Jacoby Ford
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Ford with the Oakland Raiders | |||||||||
| No. 12 Edmonton Eskimos | |||||||||
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| Position: | Wide receiver / Return specialist | ||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||
| Date of birth: | July 27, 1987 | ||||||||
| Place of birth: | West Palm Beach, Florida | ||||||||
| Height: | 5 ft 9 in (1.75 m) | ||||||||
| Weight: | 190 lb (86 kg) | ||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||
| High school: | West Palm Beach (FL) Newman | ||||||||
| College: | Clemson | ||||||||
| NFL draft: | 2010 / Round: 4 / Pick: 108 | ||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||
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| * Offseason and/or practice squad member only | |||||||||
| Roster status: | Active | ||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||
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Track and field honors:
NFL honors
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| Career NFL statistics as of 2013 | |||||||||
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Jacoby Ford (born July 27, 1987) is an American football wide receiver and return specialist who is currently a member of the Edmonton Eskimos. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He was also an accomplished track and field athlete. He played college football as a wide receiver and return specialist for the Clemson Tigers at Clemson University, where he competed in sprinting events. In the NFL, Ford is widely regarded as one of the fastest players in the league.[1] He has one of the top 100 meter times by NFL players.
Early life
His brother, Davy Ford, played football at Florida State. Jacoby attended Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he earned two letters in football and one in track. As a senior, he recorded 22 receptions for 550 yards and ten touchdowns. He was named the Palm Beach County All-Star Game most valuable player and a second-team all-state player.
In 2005, he attended preparatory school at the Fork Union Military Academy in Fork Union, Virginia. There he recorded seven kick returns for touchdowns, 57 receptions for 1,254 yards and nine touchdowns, and 12 rushing attempts for 306 yards and three touchdowns.[2] At the Fork Union Military Academy combine, he reportedly ran the 40-yard dash in 4.126 seconds.[3][4] Rivals.com ranked him the number-17 prep school player in the nation and called him the "fastest player on the East Coast". The head coach John Schuman called him "the fastest player ever at Fork Union", a school which has produced 87 NFL Draft picks and two Heisman Trophy winners.[2]
Ford was recruited by Clemson, Florida, Michigan State, Virginia, Virginia Tech, and West Virginia.[2]
College career
Ford enrolled at Clemson University, where he majored in sociology. In 2006 as a true freshman, he saw action in 12 of 13 games. He recorded 15 receptions for 187 yards and two touchdowns, and eight rushing attempts for 104 yards, 23 punt returns for 166 yards and one touchdown, and 13 kick returns for 426 yards and one touchdown.[5]
During the 2007 football season, he saw action in eight of 13 games. He recorded 17 receptions for 310 yards and four touchdowns, 14 rushing attempts for 172 yards, 18 punt returns for 108 yards, and eight kick returns for 211 yards.[5] His season ended early when he suffered a broken ankle against Maryland.[6]
In 2008, he saw action in all 13 games. He recorded 55 receptions for 710 yards and four touchdowns, 18 rushing attempts for 96 yards, 21 punt returns for 62 yards, and 17 kick returns for 313 yards.[5]
Prior to the 2009 season, the NFL Draft Scout ranked Ford as the seventh out of 310 available wide receiver prospects for the 2010 NFL Draft.[7]
In the Tiger's 40-24 victory over the Florida State Seminoles on November 7, 2009, Ford and C.J. Spiller became the greatest all-purpose duo in NCAA history (a record previously held by Marshall Faulk and Darnay Scott of San Diego State).
Track and field
Ford was the 2005 Florida state 100-meter dash champion reportedly with a time of 10.32 seconds (he ran a wind assisted 10.21 on another occasion),[8] and 200-meter dash champion with a time of 21.18 seconds.[2]
During 2007, he was named the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Indoor Freshman of the Year. In the 60-meter dash, he set an ACC record, and the national best for the year, at 6.52 seconds.[9] Ford was also named the Southeast Region Indoor Track Athlete of the Year, and he was awarded National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) All-American, All-East Region, and All-ACC honors.[10]
In February 2009, at the Virginia Tech Elite Meet, Ford ran a 6.51-second 60-meter dash, which was one-hundredth of a second shy of the NCAA Championship meet record.[11] In March, he won the 60-meter dash at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships.[12] During the track season, he was again named an NCAA All-American, All-East Region, and All-ACC athlete with a fastest time of 10.01.[10][13]
