Ross said he aspired to be a broadcaster from the time he was a boy, watching games on TV with his father. He began paying close attention to broadcasting styles, idolizing Wiedeman, Mike Tirico and Mike Emrick.
Ross landed a job as a digital reporter for Detroit Sports Media, writing and doing on-camera stories about the city's professional teams, including the Red Wings.
When his writing duties were done, Ross would go to the press box at Red Wings games and call play-by-play into a recorder.
"That's how I got my reps, my practice," he said. "It looked a little crazy at times, but it paid off."
Ross said he and his agent sent samples of his work to the Blackhawks in September when they were looking for talent to serve as fill-in broadcasters this season.
"Their broadcast consultant saw it and he was willing to offer me an opportunity to be one of their fill-in broadcasters," Ross said. "This all happened very fast."
About the same time, the Big Ten Network hired Ross to do hockey, basketball, baseball, softball, swimming and diving, football and lacrosse. In addition, ESPN3 and ESPN+ signed Ross in August to work college football and other sports.
To better prepare for the Blackhawks fill-in role and Big Ten Network job, Ross moved from Detroit to Chicago.