Alan Ford

Alan Ford was "Mr. Versatile" for the Saskatchewan Roughriders for 12 seasons from 1965 to 1976.  Ford played offensive halfback early in his career, and switched to split end and tight end when the Riders needed him there.  Ford also handled the punting  for the riders for most of his career, returned kickoffs and when injuries struck also played defensive back. While he never led the league in any catagory, Ford was always a good solid player whose versatility was invaluable with the smaller rosters of the time.  Early in his career, Ford saw significant time carrying the ball, or as significant as you can get with George Reed as your number one rusher.   In his best years, Ford had 66 carries for 355 yards in 1967 and 66 carries for 288 yards in 1968.  1968 was especially good as Ford also had 39 catches for 626 yards, both career highs.  With more import running backs like Bobby Thompson and Silas McKinnie joining the t eam, Ford moved to play mainly at a receiver spot from 1969 on.  The exception being 1970 when injuries forced Ford into action on defence and he had four interceptions. Ford showed pretty decent speed also early in his career. this showed up especially as a kickoff returner where Ford averaged over 26 yards a return in both in 1967 and 1968.  In 1967, Ford had 603 kickoff returns which was second only to speedy Dave Raimey in the West. Following his playing career, Ford spent one year as an assistant coach with the Riders and then eleven years as the General Manager from 1989 to 1999.  That means that Ford won one of Saskatchewan's three Grey Cups as a player in 1966 and one as a General Manager in 1989.

Al Ford in Wikipedia

Ford and Lancaster at cfl.ca

Rookie Ford Placed on Injured List - August 18, 1965

Ford and Riders Win Grey Cup - November 28, 1966

Ford Resigns With Riders - May 22, 1970

ford Becomes Coach - March 16, 1979

Ford Not Returning as Rider Assistant Coach - December 19, 1979

 

GP, Passing, Rush and Receiving
Year Team GP PA PC % Yds TD Int Sacked Yds TC Yds Avg TD Rec Yds Avg Long TD Long PTS
1965 SASK 7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 14 105 7.5 0 2 31 15.5 24 0 24 0
1966 SASK 16 1 1 100 18 0 0 0 0 26 114 4.4 0 13 188 14.4 45 1 45 7
1967 SASK 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 4 111 66 355 5.4 3 27 399 14.8 44 1 44 29
1968 SASK 16 1 1 100 6 0 0 5 66 68 288 4.2 2 39 626 16.1 66 3 66 34
1969 SASK 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 2 59 16 81 5.1 0 23 355 15.4 50 1 50 10
1970 SASK 16 1 1 100 31 0 0 2 33 11 60 5.5 0 9 162 18 39 0 39 1
1971 SASK 16 1 0 0 0 0 0 4 33 2 11 5.5 0 32 525 16.4 43 5 43 32
1972 SASK 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 36 511 14.2 43 2 43 15
1973 SASK 16 1 0 0 0 0 0 3 70 1 1 1 0 23 391 17 45 0 45 8
1974 SASK 16 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 6 15 2.5 0 23 247 10.7 31 0 31 1
1975 SASK 16 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 26 324 12.5 55 1 55 6
1976 SASK 15 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 20 56 2.8 2 8 80 10 23 0 23 12

Punting

Punting
Year Team P Yds Avg Long S
1965 SASK 0 0 0 0 0
1966 SASK 75 2971 39.6 74 1
1967 SASK 116 4492 38.7 89 5
1968 SASK 133 5532 41.6 68 4
1969 SASK 123 4731 38.5 84 4
1970 SASK 133 5424 40.8 69 1
1971 SASK 123 5014 40.8 81 2
1972 SASK 77 3070 42.1 76 3
1973 SASK 111 4478 40.3 75 2
1974 SASK 117 4754 40.6 55 1
1975 SASK 37 1414 38.3 57 0
1976 SASK 0 0 0 0 0

 

KO and Punt Returns
Year Team KOR Yds Avg TD Long PR Yds Avg TD Long
1965 SASK 6 145 24.1 0 36 0 0 0 0 0
1966 SASK 13 267 20.5 0 30 0 0 0 0 0
1967 SASK 26 603 26.2 0 38 0 0 0 0 0
1968 SASK 16 425 26.6 0 43 0 0 0 0 0
1969 SASK 9 192 21.3 0 37 0 0 0 0 0
1970 SASK 5 112 22.4 0 30 0 0 0 0 0
1971 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1972 SASK 5 94 18.8 0 24 0 0 0 0 0
1973 SASK 2 21 105 0 21 0 0 0 0 0
1974 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1975 SASK 8 44 5.5 0 15 0 0 0 0 0
1976 SASK 3 32 10.7 0 20 1 5 5 0 5

 

Interceptions and Fumble Returns
Year Team Int Yds Avg TDInt Long FR Yds Avg TD Long FF
1965 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1966 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1967 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1968 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1969 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1970 SASK 4 49 12.3 0 47 1 0 0 0 0
1971 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1972 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0
1973 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1974 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1975 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
1976 SASK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

 

Fumbles
Year Team F FL OFR
1965 SASK 1
0
1966 SASK 0
0
1967 SASK 6 5 0
1968 SASK 6 5 1
1969 SASK 0 0 2
1970 SASK 1 1 0
1971 SASK 3 3 1
1972 SASK 0 0 0
1973 SASK 3 3 2
1974 SASK 1 1 2
1975 SASK 0 0 0
1976 SASK 1 0 0

 

 

1970 OPC Al Ford