University of Waterloo Warriors football coach Chris Bertoia has heard all the concerns about Tre Ford for nearly a decade.
Undoubtedly, some skeptics now exist in the professional ranks. It’s nothing new for the Edmonton Elks’ starting quarterback.
“The biggest thing for Tre is just getting an opportunity,” Bertoia said after watching Ford win his starting debut with the Elks last Friday in Hamilton, not far from the quarterback’s university campus as well as his hometown of Niagara Falls, Ont.
“He’s being a pro. He had a little sniff down with Baltimore (at Ravens mini camp). He realized he needed to come up here and have an opportunity in the CFL. There’s certainly barriers that exist in multiple facets — a Canadian quarterback from a Canadian university and a Black Canadian quarterback, you can’t miss that piece, either. A guy that runs a 4.4 so obviously you get labelled as an athlete. There’s always going to be doubters and naysayers that he’s not a quarterback, but he’s up for the challenge.”
One day after the red-hot Nathan Rourke led the B.C. Lions to their third win in as many games this season, Ford’s Canada Day outing in The Hammer marked the first time that two Canadian quarterbacks had started in the same week of a CFL season since 1982.
The rookie was 15-for-26 for 157 yards with one touchdown and one interception and also rushed six times for 61 yards as the previously winless Elks downed the still winless Tiger-Cats 29-25.
Ford became the first Canadian to start at QB for Edmonton since 1968 and U Sports says he is the first quarterback out of the Canadian university ranks to win in a CFL start since 1985.
“I think a lot of people want to see the Canadian quarterback play and doing well,” said former Canadian CFL quarterback Brandon Bridge, now a police officer in the Region of Peel after making six starts last decade.
“I think it’s so great for the league, so great for the fan base. Everyone knows the quarterback. You don’t have to know football but one position people do know about is the quarterback.”
Five of Bridge’s starts came under current Elks coach Chris Jones in Saskatchewan. Bridge praised Jones, who went with Ford over veteran Nick Arbuckle in Hamilton, on Twitter after the win last week.
While Rourke and Ford have the same passports, their stories are very different. Rourke went to Alabama for his last year of high school, played one year of junior college in Kansas and three years of NCAA ball at Ohio – where he won three bowl games. Ford never left Canada – and didn’t get out of the Ontario University Athletics playoffs at Waterloo.
Bridge, during his playing career, pushed for Canadian quarterbacks to be included in the ratio – a battle he eventually won after meetings with commissioner Randy Ambrosie. The CFL has long been looking for its next Russ Jackson.
“As a Canadian quarterback, it was not easy,” Bridge said. “That’s why I was willing to pretty much risk it all to make sure the guys after me get an opportunity to be able to get drafted or be able to make a roster.”
The first quarterback to be selected in the first round (eighth overall) of the CFL Draft since 1980, Ford is used to taking the road less travelled. His high school, A.N. Myer, had struggled for years on the football field before Ford and his twin brother, Tyrell (now a cornerback with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers after also playing at Waterloo), arrived on the scene.
When it came time for university, many wondered if the fleet-footed Tre Ford would switch positions.
Bertoia, who lost his first 16 games as head coach of the troubled Waterloo program (it had to take a season off several years before Bertoia arrived because of a steroid scandal), had a different recruiting pitch.
“I saw Tre when he was in Grade 10. He had a little bit of an unorthodox throwing motion and mechanics and all that kind of stuff, but the ball flew out of his hand for a kid that age,” Bertoia said. “He could spin it and certainly his athleticism was second to none. The quarterback’s the CEO … and when you can get a special athlete and special leader at that position, I think it makes a huge difference. … From the day I took the job, my mission was to land Tre Ford and I told him from the get-go he was the quarterback that was going to turn around the program. No ifs, ands or buts, he was going to be our quarterback.”
Ford was national rookie of the year in 2017 as the Warriors improved to 4-4 – their first season without a losing record since 2001. Four years later, he won the Hec Crighton Award as national player of the year – the first Black quarterback to receive that honour.
Waterloo may not be a national power just yet, but the Warriors are no longer the free spot on the Bingo card for perennial Ontario heavyweights like Western and McMaster. Now, Ford hopes to help guide the Elks, the league’s worst team last year, in making a similar jump. His second start comes Thursday against the unbeaten Calgary Stampeders.
“(Ford choosing Waterloo) shows he’s not scared, he’s not scared to take chances, he’s not scared to go outside his comfort zone,” Bertoia said. “He’s a natural leader even though he does have quiet mannerisms. His legacy is he took a chance and he believed in a vision and I believed in him from the get-go.”
That belief hasn’t wavered.
“The whole draft process, I said … three years from now he’s going to be the poster boy of the CFL,” Bertoia said. “Whether or not they believe a rose-coloured glass head coach from the University of Waterloo or not, I’ve been doing this quite a while. I feel like I know what I’m talking about.”
WHAT WE LIKED IN WEEK 4
• The resilience of Rourke. He wasn’t as sharp as in the first two games, but came through when it counted in Ottawa.
