NFL alum Michael Roos was honored earlier this summer when he was inducted into the Big Sky Conference Hall of Fame.
Roos, who played collegiately at Eastern Washington University (EWU), earned five different All-America awards as a senior and was named the NCAA I-AA Lineman of the Year in 2004. His uniform number 71 subsequently was retired after he graduated.
The highest NFL Draft pick in EWU history, Roos was drafted by the Titans on the second round in 2005. He played his entire 10-year career in Tennessee and only retired in 2015 due to a serious knee injury. He twice received All-Pro honors and started all 148 games in which he wore a Titans uniform.
The Estonia-born native, who was raised in Vancouver (WA), is deeply appreciative of all that he learned and experienced as a student-athlete on the EWU campus. He graduated with a double major in finance and economics. Roos twice was a Big Sky Conference All-Academic selection. He and the Michael Roos Foundation have been extremely supportive of the athletic program at his college alma mater.
“You wouldn’t be who you are without the school you attended,” the 40-year-old Roos says. “If you’re able, it seems like the most natural thing to give back to the people who helped you become who you are.”
When EWU decided in 2010 to add a vibrant red turf (nicknamed “The Inferno”) on the football field, Roos and wife Katherine jump-started the fundraising campaign by making the principal donation of $500,000. In appreciation for their generosity, the field was renamed—and remains– Roos Field.
Michael and Katherine established the Michal Roos Foundation to support local non-profit organizations, including the Special Olympics in Washington, the Boys & Girls Cubs of Spokane County (WA), and the EWU Athletic Association.
We at NFL Alumni applaud the generosity and community involvement of Michael and Katherine Roos. They are another example of an NFL alumni family giving back across the board for the support they received in their professional and personal careers.
