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SEATTLE -- The John Ross who made the Stanford secondary look as if it were running through maple syrup last week has come a long way in the past two years.The Washington wide receiver has added 17 pounds to his 5-foot-11 frame, which means at 190 pounds he is no longer as vulnerable to a strong wind or a strong safety.This past March, Ross ran a hand-timed 4.25 40-yard dash. While some NFL scouts turn up their nose at the inaccuracies of hand times, how far off could it be? Maybe it was only a 4.35. Ask the Cardinal defensive backs who couldnt get near Ross -- except when they committed pass interference against him twice -- how fast he is.Oh, yeah. There was one other small thing. Nothing, really. Just that Ross is sprinting through secondaries and kickoff coverages after recovering from major injuries to both knees. The repaired fourth-year junior has become one of the big reasons the Huskies have risen to No. 5 in the AP poll.I would never, ever see myself in the position Im in now, Ross said. Im honestly happy that I got hurt. It just changed me physically, mentally, emotionally, in football, in every aspect. I got to learn so much just by watching. It was almost like a redshirt year. It was?a redshirt year, but just so late in my career.Ross didnt always see the injuries as a gift. He suffered his first injury against Illinois in the third game of the 2014 season, tearing his meniscus in his right knee. He also needed microfracture surgery after the season. Yet Ross never let on that he was hurt.Hey, NFL, you can check the toughness box.It was a kickoff return, Ross said. Just got rolled up on pretty good. And I felt something in my knee, but I didnt think nothing of it. My knee swelled up after the game. And it never really went down. But I was worried if I said something, I probably would have to sit out for the rest of the season.Ross had caught a touchdown in each of the Huskies first three games. He missed the following week, and then played five straight weeks before the knee caught up to him. He caught only 11 passes combined in those games, and now says he wasnt anymore than 75 percent of his best self.There were days when my leg was so stiff I couldnt run, Ross said, night games where it was harder for me to get warmer because I had that swelling in my knee. The swelling did not go down at all. There was no chance of the swelling going down. The doctor ended up telling me after I got the MRI after the season, I waited so long, [the knee] started to heal itself. I dont know if that was good or bad.The following spring, on the first day the medical staff cleared Ross to practice in full pads, he still didnt completely trust his knee.I was running a simple go route, and a lot of people were in the way, Ross said. My first instinct, instead of running someone over, was jump out the way. So I was kind of favoring my meniscus [right] knee, jumped out the way to my right. Didnt want to land on my right. Landed in an awkward position on my left and I felt my knee snap. Thats when I tore the ACL and meniscus on my left knee.It was kind of a weird deal, Ross said. After I got off the ground, I could still run. I was walking without a limp. Going to class. I got my MRI, and I went home and went to sleep. I woke up, and my leg was stuck in a bent position. I kind of figured something was really, really wrong at that point.Ross said he could have played late in the 2015 season. But he and the coaches agreed it would be smarter to fully heal, and to complete the redshirt year and have that season in the bank. He participated in bowl practices, where he learned just how far behind he had fallen. In the first conditioning drill he took part in, the team ran six sprints, with minimal rest between.On the first two, he ran out front of everyone.On the next two, he stayed out in front of everyone.By the sixth and final one, he had to be helped off the field.I kind of wanted to show everyone I could still run, Ross said. The first couple of reps, I was just killing em. Our last two reps, I almost passed out. ... I just felt my whole body cramping up. I felt it completely slowing down. There was nothing I could do about it.Being cleared to practice, and being able to practice, and proving that you are 100 percent back and better than ever in practice, all are important. But they are a long way from putting on the Husky uniform and standing on the goal line awaiting a kickoff. Ross started a countdown on his phone. Imagine looking at it and seeing you have 100 days to go.It was the longest summer of my life, Ross said.When the countdown reached zero, and Sept. 3 had arrived, Ross didnt have to wait long. On the Huskies second snap, Jake Browning threw him a quick pass for 2 yards. Before the first quarter ended, Ross had caught touchdown passes from Browning of 38 and 50 yards. But those catches werent the things that had infiltrated his sleep.Washington didnt have to return a kickoff until late in the second quarter. The Huskies scored the first 24 points of the game before Rutgers kicked a field goal. Ross went back to the goal line. He caught the kick at the Washington 8, and he ran as if he hadnt run back a kick in two years. Touchdown, Huskies.I actually dreamed about something like that, Ross said. I would talk to the guys about it. I dreamed that the first kickoff return I touched would go to the house. And for it to happen, it was mind-boggling. It wasnt exactly like I pictured it, but it happened.All the doubt, all the swelling, all the pain, all the waiting. All gone. Nearly two years had taken an eternity to pass. When Ross reached the end zone, time stopped again. It was a completely different feeling.It felt unreal, Ross said. I might have been standing there for a long time. My teammates did come and grab me. It was so unreal to me.Ross finished the opener with five catches for 90 yards. He leads the Huskies in touchdowns (eight), receptions (21), kickoff returns (five, 35-yard average) and all-purpose yards (96.2 ypg). John Ross is back, and so are the Huskies. Thats not exactly a coincidence. DOnta Foreman Jersey .Y. -- Leading 3-0 with only 11:25 left, the Colorado Avalanche committed a seemingly meaningless penalty to give the New York Islanders a power play. J.J. Watt Jersey .