Dee Ford

Early years

Ford attended St. Clair County High School in Odenville, Alabama. As a senior, Ford recorded 90 tackles, including 38 tackles for loss and 18 sacks, intercepted a pass, and broke up three while being named to the Class 4A All-State team by the Alabama Sports Writers Association. As a junior, he posted 87 total tackles with 16 tackles for a loss and 12 sacks.

Considered a three-star recruit by Rivals.com, he was ranked as the 62nd best outside linebacker prospect in the nation.

In addition to playing football, Dee Ford is known for his exceptional piano playing abilities.

College career

Ford attended Auburn University from 2009 to 2013. During his career, he had 19.5 sacks. As a senior in 2013, he was an All-SEC selection.

Statistics

Kansas City Chiefs

Ford was selected 23rd by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1st round of the 2014 NFL Draft, after he was regularly regarded as a top linebacker in the 2014 draft class.

2014 season

Ford was quickly given high expectations by many fans and analysts, however a lack of playing time spurred from the Chiefs already having Pro Bowl linebackers Justin Houston and Tamba Hali, causing him to only record seven total tackles on the season along with one and a half sacks.

2015 season

After a somewhat disappointing 2014 campaign with a lack of snaps on defense, Ford did not gain too many extra defensive snaps as the Chiefs retained Justin Houston after franchise tagging him. He did not record a sack on the season until Week 14, which he had a career game where he recorded double his career sacks to that point, with three sacks. He recorded one more on the season, and finished with four sacks and 21 total tackles on the season, a slight improvement from his rookie campaign.

2016 season

With Justin Houston being announced to be possibly out for the year after having an ACL surgery in February, Ford was expected to start at the outside linebacker position, opposite of teammate Tamba Hali. Dee Ford began his 2016 campaign slow, only marking one and a half sacks through the first four games of the season, however against the Oakland Raiders he recorded five total tackles and two sacks, marking him his second multi-sack game of his career. He did not record a sack against the New Orleans Saints in Week 7, and only recorded one tackle total on a down effort, however the Chiefs still won 27-21. In Week 8, the Chiefs faced the Indianapolis Colts, where Ford arguably had his best performance of his career, marking three and a half sacks and five total tackles as the Chiefs won 30-14.Against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 9, Ford continued his breakout season as he recorded two more sacks to go along with three tackles as the Chiefs won 19-14. In Week 10, many speculated that Justin Houston would return, possibly limiting Ford's snaps, however Houston rested the game and Dee Ford marked a sack and three tackles in a winning effort against the Panthers. Through Ford's first nine games of his 2016 season, he was tied with Lorenzo Alexander as the NFL's sack leader.

2017 season

On May 1, 2017, the Chiefs picked up the fifth-year option on Ford's contract.