Thursday, October 07, 2004
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Former Raider tied to shooting

Police looking for ex-NFL kicker in drive-by incident

Cole Ford Suspect in drive-by shooting at Siegfried & Roy's home Oakland Raiders kicker Cole Ford turns away after missing a 47-yard field goal in September 1997. The Raiders lost the game by one point after Ford missed three field goals and had one blocked and returned for a touchdown. Ford played one game for the Buffalo Bills in 1998 before disappearing from the National Football League. Now, Las Vegas police are seeking to arrest him in connection with a drive-by shooting outside Siegfried and Roy's home last month. Photo by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Cole Ford acted like an ordinary guy during his years with the Oakland Raiders. He was always well dressed, clean cut and quiet.

"He looked more like a banker than a kicker," said David Humm, a Las Vegas resident and former Raiders quarterback who worked on the team's radio broadcasts during the mid-1990s.

But Humm's image of the former place kicker was a far cry from the bushy-haired fugitive who flashed across his TV screen Tuesday night.

"When I saw the picture ... I thought it was Charles Manson," Humm said. "That wasn't the guy I knew."

Las Vegas police have issued warrants for the arrest of Ford, 31, in a drive-by shooting last month outside the Jungle Palace home of Siegfried and Roy. The gunman yelled that the entertainers should leave the country, then fired at least four shotgun blasts at the home near Vegas and Rancho drives.

No one was hurt in the Sept. 21 incident, but the gunfire shattered windows and left a foot-wide hole in the home.

After linking Ford's white Chevrolet Astro minivan to the shooting, police issued arrest warrants for him on two counts of assault with a deadly weapon and six counts of discharging a firearm from a motor vehicle.

Authorities confirmed their suspect was the same man who once played in the National Football League.

Ford landed with the Raiders in 1995 after a promising career at the University of Southern California. He led the Trojans in scoring three of his four years, playing his final two years under head coach John Robinson, now the coach at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Ford was drafted by the Pittsburgh Steelers but didn't make the team. He joined the Raiders later that year and missed only one of nine field goal attempts.

The next year, Ford was the Raiders' regular place kicker. He played all 16 games and made 77 percent of his field goals. However, he missed a 28-yard field goal in Tampa Bay that lost the game as the Raiders were trying to reach the playoffs.

"It's always the one you miss that they remember," Humm said.

Despite the memorable miss, Ford returned as the team's kicker the following year. In what turned out to be his last full year in the NFL, Ford's performance turned dismal. He made only 59 percent of his field goals and was cut before the next season.

He played one game for the Buffalo Bills in 1998 before disappearing from professional football.

Humm likened Ford's decline to that of another Raider, Barret Robbins. The All-Pro center was one of the best offensive linemen in the game, but on the eve of Super Bowl XXXVII in 2003 he disappeared and missed the game.

It was later revealed he went to Tijuana and embarked on an all-night drinking binge. He later was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

Police couldn't say how long Ford had been in Las Vegas but believed he worked as a day laborer and lived in budget motels.

According to Department of Motor Vehicle records, he lived on South Las Vegas Boulevard.

Review-Journal writer J.M. Kalil contributed to this report.