Jacoby Ford (born July 27, 1987) is a former

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 wi ...

wide receiver and

return specialist 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 position ...

. He was drafted by the Oakland Raiders in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He was also an accomplished

track and field Track and field is a sport that includes athletic contests based on running, jumping, and throwing skills. The name is derived from where the sport takes place, a running track and a grass field for the throwing and some of the jumping eve ...

athlete. He played college football as a wide receiver and

for the

Clemson Tigers The Clemson Tigers are the athletic teams that represent Clemson University, located in Clemson, South Carolina. They compete as a member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level (Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) s ...

Clemson University Clemson University () is a public land-grant research university in Clemson, South Carolina. Founded in 1889, Clemson is the second-largest university in the student population in South Carolina. For the fall 2019 semester, the university enr ...

, where he competed in sprinting events. During his stint in the NFL, Ford was widely regarded as one of the fastest players in the league. He has one of the top 100 meter times by NFL players.

Early life

His brother, Davy Ford, played football at

Florida State Florida State University (FSU) is a public university, public research university in Tallahassee, Florida. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida. Founded in 1851, it is located on the oldest continuous site of higher e ...

. Jacoby attended Cardinal Newman High School in

West Palm Beach, Florida West Palm Beach is a city in and the county seat of Palm Beach County, Florida, United States. It is located immediately to the west of the adjacent Palm Beach, which is situated on a barrier island across the Lake Worth Lagoon. The populati ...

, 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 Fork Union Military Academy (abbreviated as FUMA) is a private, all-male, college preparatory military boarding school located in Fork Union, Virginia. Founded in 1898, Fork Union is considered one of the premier military boarding academies in th ...

Fork Union, Virginia Fork Union is an unincorporated community in southern Fluvanna County, Virginia, along U.S. Highway 15. Its ZIP code is 23055; the population within that ZIP code was 1148 according to the 2000 Census. It is known mainly as the home of Fork Uni ...

. 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.Player Bio: Jacoby Ford
Football, Clemson University, retrieved May 23, 2009. At the Fork Union Military Academy combine, he reportedly ran the

40-yard dash The 40-yard dash is a sprint covering . It is primarily run to evaluate the speed and acceleration of American football players by scouts, particularly for the NFL Draft but also for collegiate recruiting. A player's recorded time can have a h ...

in 4.126 seconds.

Rivals.com Rivals.com is a network of websites that focus mainly on college football and basketball recruiting in the United States. The network was started in 1998 and employs more than 300 personnel. History Rivals.com was founded in 1998 by Jim Heckma ...

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 The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

picks and two Heisman Trophy winners. Ford was recruited by Clemson,

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

Michigan State Michigan State University (Michigan State, MSU) is a public land-grant research university in East Lansing, Michigan. It was founded in 1855 as the Agricultural College of the State of Michigan, the first of its kind in the United States. It i ...

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...

Virginia Tech Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a public land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also has educational facilities in six re ...

, and

West Virginia West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...

College career

Ford enrolled at

, where he majored in

sociology Sociology is a social science that focuses on society, human social behavior, patterns of social relationships, social interaction, and aspects of culture associated with everyday life. It uses various methods of empirical investigation an ...

. 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. 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. His season ended early when he suffered a broken ankle against

Maryland Maryland ( ) is a state in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States. It shares borders with Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware and the Atlantic Ocean to ...

. In

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

, 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.Jacoby Ford Stats
ESPN, retrieved May 23, 2009. 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. 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 Darnay Scott (born July 7, 1972) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Cincinnati Bengals and Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at San Diego State University. Early years Scott attended Su ...

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), and 200-meter dash champion with a time of 21.18 seconds. During 2007, he was named the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) Indoor Freshman of the Year. In the

60-meter dash 60 metres, or 60-meter dash, is a sprint event in track and field. It is a championship event for indoor championships, normally dominated by the best outdoor 100 metres runners. At outdoor venues it is a rare distance, at least for senior at ...

, he set an ACC record, and the national best for the year, at 6.52 seconds. Ford was also named the Southeast Region Indoor Track Athlete of the Year, and he was awarded

National Collegiate Athletic Association The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) is a nonprofit organization that regulates student athletics among about 1,100 schools in the United States, Canada, and Puerto Rico. It also organizes the athletic programs of colleges ...

(NCAA) All-American, All-East Region, and All-ACC honors.Player Bio: Jacoby Ford
Men's Track & Field, Clemson University, retrieved June 6, 2009. 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. In March, he won the 60-meter dash at the NCAA Indoor Track and Field Championships. 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.

Personal bests

Professional career

2010 NFL Combine

Oakland Raiders

On April 24, 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 The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The ...

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 Jason S. Campbell (born December 31, 1981) is a former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL). He was drafted by the Washington Redskins in the first round of the 2005 NFL Draft. He played college footbal ...

to set up

Sebastian Janikowski Sebastian Paweł Janikowski (; born March 2, 1978) is a Polish former American football placekicker who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 18 seasons, primarily with the Oakland Raiders. He played college football at Florida State ...

for the 33-yard field goal to beat the

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 Pepsi NFL Rookie of the Week is an award given to the best performing rookie players in the National Football League (NFL). It was first awarded in 2002 and is sponsored by Pepsi. Winners are chosen among five finalists every week during the seaso ...

. 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

and a 101-yard return for a score against the

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

, 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. 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 The Cleveland Browns are a professional American football team based in Cleveland. Named after original coach and co-founder Paul Brown, they compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (A ...

. In the offseason of 2014 the Raiders decided to not offer Ford a new contract.

New York Jets

Ford was signed by the New York Jets on April 1, 2014. He was released on August 24.

Tennessee Titans

The

Tennessee Titans The Tennessee Titans are a professional American football team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The Titans compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the American Football Conference (AFC) South division, and play their hom ...

signed Ford to a

futures contract In finance, a futures contract (sometimes called a futures) is a standardized legal contract to buy or sell something at a predetermined price for delivery at a specified time in the future, between parties not yet known to each other. The asset ...

on January 14, 2015. He signed a one-year, $660,000 contract but was waived as a part of the final cuts on September 5, 2015.

Edmonton Eskimos

On February 19, 2016, he was signed by the Edmonton Eskimos of the CFL. On June 19, 2016, Ford was released as a part of Edmonton's final roster cuts.

Montreal Alouettes

After recovering from an injured hamstring, he was signed to the Alouettes' practice roster on July 8, 2016.

Saskatchewan Roughriders

Ford signed with the

Saskatchewan Roughriders The Saskatchewan Roughriders are a professional Canadian football team based in Regina, Saskatchewan. The Roughriders compete in the Canadian Football League (CFL) as a member club of the league's West Division. The Roughriders were founded in ...

of the

Canadian Football League The Canadian Football League (CFL; french: Ligue canadienne de football—LCF) is a professional sports league in Canada. The CFL is the highest level of competition in Canadian football. The league consists of nine teams, each located in a ci ...

for the 2017 season. He was released on April 25, 2018.

Career statistics

References

External links

Tennessee Titans bioNew York Jets bioOakland Raiders bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ford, Jacoby 1987 births Living people African-American players of American football American football return specialists American football wide receivers American male sprinters Clemson Tigers football players Clemson Tigers men's track and field athletes Edmonton Elks players New York Jets players Oakland Raiders players Players of American football from Florida Sportspeople from West Palm Beach, Florida Tennessee Titans players 21st-century African-American sportspeople 20th-century African-American people