Forde follows in father’s footsteps, comes full circle with B.C. Lions
VANCOUVER — Maxx Forde’s first highlight with the B.C. Lions wasn’t the day the defensive lineman was drafted, his first game, his first start or his first sack.
It happened when he was a toddler perched on his father Brian Forde’s shoulders after the linebacker helped the club win the 1994 Grey Cup — a moment immortalized on a VHS tape.
“The video’s probably in storage somewhere, but I’m sure I could dig that up,” said Maxx Forde, who was just three years old when the Lions beat Baltimore 26-23 in a thrilling title game at B.C. Place. “I don’t remember the actual moment, but we’ve got a picture of me, my mom, dad and little sister with the Grey Cup.
“I have some very brief flashbacks. It’s kind of like snapshots. I remember my dad would bring me in the locker-room and guys like (Canadian Football Hall of Fame kicker) Lui Passaglia would give me a pop.”
While talking about those times brings a smile to his face, the road that would eventually bring Maxx Forde back to the team hasn’t always been an easy one.
Born in Seattle, Maxx and the Forde family settled just outside the city in Woodinville, Wash., when Brian’s playing career ended.
The younger Forde excelled on the football field in high school before he committed to the University of Idaho, where he registered 83 solo tackles and six sacks in 46 career games over four seasons.
The NFL was the dream, but as Maxx was preparing for a senior year at Idaho that would be hampered by injury, another door opened when the CFL and its players signed a new collective bargaining agreement in June 2014.
The document loosened the rules on what constituted a “national” — or Canadian — player, meaning Maxx would be eligible for the draft because Brian was born in Montreal.
“I knew the CFL was a good league,” Maxx Forde said after practice last week in Surrey. “It came on my radar pretty late that I would be a national.”
But that would just be the first step in what turned into a long and sometimes frustrating path.
Forde expected to be taken somewhere in the first few rounds of the 2015 draft. He instead fell to No. 58 — there were only 62 picks — and B.C. selected another defensive lineman, Ese Mrabure, fifth overall.
“I wasn’t sure if they forgot about me,” the 6-foot-5, 262-pound Forde recalled. “I came into the day with high expectations. I was kind of dejected, but I’ve used that as fuel.”
The Lions said despite taking a flyer on Forde in the seventh round, his raw numbers scored the highest with the club’s analytics department.
Lions head coach and GM Wally Buono had a history with Brian Forde, and was confident Maxx’s pedigree would eventually translate.
“Nobody realized how long it would take,” said Buono. “When he got here, you could see the kid was serious. He had a great work ethic.”
Maxx Forde suited up five times last year, but has taken a massive stride in 2017, appearing in all 10 of B.C.’s games. The 25-year-old picked up his first sack and forced fumble in late July and has nine tackles as part of the club’s defensive line rotation.
The Lions sit stewing on their bye week with a 5-5 record after three straight losses, but as Forde’s journey demonstrates, keeping faith is a big part of the battle.
“It wasn’t always the brightest outlook,” said Forde, who wears his dad’s old No. 48. “It was pretty bleak at times, but I kept trucking ahead and believed that I could do it.”