Niagara Falls quarterback may get NFL audition — report

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Published March 17, 2022 at 5:56 pm

Tre Ford of Niagara Falls might just well end up being the first Canadian-trained quarterback in 40 years to attend training camp with a National Football League team.

Ford, who was Canadian university football’s top player last fall after a splendid season with the Waterloo Warriors, exhibited his passing abilities to NFL scouts on Thursday during the University at Buffalo Bulls’ pro day. The A.N. Myer grad and his twin brother Tyrell Ford, who is a defensive back from Waterloo, were among four Ontario University Athletics (OUA) footballers who were invited to be evaluated by the pro scouts.

One of the deans of football coverage in Canada, David Naylor of The Sports Network (TSN), said there is a “broad consensus from scouts” that Tre Ford will get a shot at the NFL. That may come as an undrafted free agent after the April 28-30 NFL draft. The draft is only seven rounds, and by and large NFL teams are looking for players who can step into a role relatively quickly.

The Ford brothers, who are also part of Waterloo’s indoor track-and-field team, also put down 40-yard dash times that rated with what some projected early-rounds pick in next month’s NFL draft posted at league’s recent combine. Tyrell Ford ran a 4.44-second 40 and Tre Ford ran a 4.45.

At the NFL Combine, for instance, Penn State wide receiver Jahan Dotson had a 4.43 40 time. Dotson is expected to be drafted within the first two rounds.

The twins’ best efforts in the broad jump and vertical leap test were also nearly identical.

Canadian-trained quarterbacks have historically had an uphill battle on both sides of the border. Only three have been to an NFL camp, and the last was 40 years ago:

  • Dan Feraday (University of Toronto Varsity Blues) was a 12th-round draft choice (333rd overall) of the Cincinnati Bengals in 1982. Feraday set an Ontario single-season passing record at the U of T that stood for two decades before being broken by Beamsville native Tom Denison, who was a two-time Hec Crighton winner at Queen’s in the early 2000s.
  • Jamie Bone (Western Mustangs) attended the Dallas Cowboys training camp in 1980 as a free agent. A year earlier, Bone successfully won a human rights claim against the Canadian Football League’s Hamilton Tiger-Cats after proving he was refused a fair opportunity to pursue employment at his position.
  • Eric Guthrie was a 14th-round choice by the San Francisco 49ers in 1972 from Boise State, but had grown his game in the Canadian Junior Football League for two seasons before moving to the U.S. college game. Guthrie played a few seasons in the CFL and short-lived World Football League.

Last season, after losing a year of on-field competition due to COVID-19 safety measures, Ford became the first Black quarterback to win the Hec Crighton Trophy as the top player in USPORTS. He led OUA in passing yards per game, and was also the nation’s No. 4 rusher and most efficient ballcarrier at 10.7 yards per attempt. His leadership helped Waterloo reach the Yates Cup playoffs.

Ford also became the first USPORTS footballer to win national rookie of the year and the Hec Crighton Trophy in the span of a four-season career. The only other performer to have won both is Ben Chapdelaine, who was a quarterback for Hamilton’s McMaster Marauders from 1997 to 2001. (Student-athletes in Canada can play five seasons, as opposed to the NCAA’s four.)

The other two OUA grads at the U Buffalo pro day on Thursday were both defensive ends. Fellow Niagara Falls native Anthony Federico (Queen’s) and Ajax native Deionte Knight (Western) also showed their talents.

Federico led OUA in sacks last seaosn. Knight was named top lineman in USPORTS and helped lead Western to Yates Cup and Vanier Cup titles.

The CFL Draft is on May 3, the week after the NFL Draft.

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