Still a student: Bengals’ first-round pick John Ross loves writing

PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 27: John Ross of Washington visits the SiriusXM NFL Radio talkshow after being picked #9 overall by the Cincinnati Bengals during the first round of 2017 NFL Draft at Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Lisa Lake/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

PHILADELPHIA, PA - APRIL 27: John Ross of Washington visits the SiriusXM NFL Radio talkshow after being picked #9 overall by the Cincinnati Bengals during the first round of 2017 NFL Draft at Philadelphia Museum of Art on April 27, 2017 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Lisa Lake/Getty Images for SiriusXM)

Cincinnati Bengals first-round pick John Ross is known for being fast on the football field.

Drafting him may be a sign the team is interested in advancing what it does on offense to stay up with recent trends toward high-powered and up-tempo attacks.

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He’s likely to learn multiple positions and fill multiple roles to give quarterback Andy Dalton another weapon to complement A.J. Green and Tyler Eifert.

But when it comes to his spending time off the field, Ross enjoys an old-fashioned and personal release: Writing.

The California native said it is a pastime he fell in love with in high school, and his passion for writing helped lead him to major in American ethnic studies at the University of Washington, where he is still finishing up his studies this spring.

“I could have been an English major, but I was more interested in learning about different cultures and writing about different cultures,” he said.

During the Bengals rookie minicamp last weekend, he said his inspirations aren’t limited to schoolwork.

“It doesn’t really matter. I can write about anything — it just depends on how passionate the subject is, however I feel about it,” Ross said. “If I really like it, I think I’ll write something really good about it.”

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