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June 5, 2018

Winston Rose Plays With Heavy Skill And Heart

Not a day goes by where Winston Rose doesn’t think about his late brother Ashton Crosswell. Back in 2012, the 17-year old Crosswell was shot on a street in Watts, California and succumbed to his injuries eight days later.

Although it was the type of tragedy you can never truly move on from, the new Lions’ defensive back vowed to honour him by becoming a pro football player.

“He’s my hero and the reason I play football today,” an emotional Rose says.

And he has quietly put together a pretty consistent camp and even picked up some reps at starting halfback when TJ Lee was healing from some bumps and bruises this week.

“Camp has been fun. The competition has remained intense and as a defence, I think there is that togetherness you always want to establish early on,” he adds.

“Not that we didn’t have that last year in Ottawa, but I definitely feel more of a brotherhood with these guys here.”

Rose was in 2017 training camp with the Toronto Argonauts before landing in the nation’s capital and recording 21 defensive tackles in four games.

“It was a roller coaster, I’m not going to lie,” Rose says about his first encounter with the CFL.

“I was able to get into the lineup and it wound up being a good learning experience for me.”

And he was in on the fun at last Friday’s pre-season victory in Calgary, picking up a key fumble recovery- one of seven Lion turnovers- to help stall another key Stampeder drive.

Wally Buono has also noticed the progression throughout the last couple of weeks in Kamloops.

“We had both Winston and Kendall James playing the weakside halfback. These guys need to prove to us they can play different positions and they’re both good athletes,” the head coach says.

“TJ going down as given him an opportunity to show us what he can do and now the coaches can evaluate what they did at the position.”

Growing up in Inglewood, California, Rose’s early childhood dream was to be a pro soccer player. After discovering Pop Warner football, that all changed.

He helped St. Genevieve High School win a league championship and then suffered a broken ankle two weeks before the start of his senior season. It didn’t appear Rose would be able to finish his high school career on a good note, but that’s when he showed you should never count him out.

“I came back for the sixth game and had two touchdowns, plus an interception,” he recalls fondly.

“That right there was a life highlight because I thought the dream was over.”

Not bad for a guy who plays a position where you most need your feet.

Following a productive three seasons at New Mexico State, Rose got into three pre-season games with the Indianapolis Colts in 2016 before spending the balance of the season on the Argonauts’ practice squad.

Now he looks forward to taking an even bigger step on the west coast.

“It was an opportunity I couldn’t pass up,” Rose says of his decision to sign in free agency.

“Ed Hervey and the team was willing to take a chance on me and allow me the chance to stay in the CFL. If a team is willing to take that chance, I will always give it everything I have.”

Winning will make it all worthwhile.

“I think we’re going to be a nasty piece of business to play against,” Rose says.

“We have plenty of athletes in the key skill positions, we’re long, tall and big and that alone can be scary.”

He’ll never let a setback like a broken ankle set him back. And you know a proud Ashton is smiling down on him proudly.

“My family is very supportive,” he says.

“My Mom and Dad both call me all the time to check up on me and make sure I’m learning the playbook. Parents are always good for keeping you on task.”

Matt Baker: mbaker@bclions.com