E
manuel Ross thinks about the future. A lot. An ever-meticulous planner, Ross always sets lofty goals. In a perfect world, the Syracuse receiver will show his future son lengthy highlights of his NFL career.
It’s something he’s thought about since high school. The inspiration stems from his favorite rapper Gunna’s song “FAR” featuring Young Thug, where he blurts out:
“Ain’t no time to lounge around, my son has to be born rich.”
Ross wants the same for his future kids. One way for that to happen is for Ross to make the NFL. Right now, that seems like a pipe dream — Ross has 15 catches and 188 yards in 10 games for Syracuse. However, the redshirt freshman doesn’t lack confidence. He tries to speak things into existence.
“The film never lies,” Ross said. “I always want to make sure I’m doing the right thing, so when I tell my son to do this or do that, I’m not a hypocrite, and I can really stand on my actions.”
There’s still plenty of time for Ross to forge his path. At 6-foot-2, 202 pounds, Ross has big-play potential. The former four-star recruit spent his high school career at Red Bank Catholic (New Jersey), baptizing defenders with contested catches. It led to a First-Team All-State selection his senior year, despite catching just 48 passes.
Ross hasn’t shown much this season — neither has any SU receiver since Steve Angeli’s season-ending injury in September — but the ability is there. Ross just needs a chance.
It doesn’t take long for Ross to make an impression on someone. Phillip Simpson, Ross’ trainer as a kid, thought Ross had NFL potential after seeing him catch some balls as an 11-year-old. Bold statement? Yes. But Cody High, another trainer, and Mike Lang, Ross’ high school coach, had similar sentiments.
The theme was consistent: Ross’ ability to catch anything. He always planted two feet in bounds, even though non-NFL rules call for one.
During his youth, Ross had a knack for acrobatics. Joel, Ross’ father, said Ross leapt over furniture, slid down stair railings and did anything to stay occupied.
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A large pine tree stands in the front yard of Ross’ childhood home in Jackson, New Jersey. Joel said his son often climbed as close as he could to the top. Ross was never orthodox in his descent. He always found a spot where he could jump down and roll to cushion the landing.
“It was always scary to us as parents, but he never got hurt,” Joel said.
Ross kept Joel on his feet. At night, Ross immersed himself in highlights of NFL wide receivers like Antonio Brown, CeeDee Lamb and former SU wideout Marvin Harrison Sr. Joel had to shut off Ross’ bedroom light well past his bedtime.
“I noticed him studying different people’s films and playing style, and he was just hungry to figure out different ways of being better at what he did,” Joel said.
Ross’ baseline started with Simpson. Before playing organized football, Ross’ friend Nick Osborn brought him to one of Simpson’s practices, where he shone. Simpson remembers questioning who Ross was to his partner, John Dames. “I don’t know, but he’s talented,” Simpson recalls Dames responding.
Ross became a fixture of Simpson’s morning and night sessions. Ross began playing for the Jackson Jaguars, a local youth team, while he focused on injury prevention with Simpson. That included agility training in sand pits and hill sprints to boost acceleration.
Individual drills were also Ross’ bread and butter. He dominated anyone who guarded him one-on-one, including Simpson’s son, Phillip Jr. At the time, Phillip Jr. was in high school, and Ross was in middle school. Advantage Phillip Jr., right? Wrong.
“My son would have been famous. He would have been famous for getting mossed by Emanuel,” Simpson joked. “Because if you throw it (Ross’) way, he’s going to do everything in his power to make that catch.”
Similar training principles were applied when Ross met High during his sophomore year at Red Bank Catholic after playing sparingly as a freshman. Ross impressed Lang during practices with otherworldly catches, jumping over guys or diving for balls that were destined to fall incomplete.
Working with High gave Ross an edge. High said when they first started working, Ross needed to improve transitioning in and out of routes. He’s fast vertically, but his change of direction needed work, labeling him as “stiff.”
High’s workouts mirrored Simpson’s. He earned his keep during 90-degree heat in the summer and frigid temperatures in the winter.
In any weather condition, Ross was there.
“Being able to train your mind and train your body to do things you’re obviously not going to have to do within the football field, you’re never going to be too tired in the game and you’re always going to be able to give your team everything,” Ross said.
