Bills' Poona Ford has proven doubters wrong and could take his game to new heights

Poona Ford heard the same story so many times that at some point, maybe all the way back to his high school days, the Buffalo Bills defensive tackle just decided to smile and ignore the commentary.

The doubters said he was too short in high school in Hilton Head, South Carolina, to ever get scholarship offers from Power Five conference schools. Well, he ended up at one of the biggest football programs in the country at the University of Texas, where in 2017 he was named Big 12 defensive lineman of the year.

Then he was too short to make it in the NFL, and while his 5-foot-11 stature probably did cause every team to take a pass for seven rounds, he ultimately signed with the Seahawks, beat the long odds that all undrafted free agents face to make the team, then started 64 of the 76 games he played between 2018-22.

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“Everybody always says it was my height,” he said of the lack of belief so many had in him, “but you gotta make a believer out of people. That’s all it takes. I just kind of kept my head down and was grinding, just trying to do my best to get better every year. And I felt like I kind of accomplished that.”

That’s what the Bills were looking at when they made their pitch to sign him last spring after he became a salary cap casualty in Seattle. It was his on-field performance, not his height, that led Brandon Beane to give him a one-year, $2.25 million free agent contract.

“Poona was a guy that we stayed very interested in through the free agent process, but couldn’t get them to agree to my deal that we were working with some others on,” Beane said. “I know he had some interest and according to the agent, I believe he turned down a little bit more money to come here, so we liked that.

“Ultimately he’s a pro, he started a lot of games, he’s a really good run player, and I think he can help in the rush. At a minimum he’s pushing that pocket to keep that quarterback from stepping up. He helps you get to third down by stopping that run.”

Ford grew up in a tiny town called Pritchardville in the southernmost part of South Carolina, the prototypical one-stoplight dot on the map. He made the decision before entering high school to move to nearby Hilton Head Island and live with his grandmother on his father’s side in order to attend a bigger high school that provided better athletic opportunity.

“I just wanted to go live with her, being able to explore something different, but I always went back and forth,” he said. “It’s not like I was going to a different part of the state, I was like right there so it wasn’t a big deal.”

From the beginning of his high school career Ford began proving people wrong and he became an All-Area defensive player of the year as a senior. That season he made 135 tackles, 28 for lost yardage including seven sacks, on the heels of a junior season when he made 154 tackles, 44 for losses and 10 sacks.

The so-called too short kid earned four-star recruit status and with several schools on him, he committed to Louisville because he loved the campus and made a connection with head coach Charlie Strong. So much of a connection that when Strong left to take the job at Texas, Ford followed him there and went on to become the Longhorns’ first Big 12 defensive player of the year since Brian Orapko in 2008.

Of his success at every level, Ford said, “No, I haven’t been surprised. I’ve always had high expectations, with a high standard that I set for myself. I’ve had that since I was young, playing as a little kid. I’ve just kept that same mentality growing up, in high school and college, and even today. I was always told I was too short, but as long as I’m able to make plays, I don’t see what the issue is.”

In Buffalo’s scheme, Ford has the versatility to play both the one- and three-technique so he can rotate in for either DaQuan Jones or Ed Oliver, and he has even taken snaps on the edge.

“I see him being an extremely active part of the rotation, a three-down player, a person that we can count on in multiple situations,” said defensive line coach Eric Washington. “Very excited about having him here. He’s very bright, very, very smart, very aware, can play multiple positions, which is what you like. You love the versatility for game day.”

One of Ford’s greatest assets is his ability to chase down plays to either side of the field. Despite weighing a stocky 310 pounds, he has a knack for negotiating his way through the congestion at the line of scrimmage to make plays on the perimeter.

“It’s one of the main things that made me different and what people noticed about me,” he said. “I can do a lot of other things, too. I’m still working on my game, but that’s probably one of the things that people notice.”

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Well, that and his name. His birth name is Kaylon, but his great-grandmother nicknamed him Poona because she said he was her “Pooh Bear” and it has always stuck – while he was starring in high school, starring at Texas, and then becoming a mainstay in the Seahawks defense that was coordinated last season by Gates Chili’s own Clint Hurtt.

Ford said last year he’d love to retire as a Seahawk, but the 27-year-old said Friday following his third training camp practice with the Bills, “It’s a business league. I always knew it was a possibility. I always loved Seattle, but I knew that may not be my forever home. But you know, I’m glad to be in Buffalo and everybody welcomed me with open arms.”

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This article originally appeared on Rochester Democrat and Chronicle: Bills' Poona Ford rises to the challenge to become solid run stopper