Newly signed Sporting KC defender Kortne Ford returns to Kansas with chip on shoulder

When the time came for Kortne Ford to talk with the Colorado Rapids about his future with the franchise, the writing was on the wall.

After spending time in the Rapids Academy and five years on the roster as a homegrown player, Ford had been through four head coaches.

“(With) each one of them, I had the chance to play and prove myself,” said Ford, 25, who was born in Olathe and moved to Colorado with his family as a youngster. “I never got the chance with the manager there.

“At the end of the day, they put an offer on the table, and I didn’t think that it was an offer that showed that they valued me. So I knew it was time for a change.”

The Major League Soccer offseason that followed — and eventually led him to Sporting KC — was a difficult one. After finishing the 2021 campaign with San Antonio FC of the USL Championship league, he sat down with the Rapids about his future.

Then he had to show potential suitors that he was fully recovered from his knee injuries.

When the offers arrived, they included one from Peter Vermes — one that made him feel respected, and wanted.

“What Kansas City put on the table showed that they valued me and wanted me here,” Ford said. “It was an easy, easy decision to make.”

Vermes sees the chip on Ford’s shoulder and knows the “valleys” he’s been through.

“I think it’s the players that suffer a little bit at some point — If they do it early in their career, and they learn from it — they wind up having a long career,” Vermes said Thursday. “They wind up being someone who values the time that they have to play, and they realize what it is they want: they want to win.

“In the conversations we had with Kortne, that was very relevant. It was very obvious for me.”

Ford’s drive to succeed is strong, and its something he’s relying on to help him find regular playing time with Sporting KC.

“I’m a competitor at heart,” Ford said. “I don’t care if it’s cards, dominoes, you name it. I want to win. Then you add all the adversity that I’ve been through over the past couple of years, the injury, losing my mom, all that just adds to it.”

Ford’s mother, Laurie Ford, died during the time when Kortne was working out for teams and trying to prove himself. She’d been diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer; in November, she ended her treatment and about a month after that she was gone.

Ford said the first few days after her passing were difficult, but that his period of mourning has ended.

“She’d be rolling over in her grave if I was mourning, playing the victim role, or sad that she was gone,” he said. “She would want me to know that she’s with me every day, and to go get it.

“Out of all the people on the planet, she knows how hungry I am for this, and she would want me to go after it.”

Ford said the timing of his mother’s passing has made the acceptance of change easier.

“This is the first preseason that I’ve been able to go into not only healthy, but not having those stressors weighing on me,” he said. “So, in a lot of ways, it’s a great time for a change, and I know she’s proud. It’s my job now to go and honor her with everything that I’ve got.”