Ross explained that High helped tune his game to a more professional level. High has over a decade of experience training NFL players, including Saeed Blacknall, Ishmael Hyman and Juwann Winfree in New Jersey. Their work was mature, “rather than doing all those Instagram drills, just for the look of it,” Ross described.
Emanuel Ross hits a backflip while at Red Bank Catholic High School. As a senior, Ross was a First-Team All-State selection, displaying the big-play potential he could bring to Syracuse if given a chance. Courtesy of Joel Ross
High always had Ross start his routes from the top, focusing on the final step. From there, they worked backwards to the initial release. High described Ross as a “perfectionist.” If the receiver made the smallest mistake, he re-did everything.
“It’s like anything else in life, there’s a sequence to development, and you have to start at the basics,” High said.
Joel labeled High a “scientist” due to his unorthodox tactics. Eventually, he came up with the right formula for Ross.
The receiver became one of the most dominant players in New Jersey during high school. Ross led Red Bank to two New Jersey State Interscholastic Athletic Association, Non-Public Group B state championships and three straight championship game appearances.
Whenever Red Bank needed a big play, Lang looked to Ross. It started early in his sophomore season. The Caseys trailed by two scores in their home opener against Wall High School — the then-No. 1-ranked public school in New Jersey. Then, Ross laid out on a back-shoulder fade for a crucial fourth-down conversion in an eventual 20-16 win.
Later that year, Red Bank was down some receivers during its state semifinal showdown with St. Joseph Academy. A key 32-yard reception from Ross set up a fourth-quarter touchdown to seal the game for Red Bank.
“It’s not something we really can coach,” Lang said. “Some guys have it. And his knack for that always kind of separated him from everybody else.”
After defeating DePaul Catholic in the title game, Ross continued to develop as an upperclassman. He more than doubled his receiving total — jumping from 323 to 615 — while adding 11 touchdowns. Still, Red Bank fell to DePaul in a state championship rematch.
Ross came back with a vengeance for his senior year. Lang experimented with him at cornerback as a junior, a role that became more prevalent the following season.
He covered Quincy Porter (Ohio State), De’Zie Jones (Ohio State), Michael Thomas III (Rutgers) and others. Lang mentioned the revelation to Syracuse head coach Fran Brown, who flipped Ross from Stanford to SU within weeks of getting hired. Lang never suggested a position change, but he still felt Ross could be a bona fide Division I cornerback.
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On top of that, he was burning the best corners in New Jersey.
“I don’t think I’ve ever been a part of a senior year of a more developed, complete player,” Lang said.
“The only chance of stopping him is potentially two guys, but it just became routine for him to be able to defeat double coverage, and out compete guys for football,” High added.
Ross made plays everywhere. Fade routes in single coverage were easy conversions. Simple slants over the middle created 70-yard touchdowns. Simpson labeled Ross a “deal closer.”
Even with fewer than 50 receptions, Ross was nominated for the Jersey Sport Zone player of the year, and once again, Red Bank Catholic found itself facing DePaul in the state championship.
In his final high school game, Ross delivered. A key touchdown to tie the game 7-7 and clutch pass breakup on fourth down with six minutes left delivered Red Bank another state title.
When the Caseys took a knee to run out the clock, Ross stood 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage. He punctuated the victory with a backflip.
“One, I didn’t know (Ross flipped). Two, at that point, I knew the game was over. I didn’t care,” Lang said.
Ross has yet to recapture that dominance with Syracuse. Trebor Peña, Jackson Meeks and Oronde Gadsden II made snaps hard to come by last season, while Johntay Cook, Darrell Gill Jr. and Justus Ross-Simmons have done the same in 2025.
However, Ross is still only 19 years old and won’t turn 20 until May. Though he’s young, the future crosses his mind once in a while. For Ross to achieve his NFL goals, he has to remain grounded. If opportunities come Ross’ way, he’ll take a firm grip and never look back.
“I just really loved football since I was young,” Ross said. “I’m a perfectionist with all this. You can never stop getting better. So that’s kind of my thing. I just always want to strive to be the best I could possibly be.”
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Published on November 20, 2025 at 12:00 am