Tyrell Ford (born March 30, 1998) is a Canadian professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

defensive back In gridiron football, defensive backs (DBs), also called the secondary, are the players on the defensive side of the ball who play farthest back from the line of scrimmage. They are distinguished from the other two sets of defensive players, the ...

for the

Edmonton Elks The Edmonton Elks are a professional Canadian football team based in Edmonton, Alberta. The club competes in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member of the league's West Division (CFL), West Division and plays their home games at Commonw ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; , LCF) is a Professional gridiron football, professional Canadian football league in Canada. It comprises nine teams divided into two divisions, with four teams in the East Division (CFL), East Division and f ...

(CFL). He played

U Sports football U Sports football is the highest level of amateur play of Canadian football and operates under the auspices of U Sports, Canada's governing body for university sports. Twenty-seven teams from Canadian universities are divided into four athleti ...

for the

Waterloo Warriors The Waterloo Warriors are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada. The Warriors have found success over certain spans in football, hockey, rugby, golf and basketball among others, ...

Early life

Playing alongside his twin brother, Tre Ford, at A. N. Myer Secondary School, Ford led the Marauders to a Junior Metrobowl championship in 2013, and three straight

OFSAA The Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations (OFSAA) is an organization of student-athletes, teacher-coaches, student-coaches, teachers, principals, and sport administrators in Ontario, Canada. OFSAA is the second largest high school ath ...

championships from 2014 to 2016.

University career

Ford played

for the

from 2017 to 2021. Over four seasons, he played in 30 games where he had 94 total tackles, six sacks, 20 pass knockdowns, and six interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown. He was also a

kick returner A return specialist or kick returner is a player on the special teams unit of a gridiron football team who specializes in returning punts and kickoffs. There are few players who are exclusively return specialists; most also play another positio ...

for the team where he had 40 kick returns for 733 yards and 82 punt returns for 1,139 yards and three touchdowns. He was named a U Sports Second Team All-Canadian at

cornerback A cornerback (CB) is a member of the defensive backfield or secondary in gridiron football. Cornerbacks cover Wide receiver, receivers most of the time, but also blitz and defend against such Play from scrimmage, offensive running plays as sweep ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

and

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Professional career

Winnipeg Blue Bombers (first stint)

Ford was drafted in the second round, 13th overall, by the

Winnipeg Blue Bombers The Winnipeg Blue Bombers are a professional Canadian football team based in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The Blue Bombers compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division (CFL), West division. They play thei ...

in the 2022 CFL Draft and signed with the team on May 20, 2022. He made the team's active roster following training camp and played in his first professional game on June 10, 2022, against the

Ottawa Redblacks The Ottawa Redblacks (officially stylized as REDBLACKS) (Canadian French, French: ) are a professional Canadian football team based in Ottawa, Ontario. The team plays in the East Division (CFL), East Division of the Canadian Football League (CFL ...

where he had one special teams tackle. In his rookie season he played in all 18 regular season games and contributed with 10 special teams tackles and three defensive tackles. Following the season, he had a workout with the

Jacksonville Jaguars The Jacksonville Jaguars are a professional American football team based in Jacksonville, Florida. The Jaguars compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division. The team ...

(

NFL The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The N ...

). He was released by the Blue Bombers on January 10, 2023, in order to sign an NFL contract.

Green Bay Packers

On January 10, 2023, Ford was signed to a reserve/future contract with the

Green Bay Packers The Green Bay Packers are a professional American football team based in Green Bay, Wisconsin. The Packers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC North, North division. They ar ...

. He was released on August 29, 2023. Following his release from the Packers, Ford remained unsigned by any team, and did not play in 2023.

Winnipeg Blue Bombers (second stint)

On February 20, 2024, Ford re-signed with the Blue Bombers.

Edmonton Elks

Ford joined the

through free agency on February 12, 2025.

Personal life

Ford has a twin brother, Tre, who plays

quarterback The quarterback (QB) is a position in gridiron football who are members of the offensive side of the ball and mostly line up directly behind the Lineman (football), offensive line. In modern American football, the quarterback is usually consider ...

for the

and also played for the Waterloo Warriors. Ford began playing football when he was six years old when his father, Robert, introduced him to the sport and also served as his coach.

References

External links

Winnipeg Blue Bombers bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Tyrell 1998 births Living people Canadian football defensive backs Green Bay Packers players Players of Canadian football from Ontario Sportspeople from Niagara Falls, Ontario Waterloo Warriors football players Winnipeg Blue Bombers players American football defensive backs Players of American football from Ontario Edmonton Elks players