Trace Ford Announces Transfer to Oklahoma

I will actually wish him well but the fact is two other schools that were very interested looked at his injury history and basically said No Thanks!!! He may be damaged goods but I guess we will see!

Words can not express my disgust for you as a person.

A great player who gave a lot and suffered a lot for the Cowboys. Trace I hope you soak those Sooners for a bunch of NIL money and stay healthy to get an NFL shot. Thanks for being a Cowboy!

What an embarrassing look for the cowboys program lol if things weren't embarrassing enough already.

How much money did they pay you?

He seems bitter

Trace… out of curiosity… why didn't you go to OU right out of high school? Maybe they didn't offer you a scholarship? I can't remember.

Am I supposed to know who is in the picture with him?

SirPokesAlot said:

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He seems bitter

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He suffered two serious knee injuries and is not the player he was physically going back to 2019 and 2020! That is just the way it goes in a very physical sport like football!

Best of luck Trace, just not against us.

POOBAPOKE said:

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Am I supposed to know who is in the picture with him?

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Apparently, he's the student equipment manager. So, that's weird.

ALWAYS respected Trace and will continue to do so but not this choice to go to OU. Doesn't make sense at all in my opinion.

What's eye opening to me is that we now know there is no rivalry. Trace goes to ou and osu players supporting it on social media. Back in the day it would be a hell na. No wonder ou whoops our ass every year. Our players don't even give a ****

Ford played at a high level, suffered injuries, worked hard to come back and again played at a high level. But let's be honest, all his contributions and sacrifices were never for the name on the front of the jersey or his friends and teammates in the locker room, it was all for the name on the back of the jersey. I'll save my admiration for the athletes that stay and play for the university despite playing opportunities and/or $$$$ to go elsewhere.

If you saw Brock Martin's tweet, that's almost exactly what he said. My sentiments as well...sort of...

For anyone buying in to that "…. always a Cowboy, loyal and true…" nonsense.

"My first Bedlam experience in Norman, I watched a OU player literally spit on one of my teammates oh and also one of our equipment manager got jumped and now has broken ribs for doing his job and retrieving a football ……. What an extraordinary university!"

- Trace Ford (@traceford12) November 23, 2020

Brain is as damaged as his knees..........

Why doesn't someone here explain EXACTLY why he left our program? Surely RA knows the REAL deal. This seems like it was more than just about the money. Was it because he didn't buy in to Derek Mason? Was it because he got sick of this anemic and predictably bad offense? Something is clearly toxic here.

Guitar54 said:

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Why doesn't someone here explain EXACTLY why he left our program? Surely RA knows the REAL deal. This seems like it was more than just about the money. Was it because he didn't buy in to Derek Mason? Was it because he got sick of this anemic and predictably bad offense? Something is clearly toxic here.

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Generally, defensive players don't transfer because of offense. Besides, at 6-1 and before the injuries started piling up on offense, we were #3 in the country in scoring. The coaching staff clearly knows how to produce offense.
As for Mason, he's running the same defense Ford has played in since he arrived.
Highly doubt he has an issue with his position coach, Greg Richmond.
Is he upset he was a rotation player? Maybe.
Did he get NIL$$? Probably.
Is there a toxicity issue? Doubt it. Just look at the portal throughout the entire 130 team rosters. Think GREEN. Greener pastures and greener money trumps loyalty and logic for most kids.

I am guessing that this is and NIL driven transfer.

We better get this figured out fast.

GumbyFromPokeyLand said:

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Guitar54 said:

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Why doesn't someone here explain EXACTLY why he left our program? Surely RA knows the REAL deal. This seems like it was more than just about the money. Was it because he didn't buy in to Derek Mason? Was it because he got sick of this anemic and predictably bad offense? Something is clearly toxic here.

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Generally, defensive players don't transfer because of offense. Besides, at 6-1 and before the injuries started piling up on offense, we were #3 in the country in scoring. The coaching staff clearly knows how to produce offense.
As for Mason, he's running the same defense Ford has played in since he arrived.
Highly doubt he has an issue with his position coach, Greg Richmond.
Is he upset he was a rotation player? Maybe.
Did he get NIL$$? Probably.
Is there a toxicity issue? Doubt it. Just look at the portal throughout the entire 130 team rosters. Think GREEN. Greener pastures and greener money trumps loyalty and logic for most kids.

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I don't know what he got NIL wise, I have head rumors in the $125,000 to $150,000 range over $100,000 that USC supposedly offered! I am going to say that is too much for a player that isn't the same after his two serious knee injuries but My God there defense is probably worse than ours and they need all the bodies they can get!!!

