Shot at personal redemption
Niners’ Ford ready to bury Pats gaffe that cost KC title game
MIAMI — If the Patriots didn’t send thank-you cards to Dee Ford last year, they should have. And maybe tons of flowers, too.
Ford had a huge hand — literally — in the Patriots advancing to Super Bowl LIII. Were it not for the then-Chiefs linebacker lining up offsides in last year’s AFC Championship game, nullifying an interception of Tom Brady by Charvarius Ward, Andy Reid’s team would have gotten to the big game a year earlier.
Instead, it was the Patriots who advanced, and went on to beat the L.A. Rams and claim their sixth championship.
A year later, Ford is no longer with the Chiefs. He’s with the 49ers, the team opposing K.C. on Sunday night in Super Bowl LIV. One might think with the Chiefs in, and Ford also at the big game, his gaffe might be forgotten.
Hardly.
“It’s kind of been the thing,” said Ford. “But I expected it.”
The “thing” was a neutral zone infraction, and even the Chiefs point fingers at Ford for costing them a Super Bowl trip last season. Frank Clark, who took over as the Chiefs primary edge rusher after Ford was traded to San Francisco, called it a game-robber on Tuesday.
“I don’t know nothing about him,” Clark said Tuesday. “I couldn’t name a stat. I don’t know the school he went to.
“I just know he had lined up offside, and anybody who lined up offside at a time like that I feel like that’s a dumb penalty at the end of the day. I’m sure he feels the same way. Personally, I’ve lined up offside before but not in that type of (situation) … In any (situation) that’s just something that shouldn’t happen.”
Ford knows his carelessness cost the Chiefs, who lost 37-31 in overtime to the Patriots. He’s had to live with the mistake. He called it a “sloppy play” late in the fourth quarter with the game on the line. It was a tough lesson learned.
“Every play is magnified with the magnitude of the game. Mistakes just can’t happen. Even though they’re not intentional, mistakes can’t happen,” he said. “You don’t want to be the guy that costs the team, just from a mistake. The games are close, it’s going to always come down to five or six plays that change the game. You don’t want them to be mistakes.”
Ford, who played five seasons with the Chiefs, is just glad to have another opportunity, even if it’s against his former team. He’s already had a measure of redemption getting to the big game, but winning a Super Bowl ring would put his Patriots gaffe in the rear-view mirror for good.
“I’m very fortunate. I don’t remember a player ever being in this situation,” said Ford. “But I feel fortunate, and I’m going to make the most out of this opportunity. And how things unfold Sunday night is going to be very interesting.”