• Jones’ decision to start Ford ahead of Arbuckle in Hamilton. It’s a rebuilding year for Edmonton and it makes sense to give the first-round pick a real shot. Nice touch to give Ford his first start close to home, too.
• Alouettes’ Chandler Worthy returning a kickoff for a touchdown for the second time in as many weeks. It is only the second time it has been done — the first was in 1953.
• Argos running back Andrew Harris rushing for 111 yards against his old Winnipeg team. The Blue Bombers are 4-0, but they haven’t run nearly as effectively without the 35-year-old Winnipeg native this season.
WHAT WE DIDN’T LIKE IN WEEK 4
• Alouettes coach Khari Jones getting fired after four games (GM Danny Maciocia will take over coaching duties) You can certainly make a case that the Als needed a coaching change, but why didn't they do it in the off-season? Jones, who was not hired by Maciocia and was in the last year of his contract, switched quarterbacks early in Game 2. Stability, this was not.
• Speaking of trouble spots in the East (pretty much everywhere), the Argos have to learn to get along. It’s not a great look to have general manager Mike (Pinball) Clemons hustling down to the sideline to play peacemaker in a dispute between receiver Brandon Banks and offensive lineman Trevon Tate after Banks couldn’t haul in a pass, leading to an interception.
• Argos kicker Boris Bede missing an extra point with 25 seconds left, denying overtime against the Blue Bombers. Extra football would have been fun on a night with plenty of weirdness — including one of the league's best kickers missing a convert.
• The Ticats’ turnover woes. Four more last Friday loomed large in a loss to Edmonton. QB Dane Evans has been unlucky with some tipped balls, but he still must elevate his play.
THINGS TO WATCH IN WEEK 5
• Excellent game to finish the week with two of the three unbeaten teams squaring off as the Lions host the Blue Bombers on Saturday. Rourke will face his toughest test yet against the Blue Bombers’ elite defence.
• Whether the East can improve its pathetic 1-11 record against the West. The Redblacks are the lone East team in action this week – and they're in tough on Friday in Regina against the Roughriders.
• The play of Saskatchewan running back Jamal Morrow, the surprise leader in the CFL rushing race. A bit player for the Roughriders last year, Morrow has 257 yards on 46 carries this season.
• Whether the Elks can win their first game at Commonwealth Stadium since Oct. 12, 2019. The Elks have lost nine in a row at home heading into Thursday’s Battle of Alberta against the Stampeders.
WEEK 5 PICKS
Calgary Stampeders (-3.5) at Edmonton Elks, Thursday, 9 p.m. ET / 6 p.m. PT
The Stamps are coming off a bye week, giving them plenty of time to study up on Ford. The Stamps won 30-23 over Edmonton in Calgary in Week 3. PICK: Calgary
Ottawa Redblacks at Saskatchewan Roughriders (-6.5), Friday, 9:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. PT
The Redblacks have been right there in two games against Winnipeg and one against B.C. They can keep it close in Regina, where the Roughriders have injury concerns. PICK: Ottawa
Winnipeg Blue Bombers at B.C. Lions (-3), Saturday, 7 p.m. ET / 4 p.m. PT
The Blue Bombers played in Toronto on Monday night, so it’s a short week with plenty of travel. This has the potential to be a West final preview. PICK: B.C.
• 2022 record: 8-8
• Odds from FanDuel as of Wednesday,
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POWER RANKINGS
1. B.C. Lions (3-0, Last week: 2): Rourke has set a record for completion percentage across a three-game span at 83.8 per cent.
2. Winnipeg Blue Bombers (4-0, Last week: 1): Have appeared vulnerable, but keep finding ways to win. QB Zach Collaros is an astounding 21-2 in games he has started for the Bombers.
3. Calgary Stampeders (3-0, Last week: 3): After rallying from halftime deficits in their first three games, the Stamps will look for a stronger start against Edmonton coming off a bye week.
4. Saskatchewan Roughriders (3-1, Last week: 4): Nice response from Cody Fajardo and Co. against Alouettes after losing the previous week in Montreal.
5. Ottawa Redblacks (0-3, Last week: 5): Close but not quite yet again against Lions. After a game vs. Saskatchewan, four of their next five are against teams with losing records.
6. Toronto Argonauts (1-2, Last week: 7): QB McLeod Bethel-Thompson almost engineered a second-half comeback against Winnipeg, but he must be more consistent.
7. Edmonton Elks (1-3, Last week: 9): After a blowout loss in B.C. in opener, the Elks have been better. Give Jones plenty of credit for keeping his team on track.
8. Montreal Alouettes (1-3, Last week: 6): Coaching change on the bye week, ahead of a visit from Edmonton, which just happens to be the team new coach and GM Danny Maciocia used to run.
9. Hamilton Tiger-Cats (0-4, Last week: 9): Because the East is so bad, the Ticats are very much alive. But losing to Edmonton at home isn’t exactly a promising sign for the two-time reigning division champs.
