Former mayor Rob Ford spent much of his life, efforts and money coaching and mentoring high school football teams.Peter Power/The Globe and Mail
To many, former mayor Rob Ford led a life riddled with controversy and signs of erratic behaviour. For a small group of young Toronto men, however, he was just "Robby," or Coach Ford, the best football coach they've ever had.
Mr. Ford, who succumbed to complications from cancer on Tuesday, spent much of his life, efforts and money coaching and mentoring high school football teams. In 2011, after he was elected mayor, Mr. Ford's official biography stated that his foundation had raised and spent "more than $100,000 in order to purchase equipment and establish football programs at high schools across the city."
Soon after he dropped out of Carleton University and started working for Deco Labels and Tags, the family business, Mr. Ford returned to his passion in 1993 as an assistant coach for his Etobicoke alma mater. A former offensive linesman for the Scarlett Heights Raiders himself in the mid-1980s, he forged a connection with the team, showing off his focus and aggression.
"Fordy's buddies used to talk about what a ferocious player he was – super intense and loved the game," said Robert Chuckman, who was a senior at Scarlett Heights in 1993 while Mr. Ford was coaching. "But I didn't see that intensity fully come out till this one Wednesday night practice."
Mr. Chuckman related how Mr. Ford wordlessly ran the whole team to where their rivals Richview Collegiate were practising, before a big game against them, more than two kilometres away. He then ran them around the Richview players, saying, "Look at these guys. They're no better than you. … Look at them right in the eyes."
"We loved him," Mr. Chuckman said. "To me, he embodied the spirit of football better than any other coach I had."
He would later coach at Newtonbrook Secondary School in North York, where a verbal altercation with a young player in 2001 led to a bitter end. Mr. Ford was told by school authorities that he was no longer welcome, and asked to stop coaching.
The following year, he established the junior and senior football teams for Don Bosco Catholic Secondary School and took over as head coach in a volunteer capacity at the school.
"He was an excellent coach," said Mena Malfara, an administrative assistant at Don Bosco, who said she had known Mr. Ford since 2003. "Always here for the boys, never let them down. He inspired them to try hard … not only on the football field, but in life in general."
Tony Mason, a 25-year-old who played for the Don Bosco Eagles from 2004 to 2006, remembers the tough disciplinarian. "I broke my finger once during practice. He said, 'Don't be a sissy.' I loved him for that. I went to the clinic to get it wrapped up, and then I was right back on the field."
School documents showed he was said to have made players roll around in goose scat when he wasn't satisfied with their performance, despite winning that day's game. During this time, he also established a summer junior league called the Rexdale Raiders (formerly the Toronto Jr. TigerCats) for Etobicoke youth. "When we played the final game of the season, Rob came into the dressing room and told everyone his life story, and how much football can change a person's life," said Angel Adrian Farias, 20, who played for the Raiders in 2010.
He said Mr. Ford offered to write references for all the team members, and said they could call him if they were ever stuck without a ride home or just needed to talk.
Mr. Ford would eventually run afoul of another school administration. After almost a decade of coaching the Don Bosco Eagles, the embattled mayor described in a 2013 televised interview how many of his students "come from gangs" and "broken homes," and without football would have "no reason to go to school." That upset the Toronto Catholic District School Board, which was further horrified to hear him disparage the players as "just … minorities" in a leaked video where he appeared to be smoking crack cocaine.
Mr. Ford was soon dropped as the Eagles' football coach. The Toronto District Catholic School Board released a statement saying only that it decided to pursue a "different direction" with a new volunteer coach, though Mr. Ford was effectively banned from coaching any other Catholic high school team.
Despite his public fall from grace, he remained a hero to many. The coach's mentees continued to pay tribute on social media late into the week, thanking him for the lives he changed.
"I wish everyone could see how much he truly loved making a difference in people's lives," Mr. Farias said.