Cody Ford (born December 28, 1996) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

offensive guard Offensive may refer to: * Offensive, the former name of the Dutch political party Socialist Alternative * Offensive (military), an attack * Offensive language ** Fighting words or insulting language, words that by their very utterance inflict inj ...

for the

Cincinnati Bengals The Cincinnati Bengals are a professional American football team based in Cincinnati. The Bengals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) AFC North, North division. The c ...

of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He played

college football College football (french: Football universitaire) refers to gridiron football played by teams of student athletes. It was through college football play that American football rules first gained popularity in the United States. Unlike most ...

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

. He has played in the NFL for the

Buffalo Bills The Buffalo Bills are a professional American football team based in the Buffalo metropolitan area. The Bills compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. ...

Arizona Cardinals The Arizona Cardinals are a professional American football team based in the Phoenix metropolitan area. The Cardinals compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) West division, and play t ...

College career

During his recruitment process, Ford originally committed to TCU before flipping to the Oklahoma Sooners. After redshirting for the 2015 season, Ford started the first 3 games of 2016 for Oklahoma before suffering a broken fibula against

Ohio State The Ohio State University, commonly called Ohio State or OSU, is a public land-grant research university in Columbus, Ohio. A member of the University System of Ohio, it has been ranked by major institutional rankings among the best public ...

and missing the rest of the season. During the 2018 season, Ford was named a third-team All-American as part of an offensive line that won the

Joe Moore Award The Joe Moore Award is awarded annually to the best college football offensive line unit. The award is presented by the Joe Moore Foundation for Teamwork and they state that "The Joe Moore Award for the Most Outstanding Offensive Line Unit will a ...

. Following this season, Ford announced that he would be declaring for the

2019 NFL Draft The 2019 NFL Draft was the 84th annual meeting of National Football League (NFL) franchises to select newly eligible players for the 2019 NFL season. The draft was held on April 25–27 in Nashville, Tennessee. The first round was held on April 2 ...

. When he declared, Ford was ranked as the number 3 guard available by NFL Draft analyst

Mel Kiper Jr. Mel Kiper Jr. (; born July 25, 1960) is an analyst covering American football for ESPN. He has appeared on ESPN's annual NFL draft coverage since 1984, providing in-depth information on the nation's potential draft picks. Career Kiper said th ...

Professional career

Buffalo Bills

Ford was drafted by the

in the second round with the 38th overall pick in the

. Ford alternated between playing at guard and tackle during his rookie year, but saw more time at tackle after starter Ty Nsekhe suffered an ankle injury. During Buffalo's Wild Card Round playoff loss against the

Houston Texans The Houston Texans are a professional American football team based in Houston. The Texans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) AFC South, South division, and play their home ga ...

, Ford was called for an illegal blindside block as the Bills were driving into field goal range in overtime. The penalty played a part in Buffalo losing the game and has been seen as controversial. After Ford was later fined $28,075 by the league for the block, numerous Bills fans donated on

GoFundMe GoFundMe is an American for-profit crowdfunding platform that allows people to raise money for events ranging from life events such as celebrations and graduations to challenging circumstances like accidents and illnesses. From 2010 to the b ...

in an attempt to help Ford cover the costs. Ford entered the 2020 season as the Bills starting right guard. He moved over to left guard in Week 3 in place of

Quinton Spain Quinton Lamar Spain (born August 7, 1991) is an American football guard who is currently a free agent. He was signed by the Tennessee Titans as an undrafted free agent in 2015. He played college football at West Virginia. Professional career ...

. He started the next four games there, before missing three of the next four games. Prior to Week 12, Ford suffered a torn meniscus in practice and was placed on

injured reserve The injured reserve list ( IR list) is a designation used in North American professional sports leagues for athletes who suffer injuries and become unable to play. The exact name of the list varies by league; it is known as "injured reserve" in th ...

on November 28.

Arizona Cardinals

On August 22, 2022, the Bills traded Ford to the

for a 2023 fifth-round pick. On September 10, 2022, he was placed on injured reserve after injuring his ankle at practice. He was activated on October 20.

Cincinnati Bengals

On March 16, 2023, Ford signed a one-year contract with the

. Ford would make the initial 53-man roster, as the backup left guard to

Cordell Volson Cordell Volson (born July 20, 1998) is an American football guard for the Cincinnati Bengals of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at North Dakota State. Early life and high school Volson grew up in Balfour, North Dak ...

. He would make his first start with the Bengals in Week 12 against the

Pittsburgh Steelers The Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh. The Steelers compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) North division. Founded in , the Steel ...

References

External links

*
Buffalo Bills bioOklahoma Sooners bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Cody 1996 births Living people People from Pineville, Louisiana Players of American football from Louisiana American football offensive linemen Oklahoma Sooners football players Buffalo Bills players Arizona Cardinals players Cincinnati Bengals players Sportspeople from Rapides Parish, Louisiana Pineville High School (Louisiana) alumni