Ross Finch Tucker (born March 2, 1979) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

offensive lineman In gridiron football, a lineman is a player who specializes in play at the line of scrimmage. The linemen of the team currently in possession of the ball are the offensive line, while linemen on the opposing team are the defensive line. A numb ...

and current sports broadcaster. Tucker was an All-

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight schools ...

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

, then played seven seasons in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ma ...

(NFL). Tucker retired as a player after suffering a neck injury during the 2007 season. He works for CBS Sports, the Philadelphia Eagles, Westwood One, and Audacy. He also hosts several podcast as part of the Ross Tucker Football Podcast network distributed via DraftKings.

Early years

Tucker attended Wyomissing Area High School, where he earned three varsity letters each in football and

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

. He was All-league at both

offensive tackle Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict i ...

and

defensive end Defensive end (DE) is a defensive position in the sport of gridiron football. This position has designated the players at each end of the defensive line, but changes in formations over the years have substantially changed how the position is p ...

while earning All-county honors at offensive tackle. As a senior basketball player, he averaged 16.1 points and 9.8 rebounds while making 24 three-pointers. He also received the school's US Army Reserve Scholar-Athlete award.

College career

Tucker attended

. He was a four-year starter on the Tigers Ivy League football squad. He started against

Colgate University Colgate University is a private liberal arts college in Hamilton, New York. The college was founded in 1819 as the Baptist Education Society of the State of New York and operated under that name until 1823, when it was renamed Hamilton Theolog ...

as a freshman at defensive end. As a sophomore, he moved to right guard. He was named All-Ivy in 2000 and was a two-time Academic All-American selection. In 2019, he was named to the university's 150th Anniversary team.

Professional career

Tucker played in 42 games in his 7-year NFL career, starting 28.

Washington Redskins

Tucker signed with the

Washington Redskins The Washington Commanders are a professional American football team based in the Washington metropolitan area. The Commanders compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) E ...

as an

undrafted free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

after the

2001 NFL Draft The 2001 NFL Draft was the 66th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible professional football players. The draft, which is officially referred to as the "NFL Player Selection Meeting," was held at the ...

. He surprised observers by making the team, even though he suffered a broken hand and a partially torn MCL. The next year, he started 7 games at right guard. He was waived on October 22, 2002.

Dallas Cowboys

The

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divis ...

claimed Tucker off waivers on October 23, 2002. He started at left guard during the last 7 games of the season in place of an injured

Larry Allen Larry Christopher Allen Sr. (born November 27, 1971) is an American former football guard who played in the National Football League (NFL) for fourteen seasons, primarily with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Sonoma State and ...

. On June 5, 2003, he was released after minicamp.

Buffalo Bills

Tucker was claimed off waivers by the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

on June 16, 2003, and appeared in 12 games, with five starts at right guard. In 2004, he started nine games at left guard and four at center. In 2003, he was named to the ''USA Today'' All-Joe team. After missing minicamps because of offseason back surgery and being limited with injuries, he was cut on September 3, 2005.

New England Patriots

Tucker signed with the

New England Patriots The New England Patriots are a professional American football team based in the Greater Boston area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The P ...

on December 13, 2005. He played in one game and was declared inactive in three contests.

Cleveland Browns

On August 8, 2006, he was traded to the

Cleveland Browns The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

in exchange for a conditional 2007 draft choice (not exercised). On August 8, 2006, after

LeCharles Bentley LeCharles Vernon Bentley (born November 7, 1979) is an American former college and professional football player who was a center in the National Football League (NFL) for six seasons. He played college football for Ohio State University, earne ...

tore his patella tendon, Tucker was acquired from the Patriots for a conditional 7th round draft pick. He was released on September 2 after starting the final three preseason games.

Redskins and retirement

For the second time on March 8, 2007, Tucker signed with the Redskins again as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is ...

. He suffered a career-ending neck injury that bruised his spinal cord during the preseason. On August 28, he was placed on the

injured reserve list The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

. He officially announced his retirement in March 2008.

Sports journalism

Tucker joined ''

Sports Illustrated ''Sports Illustrated'' (''SI'') is an American sports magazine first published in August 1954. Founded by Stuart Scheftel, it was the first magazine with circulation over one million to win the National Magazine Award for General Excellence tw ...

'' in 2008, writing on the NFL for ''SI''s website. Starting with the beginning of the 2010 NFL season, Tucker became the host of ''The Morning Kickoff with Ross Tucker'' on Sirius XM NFL Radio. Tucker has occasionally filled-in for hosting duties on ''

The Dan Patrick Show ''The Dan Patrick Show'' is a syndicated radio and television sports talk show, hosted by former ESPN personality Dan Patrick. It is currently produced by Patrick and is syndicated to radio stations by Premiere Radio Networks, within and indepe ...

''. Currently, Tucker serves as a commentator for NFL games on

Westwood One Westwood One is an American radio network owned by Cumulus Media. The company syndicates talk, music, and sports programming. The company takes its name from an earlier network also named Westwood One, a company founded in 1978. The company ...

and is the Philadelphia Eagles preseason game television analyst. He also calls college games on

CBS Sports Network CBS Sports Network (a.k.a. CBSSN) is an American pay television network owned by the CBS Entertainment Group unit of Paramount Global. When it launched in 2002 as the National College Sports Network (later College Sports Television also known as ...

. Tucker currently writes an NFL column for ''

The Athletic ''The Athletic'' is a subscription-based sports website that provides national and local coverage in 47 North American cities as well as the United Kingdom. ''The Athletic'' also covers national stories from top professional and college sports ...

'' and is an NFL insider for Audacy. He also hosts many podcasts on his network including the ''Ross Tucker Football Podcast''.

References

External links

Official website
*
Inc: The NFL's 10 Richest Entrepreneurs — Ross Tucker, 2011
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tucker, Ross 1979 births Living people People from Wyomissing, Pennsylvania People from Berks County, Pennsylvania Players of American football from Pennsylvania American football offensive guards Princeton Tigers football players Washington Redskins players Buffalo Bills players Cleveland Browns players Dallas Cowboys players New England Patriots players College football announcers National Football League announcers