Eagles WR John Ross on returning to football: 'The day I retired I knew it was a mistake'

Wide receiver John Ross went from a top-10 overall pick to briefly retired, and then to a player requiring a rookie minicamp tryout just for a foot back in the door.

Now on the Eagles’ roster, the 28-year-old burner still has work to do to stay beyond training camp, but he’s where he needs to be nearly a year after calling it quits on the NFL.

“I never wanted to leave football,” Ross said during a Thursday news conference. “I think I was just as a point in my life where I had a lot going on. Literally, the day I retired I knew it was a mistake. But I think when you go through so much in life and you can only control so much, you get to a place, mentally and physically, from what I’ve been dealing with and what I dealt with, it was tough. But in my heart, I know who I am. I immediately started to coach, like I coached my son, so I was always in it. I knew it was a mistake. Where I am now, I feel like I’m in a much better place mentally, physically, and even spiritually. I’m actually thankful it happened.”

Last July, Ross was attempting to make a go of it with his third NFL team, the Chiefs, when he instead elected to retire.

Before that, his NFL journey began with a flourish during the 2017 NFL Scouting Combine, where he set a then-record 40-yard dash at 4.22 seconds. That mark helped propel him to the No. 9 overall slot in the ensuing draft, but thanks to injuries and ineffectiveness, his straight-line speed never translated into productivity at the NFL level.

Ross started just one game for the Bengals his rookie season and just 20 total, with 51 catches for 733 yards and 10 touchdowns during his four years in Cincinnati. He had 11 catches for 224 yards and a score with the Giants in 2021, the year of his last official stat in a regular-season game.

The most recent stop in his since-resumed journey took place at Philadelphia’s rookie minicamp on May 3-4. He received a tryout, needing to earn his way alongside first-year wideouts such as fifth-rounder Ainias Smith and sixth-rounder Johnny Wilson.

Still, Ross was just thankful for another opportunity.

“In my situation I was a top-10 draft pick,” he said. “And we all talk about it all the time, like ‘If we ever get to the point where we have to try out, we’ll probably be done.’ But then you get to that point and you don’t have no other choice. When I got the opportunity, I was probably the happiest person on earth. … I was just grateful and thankful. And when I got here I was happy to be here. So it wasn’t ‘It’s a rookie minicamp.’ I was looking at it this way: It’s an opportunity again for me to play football again. So that’s what I see. It could’ve been an Eagles Canadian tryout. I would’ve been there, happy and willing and able.”

That led to yet more opportunities to make his stay with Philly more permanent. The Eagles saw enough of the Ross of old to take a flier on him, and the wideout plans to prove them right by showing he can consistently deliver even more speed than he once did.

“I think I’m faster,” Ross said when asked why he thinks he’s as fast as he used to be. “I know that’s going to be crazy to say. I’m not feeling the same way I felt before physically, so that’s why I say I think I’m faster. And when I say that, don’t get me wrong, I ran 4.22. I’m not saying I’m 4.15 or anything. I just feel better, so I think I can consistently be faster, and I think that was my biggest thing.”

Never the most polished route-runner, he’ll require every bit of that speed if he’s to carve out a role on the roster. Along with the aforementioned rookies and several depth pieces, Philadelphia also employs three-time Pro Bowler A.J. Brown, DeVonta Smith and Parris Campbell in the WR room.

Back in the game and past a rash of injuries, though, Ross remains grateful just to be talking football again, and confident he can take advantage in the months ahead.

“I haven’t lost a step,” he said. “I’m still the same guy. I feel like I’m better than what I was.”