Offensive lineman credits Tiger program with making next step possible
By: Justin Feil
Ross Tucker never counted on a professional football career. Not first as a junior when an agent introduced himself to the 2001 Princeton University graduate, not again when the same agent came calling in his senior season last year, not on draft day when he wasn’t selected and didn’t even know if he’d be signed, and not even through training camp with the Washington Redskins.
But, after all the final cuts had been made, his name was still there on the final 53-man roster for the National Football Conference East Divisionteam. Fellow Princeton graduate and rookie Dennis Norman also made an NFL roster with the Seattle Seahawks, but Norman was a seventh-round draft pick. Tucker was an undrafted free agent.
"I go to sleep every day with a smile on my face," said the 6-foot-5, 305 pound offensive lineman. "I wake up every day with a smile. Maybe I’ll harden up in a couple years, but right now I’m just having such a good time. I can’t believe it."
Tucker will find out today or Saturday whether he will be one of the 45 players dressed Sunday when the Redskins play at San Diego, but he’s happy and proud just to be able to wear No. 68 for the Washington Redskins.
He would have been far less surprised were he employed by one of the bigger financial companies following his graduation with a degree in politics. As a junior, he had been a GTE/CoSIDA District II Academic All-America, and he had hoped to test the sales and trading market.
"I did all sorts of job interviews my senior year," Tucker said. "I got four or five offers. My whole thing was I went to Princeton for the education. I was ready to use it.
"I was sweating on draft day to find out if I’d even get a shot," he added. "I started to think about Lehman Brothers."
This year, the only job he’ll have in New York is to keep the Giants’ defensive ends away from Redskins quarterback Jeff George. It turns out his Princeton education on the football field was as important as any classroom lecture.
"I never would have gotten here without Coach (Stan) Clayton," Tucker said of Princeton’s offensive line coach, who also played in the NFL. "Princeton football prepared me pretty well. People underestimate the level of play of the Ivy League. It’s not close to the level of speed (as the NFL), but it’s not as bad as people think. But having Coach Clayton this last year, I can’t say enough for how it helped me."
Under Clayton, Tucker was named second team All-Ivy in his final season as right guard for the 3-7 Tigers. Harvard’s Mike Clare and Dartmouth’s Caleb Moore were named first team players unanimously ahead of Tucker.
"Find out where they are now," Tucker chuckled. Clare was a Cleveland Browns cut, as was another of Tucker’s former teammates, John Raveche, and Moore was one of the final cuts from the Arizona Cardinals roster. That Tucker was able to play at a high level considering his healthy gave the Princeton staff an idea of his potential.
"He really didn’t practice last year because he had an athlete’s hernia," said Princeton head coach Roger Hughes. "He just played in games even though he was in a great deal of pain. He still did a good job for us. You knew then he had some toughness."
Tucker couldn’t walk properly for three or four days following games because of the hernia, but he did not miss a game. As a junior, he had played the first nine games before tearing his MCL against Yale. Fully recovered after knee surgery, the hernia affected his pro prospects, raised his doubts, but also gave him the incentive to dig deep and play through the pain to do for one more year something he loved.
"Football is by far my favorite thing to do," he said. "I figured, ‘I’m probably not going to play in the pros.’ Even when scouts would come, they’d see me watching practices. I wanted to play, and I think I had a pretty good season considering the injury. I wasn’t as quick and athletic as I usually am, but I played all right."
Joe Linta, a Yale graduate and former Bulldog player himself, approached him about a potential professional career. The agent for many smaller Division I-AA players, particularly offensive linemen, found some interested teams. It was an amazing turnabout for Tucker who had already begun interviewing and preparing for life after football.
"I had surgery right after the season and I didn’t have that many teams that wanted me," he said. "I was the bottom of the barrel in terms of pro prospects. Joe did a great job for me."
All of a sudden, Tucker saw an opportunity and he seized it. He worked out with Norman so more scouts saw him and he rang up impressive combine numbers and had strong workouts for several teams. In the end, it was the Redskins that offered him a rookie deal and a chance to become a professional football player.
"I had considered it, but I wasn’t sure how viable an option it was," said Tucker, a Wyomissing, Pa. native. "I tried to stay positive the whole time."
It was tough at times. Four days into camp, Tucker sprained his MCL badly enough to keep him out for 12 days. It’s a lot of practice time in an NFL pre-season camp that moves with the same speed as an offensive lineman through an all-you-can-eat buffet. He missed the Redskins first pre-season game against Kansas City, but returned in time to play musical chairs the week after it.
"I played right guard at Princeton, but they had me at right tackle," he said. "Then that Wednesday, they moved me to left tackle. That Friday, the coach tells me he moved me up to second string and I’ll play the whole second half at left tackle against Atlanta.
"Then Chris Samuels got hurt in the first quarter and I end up playing all the way until the fourth quarter when I broke my hand. So I went from playing guard against Lehigh and Lafayette to playing tackle against the starting defensive ends of the Falcons. I handled myself pretty well. I was in with the starters. And I didn’t stick out in a negative way. I think the coaches saw that."
Tucker’s versatility he has even done some snapping is a big reason he is still with the Redskins, but it is his intelligence that is a factor as well.
"It’s amazing how mental it is at this level," he said. "You have to be intelligent to play."
And more than either, it may be his tenacity that he says is a trademark of Clayton’s coaching that made the biggest impression on Redskins coaches.
"He’s 295 and can run," Hughes noted. "But he’s certainly got that intensity to him. He’s got a mean streak in him. You can’t play in the NFL without it. And Ross really wanted to play in the NFL. He’s proved it. It shows kids that you can make it in the NFL from Princeton. I’m happy for our guys and for the program."
Norman and Tucker are two shining examples of what comes with hard work. After breaking his hand in the fourth quarter against Atlanta, Tucker missed another week of pre-season camp, but made it back in time to play against New England in the pre-season finale, unsure of exactly where he stood.
"I figured when I came back it could be the last four days of football of my life," the 22-year-old said. "Against the Patriots, I was flying around hitting people right before the whistle. The coaches saw that. They know I never redshirted. They think I might have some potential. I only got a chance to practice nine or 10 days (out of nearly 30). Fortunately, when I was there, I played well."
Tucker still has a cast on his hand and has been practicing, but with the beginning of the regular season looming, he doesn’t get as many repetitions with the first team. Instead, his practice time is spent helping the Redskins defense prepare.
"I wasn’t planning on getting that much time in my first year," Tucker admitted. "They kept nine linemen and I’m probably the eighth or ninth. I’m not going to get much playing time. But they’ve been moving me around from right guard to right tackle to left tackle. In practice, I’m going against Bruce Smith, Marco Coleman, (Dan) Big Daddy Wilkinson, and Kenard Lang. If I can do pretty well against these guys, I think I might have a future."
And that’s not something Ross Tucker necessarily thought possible a year ago.

