Arni's Birthday Zoom: former Purdue WR Jermaine Ross

On3 imageby:Alan Karpick•04/27/23•

AlanKarpick

Former Purdue dual sport athlete Jermaine Ross celebrates his 52nd birthday with us (April 27, 2023). Ross, who was recruited to Purdue on a track scholarship from his hometown of Jeffersonville, Indiana in 1990, walked on the football team under coach Fred Akers and ended up having a four-year career in the NFL with the Los Angeles and St. Louis Rams. Ross, not surprisingly, the fastest player on the team, turned into a big play receiver for for the Boilermakers leading the Big Ten in yards per reception in the 1992 season with a 22.3 average.

“I always wanted to play football but used track and engineering to earn my scholarship,” said Ross, who earned an electrical engineering degree from Purdue and an MBA from Indiana. “I was a speedster, went to Purdue as a quarter-miler. I was blessed to have good hands and a 42-inch vertical. I was jumping over them if I wasn’t running by people.”

By one measure, Ross had one of the best seasons of any Boilermaker receiver ever. His 22.3 yards per catch is second only to Rodney Dennis (1990), which is more impressive considering the Boilermakers were a running team in ’92 under coach Jim Colletto.

“(Quarterbacks) Eric Hunter and Matt Pike had faith in me as a receiver, which allowed me to be productive,” Ross said. “I played with an edge to prove to people that I could play football, so I was very driven when I got to campus. What I stress to kids now is that education can carry you in addition to building relationships, but you have to have an edge.

“What I learned from it all is always to stay driven and never get comfortable,” says Ross, who has worked for Allison Transmission in the Indianapolis area since his football career ended in 1999. “The company has been good to me, so I am very fortunate.”

Recent Arni’s Birthday Zoom interviews of former Purdue athletes:

Matt Kiefer, April 22, 2023

Ralph Taylor, March 30, 2023

Kip Jones, March 24, 2023

Jake Thieneman, Feb. 28, 2023

Tommy Luce Feb. 21, 2023

Rob Henry, Jan. 26, 2023

Mack Gadis, Jan. 20, 2023

John Volk, Dec. 31, 2022

Gerald Thomas, Dec. 25, 2022

Jerry Sichting, Nov. 29, 2022

Kyle Orton, Nov. 14, 2022

Other Arni’s Birthday Zoom links

Frank Kendrick (9/11/2020)

Akin Ayodele (9/17/2020)

Brandon McKnight (9/25/2020)

Ryne Smith (10/1/2020)

Kenneth Lowe (10/6/2020)

Dave Schellhase (10/14/2020)

Dolapo Macarthy (10/23/2020)

Robert Maci (10/31/2020)

Scott Downing (11/7/2020)

Rich Ostriker (11/18/2020)

Ray Wallace (12/3/2020)

Keaton Grant (12/8/2020)

Mike Robinson (12/31/2020):

Mark Herrmann (1/8/2021)

Dave Shondell (1/17/2021)

Anthony Spencer (1/23/2021):

Elliot Bloom (1/29/2021):

Mike Steele (2/3/2021)

Jim Wood (2/11/2021)

Ryan Isaac (2/16/2021)

PJ Thompson (2/24/2021)

Calvin Williams (3/3/2021)

Everett Pickens (3/24/2021)

Ryan Berning (4/1/2021)

Jim Niedrach (4/8/2021)

Scott Campbell (4/15/2021)

Lamar Conard (4/22/2021)

Jane (Calhoun) Schott (5/5/2021)

Shaun Phillips (5/13/2021)

Gene Keady (5/21/2021)

Tommie Thomas (5/28/2021)

Rock Supan (6/1/2021):

Isaiah Thompson (6/12/2021)

Danny Dierking (6/15/2021)

Justin Jennings (6/25/2021)

Maynard Lewis (7/3/2021)

Ben Jones (7/7/2021)

Jimmy Oliver (7/12/2021)

Ian Allen (7/22/2021)

Joey Elliott (8/2/2021)

Howell Wheaton (8/17/2021)

Gregory Phillips (9/14/2021)

Edwin Watson (9/29/2021)

Steve Reid (10/14/2021):

David Nugent (10/27/2021)

Tony Visco (11/11/2021)

Desmond Tardy (11/24/2021)

Danny Ezechukwu (12/7/2021)

Brock Spack (1/5/2022)

Mike Marks (2/17/2022)

Life of Eugene Parker (2/24/2022)

Tim Spiker (3/23/2022):

Lauren Mioton-Connor (4/20/2022)

Bobby Riddell (4/27/2022)

Lee Brush (5/19/2022)

A.T Simpson (5/26/2022)

Stephanie White (6/20/2022)

Elijah Sindelar (6/27/2022)

Tim Stratton (7/15/2022)

Todd Mitchell (7/26/2022)

Ryan Kerrigan (8/16/2022)

Rapheal Davis (8/30/2022)

Carl Landry (9/16/2022)

Don Coller (10/14/2022) 

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