Personal bests
| Event | Time (seconds) | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 60 meters | 6.51 | Blacksburg, Virginia | February 28, 2009 |
| 100 meters | 10.01 | Fayetteville, Arkansas | June 10, 2009[14] |
| 200 meters | 20.88 | Coral Gables, Florida | April 18, 2009 |
Professional career
2010 NFL Combine
| Ht | Wt | 40-yd dash | 10-yd split | 20-yd split | 20-ss | 3-cone | Vert | Broad | BP | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 ft 9 in | 186 lb | 4.28 s | 1.46 s | 2.44 s | 4.44 s | 7.00 s | 33.5 in | 9 ft 7 in | 15 reps | ||||||||||
| All values from NFL Combine.[15] | |||||||||||||||||||
Oakland Raiders
On April 24, Jacoby Ford was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the 4th round of the 2010 NFL Draft with the 108th pick overall. He had 6 receptions for 148 yards and also returned a kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown against the Kansas City Chiefs on November 7, 2010. This was his career-best receiving total. Ford was a pivotal weapon against the Chiefs recording 148 receiving yards, 47 yards of which came on a pass from Jason Campbell to set up Sebastian Janikowski for the 33-yard field goal to beat the Kansas City Chiefs 23-20 in overtime. For his spectacular play in Week 9 against Kansas City, Ford was voted as the Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week. Ford was named the AFC Special Teams Player of the Month for November 2010. He had a 94-yard touchdown on a kickoff return against the Kansas City Chiefs and a 101-yard return for a score against the Miami Dolphins, the latter the third longest in club history. On December 26, 2010, Ford returned the opening kickoff for 100 yards against the Indianapolis Colts, going end-to-end in 11 seconds.[16] Ford also holds the Raiders record for the most kickoff returns for a touchdown in a season at 3. During the Week 6 game of the 2011 season, Ford set the Raiders franchise record for the most kickoffs returned for touchdowns in franchise history with 4, after his 101-yard kick off return for a touchdown against the Cleveland Browns. In the offseason of 2014 the Raiders decided to not offer Ford a new contract.[17]
New York Jets
Ford was signed by the New York Jets on April 1, 2014.[18] He was released on August 24.[19]
Tennessee Titans
The Tennessee Titans signed Ford to a futures contract on January 14, 2015.[20]
Career Statistics
| Year | Team | Games | Receptions | Targets | Reception Yards | Yards per Reception | Longest Reception | Receiving Touchdowns | First Downs | Fumbles | Lost Fumbles |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | OAK | 16 | 25 | 53 | 470 | 18.8 | 52 | 2 | 19 | 0 | 0 |
| 2011 | OAK | 8 | 19 | 33 | 279 | 14.7 | 41 | 1 | 14 | 2 | 1 |
| 2013 | OAK | 14 | 13 | 24 | 99 | 7.6 | 22 | 0 | 5 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | Total | 38 | 57 | 110 | 848 | 14.9 | 52 | 3 | 38 | 3 | 2 |
References
- ↑ "Top Five Fastest Players in the NFL". Yahoo.
- 1 2 3 4 Player Bio: Jacoby Ford, Football, Clemson University, retrieved May 23, 2009.
- ↑ Clemson's Jacoby Ford turning blazing speed into receiving success, The Anderson Independent-Mail, August 24, 2007.
- ↑ Fresh hype (cont.), Sports Illustrated, August 11, 2006.
- 1 2 3 Jacoby Ford Stats, ESPN, retrieved May 23, 2009.
- ↑ Injury bug turns attention to Clemson, The Post and Courier, October 28, 2007.
- ↑ Jacoby Ford, Clemson, WR, The NFL Draft Scout, retrieved June 7, 2009.
- ↑ 2005 MEN'S HIGH SCHOOL LEADERS at the Wayback Machine (archived June 22, 2006)
- ↑ Clemson's Jacoby Ford Named ACC Indoor Freshman of the Year, Tiger Net, March 5, 2007.
- 1 2 Player Bio: Jacoby Ford, Men's Track & Field, Clemson University, retrieved June 6, 2009.
- ↑ Of course Jacoby Ford knows this means sprint war, Rivals.com, February 17, 2009.
- ↑ Jacoby Ford, NFL Draft, CBS Sports, retrieved May 23, 2009.
- ↑ Collegiate Outdoor All-Time List - Men at the Wayback Machine (archived September 6, 2009)
- ↑ "All-time men's best 100m". Retrieved November 10, 2013.
- ↑ "Adrian Peterson-Oklahoma RB-2007 NFL Draft Scout Player Profile". Nfldraftscout.com. Retrieved November 28, 2008.
- ↑ "Indianapolis at Oakland | 2010-12-26 | National Football League | Yahoo! Sports". Sports.yahoo.com. Retrieved 2015-02-03.
- ↑ Author (2014-03-09). "Jacoby Ford to enter NFL free agency - Jacoby Ford Clemson Football Player Update". TigerNet. Retrieved 2015-02-03.
- ↑ Allen, Eric (April 1, 2014). "Jets Add WR Jacoby Ford". New York Jets. Archived from the original on April 1, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
- ↑ Lange, Randy (August 24, 2014). "Jets Release 6 to Get to 75 Players". New York Jets. Archived from the original on August 24, 2014. Retrieved August 24, 2014.
- ↑ Wilkening, Mike (January 14, 2015). "Titans agree with Jacoby Ford, Clyde Gates on reserve/future contracts". NBCSports.com. Retrieved 2015-01-18.
- ↑ "Jacoby Ford". ESPN Internet Ventures. Retrieved 14 January 2014.
External links
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