VERO BEACH, Fla. — It took driving just over an hour north of his hometown of West Palm Beach, Fla., for Jacoby Ford to get his first taste of the CFL.

One of 54 players involved in Edmonton Eskimos mini-camp at Historic Dodgertown, the former NFLer didn’t even have to leave his own state to experience the northern league for the first time.

And if his previous professional football resume is any indication, Ford could have covered that distance nearly as fast on his feet.

“This is just right up the road from me,” Ford said. “It’s a great experience to come up here and get my first taste of it. It’s definitely a lot different but I’m learning.

“It’s going to be a learning process for right now, but hopefully by the time the season gets going I’ll be feeling a lot more comfortable with everything.”

Fortunately, Ford’s a fast learner.

Heck, he’s plain fast, period.

At the NFL combine, Ford posted a 40 time of 4.28 seconds

But prior to that, he attended another one in prep school where he ran even faster.

“I ran like some ridiculous 4.126 or some crazy thing, it was hand-timed though,” said Ford, 28, who spent four seasons with the Oakland Raiders after being drafted in the fourth round (108 overall) in 2010.

That kind of time is tends to get you noticed.

“You do, it helped me out a lot,” said Ford, a heavily-decorated track athlete who captured the state championship with a 10.32-second 100 m sprint in 2005. “I didn’t have a lot of offers coming out of high school, actually. So I went to prep school and when I ran that time, that’s when everybody was like: ’Woah, he can run.’

“That kind of put me on the map and them watching me play football was a great thing for me then.”

These days, it’s still all about the speed, but Ford is also seeing his game evolve.

“My speed is my strong point,” he said. “If I can take someone on a deep route, that’s my main point.

“I just have to be able to control it on the shorter routes, which I’ve learned. But doing it with this league here, with the running start, it’s just another transition.”

After Oakland, Ford spent the past two preseasons with the New York Jets and Tennessee Titans.

“I was their final cut,” he said of the Titans last year. “I thought I would make that team, I did everything they asked me to do but they just kept guys and I was the odd-man out.

“I loved how that camp went for me, it was a big confidence booster just from being out the year before.”

It will be two years by the time he arrives for training camp in Edmonton on May 29.

“I haven’t made a team in two years,” he said. “I’m hungry and I’ve got a little chip on my shoulder. I keep quiet about it but, inside, that fire burns.

“I’m here now, I’ve embraced the CFL. I’m just ready to go back and play football, that’s it.”

No matter how fast you are, there is no running away from the reality that a job can be taken away as quickly as it’s earned.

“This game can humble you real quick,” Ford said. “You can be on top of the world one second and then the next thing you know, you’re out of the league.”

DOZEN GUESSES

It pays to know the history of the number you’re wearing when you come to a new team.

Just ask Ford the significance of the No. 12 practice shirt he sported at Eskimos mini-camp?

“I don’t know about the meaning of 12, I just love the No. 12,” said Ford, who wore it during his three seasons with the Raiders.

Of course, on the Green and Gold, the number belonged to Eskimos head coach Jason Maas back when he played on this team.

“Really? Oh,” Ford said. “So I’ve got to make it look good. I’ll have to remember that next time, that means a lot then.

“I was actually curious what number they’d give me. Then when I saw they gave me 12, that made me happy. I haven’t had that number in a while, so it felt good to have it back on.”

But what does Maas think about a receiver wearing his old number?

“Aw, I’m fine with it.”

HEATING UP

Move over, Charles Darwin.

There was nothing particularly evolutionary about how the pretenders were weeded out from the contenders during the three-day Edmonton Eskimos mini-camp at Historic Dodgertown.

Mother Nature saw to some of it, herself.

There were those whose dedication and off-season training regimen allowed them to beat the Florida heat, while others sputtered and chugged their way through the humid two-a-day practices, which wrapped up, mercifully, with a single session on Tuesday.

“It's survival of the fittest,” said Eskimos head coach Jason Maas. “Football's a physical and mental game, so as you get tired, mentally you start to drain a little bit.”

At the same time, the coaches got to see who was willing to push right to the limit, as fatigue and dehydration led to cases of cramping, especially in the early session on Day 2.

But that's really the whole point of an off-season mini-camp.

Anyone in attendance can play when they're fresh. Now, the players know what's expected of them come the opening of training camp on May 29.

“You want to see guys that can fight through some adversity,” Maas said. “And you get to see that at a two-a-day practice this time of year.”

CUNNINGHAM CUT?

Postmedia Calgary's Scott Mitchell reports a source saying the Eskimos plan to release Sederrik Cunningham, who joined the team's practice squad in September. The five-foot-11, 199-pound receiver/return man out of Furman spent 2014 with the Calgary Stampeders on the way to being named the team nominee for Most Outstanding Rookie.

The 26-year-old native of Zephyrhills, Fla., was not present at Eskimos mini-camp.

gerry.moddejonge@sunmedia.ca

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