Brad Ross, midfielder for the Toronto Nationals, Boston Cannons and Rochester Rattlers, has announced his retirement due to medical reasons. Ross closes his four-year career having won championships with two different teams.
“I’ve had a history of concussions all the way from high school throughout college and then onto the MLL,” Ross said. “As college coaches, we deal with these things all the time, so we’re very educated in understanding some of the long-term effects of what’s going on with concussions nowadays.”
“I think that what kind of made the decision for me and my fiancée and my family was that the doctor was concerned about a getting hit with a big shot and about a number of smaller hits maybe coming in the summer that would’ve made it worse in other words, all those smaller hits that have built up over time; made him very concerned.”
Lacrosse has been a part of Ross’ life for a long time. He was a four-year letterman at Bullis School in Montgomery County, MD, Ross was a two-time All-County and All-Conference choice and received All-State and All-America honors as a senior.
Upon graduation, Ross moved on to Duke University where he played in 86 games across five years for the Blue Devils lax squad. Ross received several honors during his time at Duke, including three All-American recognitions in addition to the honor of being named team captain for two years. He led his team to three consecutive ACC titles form 2007-2009 and two NCAA tournament championship berths in 2005 and 2007 all while playing in an NCAA-record 73 wins.
Ross was drafted by the Nationals in 2009, playing in three games and scoring two goals during Toronto’s run to the Steinfeld Cup.
The following year, Ross was traded to the Boston Cannons where he would spend the next three seasons garnering 34 tallies, 11 assists and another championship win in 2011.
After the Cannons’ title victory in 2011 Ross was traded to the Rochester Rattlers for what would become his last season. While in Rochester, he scored 10 goals and two assists.
In 2011 Ross was named associate coach at Bryant University where he continues to spread his love for the game with the next generation of lacrosse stars.
