Local Product To Suit Up For Steelers' Matchup With Browns
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - The unorthodox rise to the NFL continues for a former local football player who once played – briefly – for the Chartiers Valley Colts.
About 11 months since the Steelers signed Ross Ventrone to their practice squad during the 2013 season, the safety was added yesterday to the team's active roster in time for an AFC North game in Cleveland against the Browns.
In a corresponding move, Pittsburgh released offensive lineman Wesley Johnson, a 2014 fifth-round draft pick.
Today will be the first time Ventrone, who played eight games for the New England Patriots in 2011, will suit up for the Steelers.
His rise to the ranks of the NFL began when he first started playing football his senior year at Chartiers Valley in 2004. Ventrone would then walk-on at Pitt, transfer to Villanova, go undrafted and then get picked up by New England.
Despite not having the accolades of a former college football All-American or high-round NFL draft selection, Ventrone has ignored the naysayers. All those who said he never would make it to the NFL, let alone dress for his hometown Steelers in a meaningful regular season NFL game at the Dawg Pound in Cleveland.
"I know what I'm able to do," Ventrone told the Tribune-Review last December. "What other people think doesn't really bother me. I don't doubt myself."
Stay tuned to 93-7 The FAN for the latest coverage of the Steelers.
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