He had six former players on last year's Wolverines roster.
"I really started to get the fundamentals and technique of my position from Coach Tandy," said Ross, who had a career-high 13 tackles at Northwestern in 2013. "When I went to high school, because of him and Nick Sutton, who played at Wisconsin, they got me to the level I really needed to be at. I was prepared for everything they were doing."
Ross has an inner strength that sets him apart.
"James is a serious guy," said Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh. "James is serious about the sport. He's serious about winning. And he's got a real competitive streak to him."
What is it that drives Ross on the field in the heat of action?
"Out there, it's more like me being a man," said Ross, who made seven starts in 2014 and registered 32 tackles. "I want to beat the man in front of me. And if he beats me, I am going to come back at him again and again and again. It's an internal battle, and ultimately I want to win. If I handle my part and the guy next to me handles his part, we are going to have each other's back.
"You want to win every single game, but it starts with the first one."
That game is Sept. 3 at Utah.
It will be the final college opener for Joe Bolden and Ross, who came to Michigan together in 2012, playing immediately at linebacker and on special teams. Both were ESPN.com and BTN.com All-Big Ten Freshmen selections that year.
"Once I saw him on the field I knew his mindset was similar to mine," said Ross. "Me and him wanted to play right away and we did, taking a beat-down from Alabama in the first game. I told him, 'I can't wait until me and you are seniors.' Now, it's our defense with guys like (safety) Jarrod Wilson. So, it's exciting to be a senior. It went by so fast that it's kind of surreal.
"Joe's a vocal leader and leads by example. I lead by example, and I'm a guy you can come to behind closed doors. We complement each other pretty well. And (senior linebacker) Desmond Morgan is a vocal leader. Our roles are set up well."
Bolden said, "Desmond came in the year before me and James, and this is special, going through our fourth camp together. To think that is surreal. He's turned out to be a pretty good friend. We struggled together, worked out together and had success."
And now they are the leaders, and can't wait to begin practice today (Friday, Aug. 7).
"The team has worked very hard this summer," said Ross. "We're really excited to finally be able to showcase what we've worked on. There's a lot of attention on us with Coach Harbaugh, but those guys in the locker room are very hungry and eager to get on that field and do something."
