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Tre and Tyrell Ford are together again and Chris Bertoia couldn’t be happier.
Tyrell Ford made the reconnection complete last month when he signed with the Edmonton Elks in CFL free agency. Roughly two months earlier, Tre Ford agreed to a three-year deal to remain in Alberta after being taken in the first round, No. 8 overall, in the 2022 draft.It marked the first time the twin brothers from Niagara Falls, Ont., were on the same team since their days at the University of Waterloo, where Bertoia has been the head football coach since 2015.“Good on Edmonton for signing them both and getting them back together,” Bertoia said. “I think it’s something that’s certainly a dream of theirs to play professionally together.“It’s really a neat story and I’m super proud of those guys.”
The 26-year-old Fords played at Waterloo from 2017 to 2021, each excelling with the Warriors.After being named Canadian university football’s top rookie in 2017, Tre Ford became Waterloo’s starting quarterback in 2018. That year he guided the school to its first playoff appearance since 2003, then the following season he led the Warriors to their first post-season victory since 1999.After the global pandemic forced the cancellation of the 2020 campaign, Tre Ford captured the 2021 Hec Crighton Trophy as Canadian university football’s outstanding player. He later received the Lois and Doug Mitchell award as U Sports top male athlete for 2021-22.
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But the quarterback was forced to be patient in Edmonton with 18 career starts (9-9 record) over 38 regular-season contests. After being stuck behind the likes of Taylor Cornelius, Jarret Doege and veteran McLeod Bethel-Thompson on the Elks’ depth chart, Ford is now firmly established as the starter and face of the franchise. Tyrell Ford, a cornerback, was a second-team all-Canadian in 2019 and 2021 while at Waterloo. He appeared in 30 games over four seasons, registering 94 tackles, six sacks, six interceptions — including one returned for a TD — and 20 pass knockdowns.Ford was also an effective special-teams performer, returning 40 kickoffs for 733 yards and 82 punts for 1,139 yards and three touchdowns. He was selected in the second round, 13th overall, in the 2022 CFL draft by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.Winnipeg released Ford on Jan. 10, 2023, so he could sign with the NFL’s Green Bay Packers. But he was among the NFL team’s final cuts.
Last season, Ford was a CFL all-star after registering 51 tackles and seven interceptions — one behind league leader Rolan Milligan Jr. of the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the league’s top defensive player. Ford helped Winnipeg reach the Grey Cup for a fifth straight year and earned the league’s best defensive (91.8) and coverage (92.0) grades according to Pro Football Focus, an American-based sports analytics company. Although the Fords are twins, Bertoia has no trouble telling them apart. That’s not surprising given he’s known them since early in their high school careers.“Oh yeah, Tre has short hair,” he said. “Tyrell is a little bit more talkative, he’s a defensive back … he’s loose while Tre is pretty even keel, pretty serious.“They both have their own individuality, even though they’re twins, but they’re very steady, very confident. They work their tails off and they’re very good leaders.”However, Bertoia said the brothers do have a somewhat mischievous side.“They certainly like to have fun and mess around,” he said. “They still mess around with me.“The other day I was on the road and they got into my office somehow and took a picture of themselves sitting at my desk. They’re still kids at heart and like to have fun but they also want to win and I think they’re pretty excited about what’s happened in Edmonton.”The brothers becoming teammates should also make Bertoia’s life a little easier.“Come June when things have dialed down a little bit, I can get out there and watch them both in the same game,” he said.
© 2025 The Canadian Press
