University of Connecticut Athletics
‘Trials into testimony’: Tribulations behind him, Cam Ross enters 2023 season with new aspirations and wisdom
8/20/2023 7:00:00 AM | Football
After a record-breaking freshman campaign, the redshirt junior wide receiver has missed most of the last two seasons with back-to-back foot injuries.
Standing there, amid the expanse of the Mark R. Shenkman Training Center, Cam Ross eases into my question. It's been just about a year now, and Ross, candid as ever, has little issue discussing it. There's his soulful eyes, that relaxed tone — at times even the occasional smile.
No part of Ross's demeanor, I realize now, could project what the redshirt junior wide receiver has been through in his last four years at UConn.
"It was extremely painful, to say the least, man," Cam Ross, who experienced a season-ending foot fracture in a scrimmage last August, tells me. "It was one of the more difficult, adverse things I've been through in my life."
More difficult, of course, the second time around. In 2021, Ross made it through only two games before the same injury — that time on the other foot — had ended what was supposed to be a phenomenal sophomore season. In 2019, as a true freshman, Ross led the team with 60 receptions and 723 receiving yards. The year after, UConn's season was canceled due to Covid-19.
Discussing his freshman campaign, Ross speaks, again, candidly.
"I got some catches, got some yards, but we just didn't have the best team success," Ross says.
After all, the team's 2-10 was far from Ross's expectation. He entered 2021, alongside his teammates, ready to put UConn Football on the map again. Until injury struck. Two years in a row.
"The 'why me' creeps in at first — especially the second time, you just wonder what your purpose is, what message you're meant to send," Ross says. "[The second time], I knew what it was, I had felt it before, and…I had to realize that I was gonna have to do that process over again."
Ross is honest with me. About the pain. The sadness. The grief.
While his team played on without him, UConn's top pass catcher remained bedridden, his feet propped up in a boot and crutches beside him. He watched games from his TV. Supported his team — his family — from miles away.
The last two seasons, Ross did all he could reasonably do.
"I just wanted to lead by example," Ross explains. "I'm not the first guy that's been injured in this sport or on this team — hopefully I'm the last — but you just want to be an example for guys that may hit adversity in the future, just how to handle it and how to still be a good teammate while also dealing with your own personal issues."
As last year's season evolved, Ross's spirit began to improve.
"When you have a family like I have here, they make it 100 times easier," Ross says. "Because nothing lasts forever, and you just go day by day and you start seeing the progress. Your days start to brighten up a little bit…Days just get better — you don't grieve anymore, you don't have a 'why me' feeling anymore."
Ross returns his gaze to me. He's wearing the pads. He's holding the helmet. He's playing again. His days are the best they've been in a long time.
What Ross will not forget, though, is what the years of pain have taught him.
"You just turn it into a testimony, man — you turn your trials into testimony," Ross tells me. "You gain your purpose back. I honestly think that's what I'm meant to do: Just show people how to push through and be resilient and persevere."
Ross means that. Football is important, yes, but the various detours have made him more in tune with himself. He's immersed in his spirituality now, too.
"I just have a lot to prove to myself, really, more than anybody," Ross says. "I feel like I owe a lot to my teammates and my coaches and to the people in the building. That's what drives me everyday, just to put my best out for the people in here."
From 2-10 in 2019 to 1-11 in 2021, last year's 6-7 record and Myrtle Beach Bowl appearance was unexpected. As he returns for what will already be a landmark season, Ross is even more excited to contribute to UConn's climb — "The Reload," they're calling it.
"It's crazy to see where we're at now and the potential of what we can do, but it's only potential until we go out and execute," Ross says. "I know it's gonna be a strange face out there — they haven't seen me in a while. Just expect my 100%, and expect my all."
Something even reporters hadn't seen was Ross's new silver chain necklace. But on par with who he is, Ross tucked the shimmering hamsa charm in behind his shoulder pads before providing a very brief explanation.
It's not about him. Few things are.
"It's just about good vibes and good karma, and getting back what you put into the world," Ross says. "I'm just trying to do the right things, treat people better, and just be a good person."
