Nanuet High School has had many championship football seasons, but there are none more memorable than the 1989 season. That year the football team was not only undefeated, and untied, but they were UNSCORED upon on their way to a Section I Championship. T.J. Ford was the leader and moving force behind that team. But that was just in the fall; T.J. was also a standout for the Knights on the basketball court and lacrosse field. Playing on the football team, at running back, T.J. was a threat to score any time he touched the ball. One of 13 individual school records he amassed during his illustrious career with the Golden Knights was scoring 27 touchdowns, in just his senior year! T.J. was a threat on both sides of the ball. Playing linebacker, in the Section I championship game against Bronxville, T.J. hit a Bronxville player so hard, the crowd at Mount Vernon Stadium gasped in disbelief.

Among his school records were: 5 rushing touchdowns in one game, 33 rushing attempts in one game, 27 touchdowns in a season, 1331 rushing yards in a season, 223 career points scored, 37 career touchdowns, and a career average per rush
of 5.9 yards. For his efforts on the football field T.J. was voted All County twice, All League twice, and first team All Section in his senior year. To top it all off, T.J. was selected as the New York State Class C Player of the Year, as well as a New York Daily News First Team All Star.

T.J. was a leader in all three sports he played, serving as captain of the football, basketball, and lacrosse teams, and playing varsity ball for three years in each sport. In lacrosse, he was a two time All Section I midfielder who scored 31 goals and had23 assists for the 1990 team, which posted a 16-1 record and was undefeated in the in the
regular season. He also scored 20 goals and added 26 assists in 1989. As a point guard in basketball, T.J. was a vital contributor to the 1989 Nanuet team that advanced to the Section I Class final, scoring 245 points and averaging 12.9 points per game to earn All Section and All League honors.

In his senior year T.J. scored 247 points with a 12.3 point average per game and again made All League. Being a Member of the National Honor Society, T.J. was named a Journal News Scholar Athlete of the Week.

T.J. continued playing football in college at St. Cloud (Minn.) State University, an NCAA division II school, for two years before suffering a severe ankle injury. He played well enough to win freshman of the year honors in the 1990 season.
He later transferred to Dominican College in Blauvelt wherehe earned a Bachelor of Science degree in Business administration. T.J. has also earned an MBA from Iona College, and currently works in surgical sales for Stryker Orthopedics. He and his wife Deirdre live in Mahwah, New Jersey, with their two children Cailey, 6 and Ryan, 4.