Perhaps giving back is just in Michael Roos’ genes.
Along with being grounded, humble, grateful and who knows what else.
In today’s world of professional, and even college sports, those traits are sometimes lost — or have never been found with some athletes.
Roos retired last week after a 10-year NFL career as an offensive tackle, his final season in 2014 cut short by a knee injury and subsequent surgery.
The former Eastern Eagle, who graduated in 2005, was chosen as the ninth pick in the second round of the NFL. Roos was the highest pick ever to come out of EWU.
And he’s been one of the most visible donors back to the place that launched his career.
I first met Roos, all 6 foot, 7 inches and 300 pounds almost eight years ago and had no idea what to expect. He was “home” at Northern Quest Resort to personally oversee an auction event for his Michael Roos Foundation that would benefit Special Olympics, the Boys and Girls Clubs of Spokane as well as EWU athletics.
Pulling off into a quiet corner at the Pend Oreille Pavilion, we were afforded 30 or so minutes to chat about his upbringing, his time at Eastern, and at that time, his relatively brief career as an offensive lineman.
Born Mihkel Roos on Oct. 5, 1982 in Tallinn, Estonia, he came to the United States at age 10 from his native country in northern Europe that borders Russia, Latvia and the Baltic Sea.
Roos had some memories of his former home, but not many, he said at the time. Perhaps it’s because he spent those 10 years in the former Soviet Republic living in poverty. His hard-working mother, Mae Bates, taught violin during the day and worked nights at a hotel desk to keep things together.
Settling with his mother at his aunt’s place in Vancouver, Wash., Roos was a standout multi-sport athlete Mountain View High School. Surprisingly, he played basketball and participated in track through his first three years in high school.
However, he never played football, until his senior year. “I was mostly a basketball player,” he said.
Because of his size, every year, football coaches asked Roos to play. And he made quite an admission saying he was afraid to strap on the pads and helmet.
“Finally I decided to give it a shot,” Roos said. “I didn’t want to look back and regret it, gave it a shot and here we are.”
At Eastern he went from red shirt to tight end to defensive line and finally the O-line. Roos said he just always did what coaches asked of him.
“He was always kinda’ looking to better not only himself from an on the field perspective, but also to better his teammates because the better his teammates were the better we were as a whole,” his EWU position coach, Aaron Best said this week.
From such unlikely beginnings, so many have benefitted from their association with Michael Roos, perhaps none more than his alma mater.
It was the donation of $500,000 in early 2010 by Roos and his wife, Katherine that made the red turf project jump off the wish list and drawing board and into the fast track reality.
“I think he took that approach with the whole field and the donation,” Best said. “The better the facility for them the better they’re going to be.”
That perception Best spoke of turned to fact immediately. The first season on the red turf at Roos Field the Eagles trotted out a national championship.
Others have benefitted from Roos’ genuine generosity, and for all the right reasons, Best said.
“When he has the opportunity to help a Boys or Girls Club or create his own foundation, it wasn’t because then he could have tax write offs,” Best said. “It was how do I make life better for somebody else because it was made better for me by my mom?”
EWU athletics director Bill Chaves said Roos giving back to his school is something, “That normally happens later on in life.”
Chaves jokes, “I kind of got dropped in here from outer space in 2007, so he had already been here,” he said of Roos. But the benefits of the time he spent here honing his craft as a professional football player make Chaves very appreciative.
“For Michael and Kat to be thinking in those terms, basically right out of school, it makes them just incredibly special,” Chaves said.
Paul Delaney can be reached at pdelaney@cheneyfreepress.com.
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