Follow EDMONTON ELKS

© 2024 Edmonton Elks. All rights reserved.

@
Features May 6, 2024

Elks in the Offseason: Tre Ford

@arcurimike

EDMONTON – He’s one of the most exciting players in the Canadian Football League, and likely all of football.

Tre Ford is nearly finished preparing for his third season with the Elks after being selected eighth overall by the club in the 2022 CFL Draft. Last year, Ford was given the reigns to Jarious Jackson’s offence for the second half of the season. In his 10 starts, the Waterloo product completed 67.4 per cent of his passes for 2069 yards, 12 touchdowns, and just six interceptions.

As a dual threat, Ford was just as dangerous with his legs, picking up 622 yards and three touchdowns on only 66 carries. His 9.4 yards-per carry was nearly two yards longer than his next competitor — Ottawa’s Dustin Crum (7.6 yards-per carry) — among rushers with at least 50 attempts.

In the final Elks in the Offseason, GoElks.com caught up with Ford as he prepares to head to Edmonton for 2024 Training Camp.

How’s your offseason going so far?

It’s good. I’m doing lots of training, lots of housework and renovations, and spending time with the wife and daughter. That’s pretty much been my entire offseason so far, so it’s been pretty good.

Where do you usually spend it?

I spent a lot more of the offseason in Waterloo this year and Niagara falls last year. I spent a little more time in Sudbury, which is where my wife is from, but I’m trying to get these properties up and running.

What is the average day in the life look for you right now?

Usually I get up at about 8-8:30, and then it’s really just a mix. It involves going to the field, throwing for probably about 1.5-2 hours, going to the gym for about an hour, and then housework right now. When my wife is down here in Waterloo, I spend a lot of time with her and the baby, but she’s up in Sudbury right now with her family where her mom is from.

I’ve been told you like to game a little bit. Is that true?

Yeah, but I’ve definitely taken a step back in my gaming career because, I’ve been doing all this housework and stuff. I want to make sure I can get the properties up by the time I leave, so I really only have a couple more days. I’ve just got to finalize some things and then I’m gonna drive up at the beginning of May. Yeah, I have not been playing a lot of video games at all.

I will ask you, what is your top five favorite video games?

Top five? Well, NBA2K is definitely up there. Whatever year, doesn’t matter, they’re all pretty good. I would say Call of Duty, Apex Legends, XDefiant — a new game coming out. They just had a beta and it was actually really fun. I only played that for only a couple hours, but wasn’t bad. Those are probably the big four right there. The fifth would probably be Ark Survival Evolved, but I haven’t been playing it because that game is a real commitment.

As a QB training in the offseason, do you have to train a little bit differently? So much of the game is going to be mental and timing based, so do you have to approach your training differently?

I don’t think so. It would be nice, to work on timing and the mental aspect, but for the offseason I’m focusing more on just footwork and reaction throwing. Throwing based on different receivers and how they run different routes, and just working on their individual timing. It’s more of a reaction for me  because it’s not my actual receivers.  I feel like Training Camp is a great time to actually,  get together with your guys. At camp, everybody has to show up and get you work on those timing routes. Throwing those outs on a third step and getting it to the spot where the ball needs to go. Right now is just making sure I’m staying in shape, throwing the ball, and not doing anything too crazy in the lifting department — just keeping the body in good shape.

 Your brother is back in the league. Are you excited to potentially be going up against him this year?

I mean, I can’t wait to play him. It’s always fun. We’ll do a little bit of trash talking throughout the week and everything like that, but it’s definitely fun. I’m just happy that he gets an opportunity to finally get out there on the field again to play some football, because I know it’s been a long time for him, so I hope he goes out there and can just make the best of the opportunity that he’s going to be given in Winnipeg.

Did having another future pro athlete in the family kind of help push both yourself and Tyrell?

Yeah, I would definitely say it does. Just in the sense that him and I are really competitive when it comes to everything. Throughout football, he was playing defensive back and I was playing quarterback. We were going against each other in practice, which I feel like made us better in that competition. Then, even when we were training for the combine it’s like, ‘okay, who’s gonna bench more?’ I think our personal best for 225 lbs was both 17 reps each. Then, it’s running forty-yard dashes like, ‘who’s gonna run the faster 40?’

It’s just always nice to have somebody to compete against. Biologically, we’re pretty much the same, so we’re like, ‘well, if he ran a 4.41 why can’t I run a 4.41? Because we’re pretty much the same person, you kind of what your limits are and what you’re capable of just based on what my twin does. It’s kind of cool in that sense, for sure.

I saw that you were at the CFL combine kind of helping out. What was that experience like?

Yeah, it was the Regional Combine, not the National Combine. It was cool. I love that Waterloo has the facility and they’re able to host it, because it’s good to see the next generation of U Sports athletes coming out and getting ready to prepare to go to the combine. It’s also nice that the Waterloo guys have a little bit of a home field advantage. Like, they’ve been on that turf before, they’re used to it. It’s nice that the place right now that I’m staying at is literally four minutes from university, so it’s nice to have access to that field house.

It’s good that those guys get to go train and I can go there and help them out throughout the offseason. Whatever kind of tips they need moving forward, I’m here to help them. I definitely love to give back to the U Sports community, but especially Waterloo.

What are the last few things you  have to do before heading back here for training camp? I imagine you have to continue work on your rental properties, but anything else?

I just want to train the last couple days I can because I’m going to be cooped up in a car for three or four days. I’m gonna have a dinner with Bert, the University of Waterloo head coach, before we go out.  I’m also going to go back to visit my family in Niagara Falls. We’re going to have a little dinner there as well. Then once I say all the goodbyes, I’m gonna go head up to Sudbury because it’s on the way to Edmonton, stop, see the wife and the baby there for two or three days, and then make the drive.

That’s a long drive.

It’s not gonna be terrible because Tyrell driving up with me. I’m gonna drop him off in Winnipeg and then go from there.

Have you guys done that road trip before or something similar?

Yeah. He flew out last year at the end of the season and we drove back and we didn’t stop at all. We didn’t stay in a hotel or anything, so we drove the 34 hours straight, which is pretty good. It got it over with nice and quick.

I know the competitor in you is probably disappointed in it, but is there at least a little bit of excitement about having an experienced quarterback here in McLeod Bethel-Thompson? Somebody who’s kind of been through all the aspects of the pro game, that can be somebody to lean on and help develop your game?

Yeah, 100 per cent. If you just look at his resume, he’s played in so many different leagues — the NFL, the CFL, and the USFL. I think he’s done very well throughout his career and he’s a guy who has a lot of experience with a lot of stuff that I can learn from. He can help me, for sure. Even in the short conversation that we’ve had, I am excited to work with him, but I would be lying if I say I was sooo excited to have him here because I have to take a backseat now. I was obviously looking forward to playing this year, and I definitely enjoy playing football, and I want to continue to play football.

I’m going to make the most of the opportunity and just learn as much as I can from him. He’s a great guy from all the interactions we’ve had, so I’m definitely excited to meet him in person and get to work together, but I definitely would also like to be playing football.

Fair enough. I mean, the thing about the CFL, you generally need two guys throughout the season, and opportunity is always just a play away.

Yeah, whenever my numbers called, I’ve got to be ready to go.