T.J. Ford retiring

Stepping Razor · Mar 12, 2012

The best of luck to him. He played a few years for my HS about 4/5 years before I got there! Saw him once at a "TJ Ford Day" in Baytown, Texas.

YaoforPrez · Mar 12, 2012

I remember holding the door open for him as he moved out of Jester at UT after declaring for the draft. He had 2 dolleys completely packed with nothing but shoe boxes. good luck TJ

Dreamin · Mar 12, 2012

Thats pretty sad. He had a pretty good start to his career with Bucks and Toronto. It looked he was only going to get better. He is only 28, damn.

ferrari77 · Mar 18, 2012

Good article on TJ and his retirement

http://thestar.blogs.com/raptors/2012/03/one-of-the-good-guys-hangs-em-up-good-call-for-all.html

One of the good guys hangs 'em up; good call for all

We’d all be standing around the middle of the Raptors locker room after games a bit awkwardly, maybe 10, 20, sometimes 25 beat grunts and camera operators and drop-ins, waiting patiently for whichever Raptor got dressed first so we could get some passable quotes to use in whatever story we were working on.

Chris Bosh was always the last – he had to get the earrings in and the tie knotted just so because you can’t do TV while looking slovenly – and the seconds would turn into minutes and the deadlines would be rapidly approaching.

And then, without fail, TJ Ford would be done, he’d approach the middle of the room where everyone was gathered and he’d catch someone by eye, stop for a second and say:

“Anyone need anything from me.”

It didn’t matter if he’d played well or poorly or at all, he’d stand there and answer questions honestly and with candor until the last questioner was gone; didn’t matter if they fled to talk to someone else or what, he’d wait and do whatever he had to do.

It was just the kind of guy he was, and is, and of all the Raptors to come down the pike in all the years, the tiny point guard was among the most honest, self-critical and forthcoming of them all.

News yesterday that Ford is going to have to retire from the game he loves so much because of neck/spine/back fears hit like a bolt of lightning, out of nowhere but not entirely unexpected because of the clouds that had been gathering for a while.

I wasn’t there the night he collided with Mark Madsen of Minnesota Timberwolves to cause the first injury that brought his genetic spine flaw to the forefront. TJ was playing in Milwaukee at the time and was as fearless as anyone in the game and the fact he and Madsen developed a friendship afterwards speaks volumes, I think, to TJ’s credit.

I wasn’t there the night in Atlanta when Al Horford smacked him and he fell so hard, so many of us at home holding our breath hoping he’d be okay.
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mokalus · Mar 19, 2012

TJ Ford was a great guy both on and off the court. I hate seeing careers ended early due to injury, but it's been a memorable basketball career. I'll never forget meeting TJ back at UT. Hook 'em.

http://www.gymclassallstars.com/2012/03/that-time-i-met-tj-ford.html

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T.J. Ford retiring

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