I'll give you "my figuring it out" for what my opinion is worth. Trace Ford was a stud at OSU who was one of the best defensive players in the conference and likely a top two or three round upcoming draft NFL defensive end. He would have been even higher but he's slightly size limited for today's NFL.
Then his knee injuries occurred and significantly changed (likely may ruin) his NFL draft and earnings potential. At the very least, he's looking at a very reduced NFL guaranteed contract timeframe offer IF he can stay healthy this upcoming year and beat out the competition at OU for significant playing time.
My guess is, OSU coaches somewhat tried to protect Trace in '22, against his wishes somewhat. But additionally, OSU was and likely still is fairly deep with DE's. Trace likely wouldn't have gotten 50% of plays at OSU this year and may have been at best our 3rd or 4th best DE when healthy.
So now he gets at OU the chance to come in, earn a 1st or 2nd rotation without as much "coach coddling" and very likely 3 or 4 times the NIL payoff (if not more). Perhaps NIL's even can be incentive based and OSU folks weren't going to drastically up our NIL investment in Trace given Collins, Latu, Goodlow, Brown, Waltershied, Foreman, etc. at the same DE position. Our NIL $s are limited and unfortunately for Trace, he's no longer a safe bet due to his knees.
So Trace probably makes the most of his financial opportunities by moving to a richer program.......and IF he stays healthy, may improve his playing time and NFL draft stock.
If he's hurt again God forbid.....he at least gets a little more financial cushion before having to give up football and enter the workforce in some other role.
I personally wish him well and hope he has a season that gets him an NFL shot....a dream he's had for many years!

FYI - incentive based NIL$$ are not allowed.

That would assume people are following rules that the NCAA put together on NIL, which we all know is a huge stretch. Plus, since NIL isn't under open records and handled more and more by agents working with the old sugar daddies again, you can't assume what is agreed upon (or included in just surface agreements). Common business sense if I were putting tens of thousands of my money into a wounded transfer, I might want to set up my investing agreement carefully. One of the already ongoing claims nationally on NIL's has been some players aren't getting "promised dollars". Think about that.

Orangeheart72 said:

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That would assume people are following rules that the NCAA put together on NIL, which we all know is a huge stretch. Plus, since NIL isn't under open records and handled more and more by agents working with the old sugar daddies again, you can't assume what is agreed upon (or included in just surface agreements). Common business sense if I were putting tens of thousands of my money into a wounded transfer, I might want to set up my investing agreement carefully. One of the already ongoing claims nationally on NIL's has been some players aren't getting "promised dollars". Think about that.

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An incentive based NIL is the definition of pay for play. It's one thing to use back channels to communicate a potential NIL deal (ie recruiting incentive), quite another to enter into a disallowed contract with a paper trail that CAN be reviewed by NCAA investigators.

Orangeheart72 said:

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That would assume people are following rules that the NCAA put together on NIL, which we all know is a huge stretch. Plus, since NIL isn't under open records and handled more and more by agents working with the old sugar daddies again, you can't assume what is agreed upon (or included in just surface agreements). Common business sense if I were putting tens of thousands of my money into a wounded transfer, I might want to set up my investing agreement carefully. One of the already ongoing claims nationally on NIL's has been some players aren't getting "promised dollars". Think about that.

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I don't think that is true.

Aren't the NIL agreements required to be reported to the school? Wouldn't that "technically" make them subject to review by the NCAA if they so choose?

CaliforniaCowboy said:

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Orangeheart72 said:

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That would assume people are following rules that the NCAA put together on NIL, which we all know is a huge stretch. Plus, since NIL isn't under open records and handled more and more by agents working with the old sugar daddies again, you can't assume what is agreed upon (or included in just surface agreements). Common business sense if I were putting tens of thousands of my money into a wounded transfer, I might want to set up my investing agreement carefully. One of the already ongoing claims nationally on NIL's has been some players aren't getting "promised dollars". Think about that.

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I don't think that is true.

Aren't the NIL agreements required to be reported to the school? Wouldn't that "technically" make them subject to review by the NCAA if they so choose?

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Not only that, but when the NCAA comes calling and they ask for documentation, you CAN decline. But as we've witnessed, not complying with requests means you're guilty.

Private sector records aren't subject to open records is my point. If you have a public institution (OU) they're records are legally open records and not releasing them is a criminal offense. Seth Wadley Auto sales in Norman isn't under any such legal requirements. But just my opinion here, if you think OU's operating within NIL guidelines it's fine.

Orangeheart72 said:

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Private sector records aren't subject to open records is my point. If you have a public institution (OU) they're records are legally open records and not releasing them is a criminal offense. Seth Wadley Auto sales in Norman isn't under any such legal requirements. But just my opinion here, if you think OU's operating within NIL guidelines it's fine.

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I think you're missing the point.

1. Schools can require all athletes file their NIL deals with the school. Most schools do require this in order to not run afoul of the NCAA and be subject to "lack of institutional control" type penalties as a starter. Even though an NIL deal is between the student and a private party, anything provided the school is subject to NCAA review.

2. If a school does not require athletes to file their NIL deals, that does not prevent the NCAA from investigating the NIL deals at a particular school or with a particular athlete. Just think about how the NCAA approached the Dez Bryant deal. It had nothing to do with the school, so they just quizzed Dez. Dez was less than truthful, thus he was penalized. If an athlete is not cooperative (ie won't provide documentation of his NIL deals) I would expect that athlete to get the Dez treatment.

At the end of the day, an athlete is at just as much risk of being found guilty of violating NCAA rules by entering into a disallowed private NIL deal now as they were in the past.

Like I said, fine.