Edmonton Elks quarterback Tre Ford getting a chance to prove he’s built tough
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Injured against them a season ago, Tre Ford will get another crack at the Stampeders when his Elks show up for Monday’s Labour Day Classic
Published Sep 02, 2023 • 4 minute read
Edmonton Elks quarterback Tre Ford (2) is tackled by a member of the Ottawa Red Blacks on Aug. 27, 2023, in Edmonton. Photo by Greg Southam /Postmedia, file Article content
So far, Tre Ford has done nothing but prove people wrong.
Since his ascension to the starting role as Edmonton Elks quarterback, he’s shown there is no way he should have spent the first eight weeks of the season on the sidelines watching the team get off to an 0-8 start.
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At the same time, he’s challenging historic notions that Canadians can’t make successful quarterbacks in the Canadian Football League.
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And he’s certainly showing week in and week out that he’s far more deserving of a label other than simply a running quarterback.
But as the Elks look to take the momentum of their long-awaited back-to-back wins and turn their well-documented, drawn-out losing skid into a winning streak, as they now look to make it three in a row in the Labour Day Classic (5 p.m., TSN, 630 CHED), there is still one thing left for Ford to prove.
It won’t be his first time facing the Calgary Stampeders.
In his one and only start against the provincial rivals in Week 6 as a rookie last year, Ford didn’t get to finish the game, while a broken collarbone kept him sidelined until Week 15, when he resumed a backup role.
Home win a long time coming for pair of longest-serving Edmonton Elks 
Tre Ford shines as Edmonton Elks snap record home losing streak The six-foot-one, 185-pound Waterloo product suffered the injury on his throwing-arm side in the first quarter of that one, before Calgary went on to win 49-6.
“I played, I think it was one or two drives before I got hurt,” Ford said. “So, I don’t have a lot of history with (the rivalry).”
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But Monday will be an opportunity for Ford to get back in the proverbial saddle and last a full 60 minutes against Calgary, to show he’s got the durability to go along with the rest of the impressive abilities he’s put on display.
“Yeah, for sure. I definitely want to prove that,” said Ford, who may very well be entering shark-infested water when he steps onto the field against Calgary on Labour Day, given his past experience. “I don’t want to speak for them, but I don’t think anyone in the league intentionally wants to go out and hurt somebody else. I mean, this is how people provide for their family. But if that is their goal, I guess it is what it is but I’m not super worried about it.
“It’s football. You can’t avoid injuries, they happen.”
Edmonton Elks quarterback Tre Ford (2) leaves the field against the Calgary Stampeders at Commonwealth Stadium in Edmonton on July 7, 2022. Photo by Ian Kucerak /Postmedia, file
Unfortunately, they can happen more often to quarterbacks who run the ball as much as Ford does, posting a CFL-best 9.2 yards per rush while also holding a league-high pass-efficiency rating of 138.3 in his three starts.
And he didn’t reach those numbers through conservative play that’s concerned more about the what-ifs than what works.
“Tre’s going to be himself,” Elks head coach and general manager Chris Jones said. “I think the wrong thing to do would be to try to tell him to be somebody he’s not. So, I’ve told him, ‘Don’t listen to the outside noise, you just do what Tre does. And if it’s moving around, then it’s moving around. But go through your progressions.’
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“And he can throw the football. And as long as he goes through his reads and takes care of the football, then just do naturally what you do.”
And what Ford likes to do before getting into any game is plenty of preparation.
“They’re a pretty fresh team for me,” Ford said of the Stampeders, who . I think they’ve got a phenomenal front seven, especially with (Cameron) Judge, I think he’s a phenomenal player too and athletic for a linebacker, as well,” Ford said. “Interested to see how they use him against me.
“As well, they’ve got some good DBs (defensive backs). I know they’ve got some younger guys too. They can run and make plays out there in the back end of the field. We’re definitely going to have go game plan and scheme up and get matchups we like.”
Edmonton Elks quarterback Tre Ford (2) throws the ball against the Ottawa Red Blacks during first half CFL action on Sunday, Aug. 27, 2023 in Edmonton. Photo by Greg Southam /Postmedia
If Ford keeps going at this pace — and if he can stay healthy this time around — then the Elks, despite an 0-9 start, may very well still have a sliver of chance to make a run at a potential crossover playoff spot.
But it leads to the question, where would the Elks be had they made the change to Ford earlier in the process, say at 0-5 or even 0-6? It’s not like the coaching staff didn’t realize the Canadian was a viable option, is it?
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“Well, we’re the group that drafted him last year. We felt strongly that he was a guy that could compete at the position,” said Jones, who parlayed the first-overall pick in 2022 into a pair of first-rounders, including Ford at eighth overall. “J-Jack (Elks offensive co-ordinator Jarious Jackson) watched a lot of film, (former Elks OC Stephen) McAdoo watched a ton of film, and Marcus (Howell, receivers coach), and we decided that he was a guy that could come in and compete at that position.
“So, no. It really doesn’t surprise me. I mean, he made every throw that was necessary at the Buffalo Pro Day, and then he won (his first CFL start) in Hamilton last year. Just unfortunately, he got nicked up the second game there in Calgary.”
E-mail: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com
On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge
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