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. http://www.officialhoustontexanspro.com/Deshaun-watson-texans-jersey/ . "Were just throwing s--- at the wall hoping something sticks," said Tortorella about the possible line combinations for Fridays game against Columbus. The Canucks have lost five straight games and six of their last seven, leaving them in a logjam in the Pacific Division, currently sitting fifth - good for ninth in the Western Conference. J.J. Watt Womens Jersey . -- Five former Kansas City Chiefs players who were on the team between 1987 and 1993 filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming the team hid and even lied about the risks of head injuries during that time period when there was no collective bargaining agreement in place in the NFL. Tytus Howard Womens Jersey . Laudrup revealed Thursday he was notified of his dismissal in "the briefest of letters which gave no reasons why such hasty and final action was deemed necessary. Twenty-one years ago, Cal Ripken Jr. played in his 2,131st consecutive game, breaking the record previously set by Lou Gehrig. Ripkens streak didnt end for another 501 games.In honor of that milestone -- and his record that wont be broken anytime soon -- we look at the sports marks that are least likely to fall, and which active athletes are closest to breaking them:Cal Ripken Jr.s 2,632 consecutive games playedActive leader: Alcides Escobar, 146 gamesThe Major League Baseball season is 162 games, which means Ripken played over 16 seasons without missing a beat. If Escobar wants to rewrite history, hell have to play in every game until hes 45 years old. Thats 16 more years.?Barry Sanders five 1,500-yard seasonsActive leader: Adrian Peterson, 2 seasonsSanders holds the NFL record for most seasons with 1,500 or more rushing yards. Peterson, 31, has had two such seasons, and he has already played in the NFL for nine years. To catch up to Sanders, Peterson will have to be in tiptop shape for the next three seasons. He just missed the mark last season, rushing for 1,485 yards.Wayne Gretzkys 2,857 career pointsActive leader: Jaromir Jagr, 1,868 career pointsWhen he retired in 1999, the Great One held more than 60 NHL career records and many of them wont be broken anytime soon, if ever. No player since 1996 has reached 140 points in one season. A player could put up 140 for 20 straight seasons and still not reach Gretzky.Joe DiMaggios 56-game hit streakActive leader: Ender Inciarte, 14-game streakDiMaggios streak began on May 15, 1941, and ended July 17 of that year. During his streak, Joltin Joe was 91-for-223 (.408) with 15 home runs and 55 RBIs. To top DiMaggio, Inciarte needs a hit in his next 43 games.Brett Favres 321 consecutive startsActive leader: Eli Manning, 194 consecutive startsFavre not only holds the record for most consecutive starts but also for most passing yards, most pass completions and most starts, among others. Manning can make Favres durability record fall, but he cant miss a start for the next eight seasons. Manning is already 35 years old.Jerry Rices 1,549 career receptionsActive leader: Andre Johnsson, 1,053 receptionsRice is arguably the greatest wide receiver to ever play the game.dddddddddddd. He spent 20 years in the NFL with the San Francisco 49ers, Oakland Raiders and Seattle Seahawks. If Johnson averages 80 receptions per season -- he averages 81 currently -- for the next six seasons, Rices record will fall. But what are the chances the 35-year-old has six more seasons?Emmitt Smiths 18,355 rushing yardsActive leader: Frank Gore, 12,040Smith accumulated a ridiculous number of rushing yards with the Dallas Cowboys and Arizona Cardinals during his 15 seasons in the league. In order for Gore, who is in his 13th season, to break his record, he would have to have an average of 4.2 yards per carry on the next 1,504 carries. Based on his career averages, that would take him 92 games or about six seasons.UCLA mens basketball teams 88-game winning streakActive leader: Villanova Wildcats, 6 gamesJohn Wooden and UCLA started the 1970-71 season on a winning streak and didnt lose a game until Jan. 19, 1974. Nova will have to string together at least two perfect seasons in a row to get there. There has not been a perfect season in college basketball in 39 years.Connecticut womens basketball teams 90-game winning streakActive leader: UConn Huskies, 75 gamesUConn has been a juggernaut in Division I womens basketball for some time. The Huskies didnt lose a game from the start of the 2008-09 season until Dec. 30, 2010. And now, fresh off their fourth straight national title, they are attempting to break their own record. Theyre getting pretty close.Cy Youngs 511 career winsActive leader: Bartolo Colon, 231 career winsYoung pitched for five different teams throughout his 21-year career. He has held his record for over a century and has more than twice as many wins as the closest active pitcher. Colon is already 43 years old and averages 13 wins per season. At that rate, it would take him around 21 seasons to come anywhere close to Young. He would be 64 by then so, yeah, it doesnt seem probable. ' ' '