VALDOSTA — The Valdosta State football team is doing everything it can to forget the way the 2011 season ended.

Three straight final-minute losses cost the Blazers the No. 1 seed in the region and a playoff berth. During the fall from one of the best teams in the region to failing to reach the playoffs at the end of the season, one of VSU’s biggest weapons couldn’t do anything but sit in the stands and watch his teammates lose in heartbreaking fashion week after week.

That’s because he, Gerald Ford, failed to do what was required academically to remain eligible to play on the football team.

“Just coming to the games and seeing those guys, I know they needed me last year and I couldn’t be there for them,” Ford said. “I feel like I let the team down, the coaching staff down and mostly I let myself down.”

But now, last season is exactly that — last season. Much like the team is trying to do, Ford is looking to move on and once again be an asset to the Blazers on the field.

Ford took that first step in becoming an asset again on Monday when he participated in his first fall practice in two years.

“It was everything I expected,” said Ford of Monday’s practice. “I am just glad to be back out here running with the guys after having that whole year off.”

After being away from the team for a year, Ford found himself having to meet many new teammates, including quarterback Cayden Cochran, who started the final four games of last season.

“Even though we aren’t in the same practice right now, we make sure we get together,” said Ford, who is practicing in a different practice session from Cochran for the first four days of fall camp. “I get with him and we just go over everything. So me and Cayden are good on and off the field.”

 On Tuesday, Ford said the transition back into the team has been good and his teammates have been receptive to his return.

“I just try to come out here and work every day,” Ford said. “I am not as loud and vocal as I have been in past years, but I am just trying to be an example.”

While Ford says he isn’t being as loud and vocal as in the past, head coach David Dean, who also serves as the team’s wide receivers coach, thinks Ford is quickly becoming a leader on the team.

“He is emerging as a leader,” Dean said. “He has been around and has made a lot of plays for us. And guys respect him because he has made plays and he worked very hard to get himself back.

“He is doing a great job,” Dean continued. “We have a lot of young receivers this year and he is doing a great job at stepping up and being a leader this year — telling them how to practice and the attitude they need to have.”

Besides working hard in the classroom to become eligible, Ford said he spent his season away from the team reflecting on what he lost.

“I had some time to reflect on what means most to me, which is football and academics, mostly,” Ford said. “But football, this is my love.

“If you want something, you have to work at it,” Ford continued. “I was kind of half stepping in the past, with school and football. Like I’d come out here and think talent would get it, but you need more. You need knowledge for the game and academics. Basically, you need the mental part. That is the biggest thing I learned.”

Ford became eligible in the spring semester and went through VSU’s spring practice. His presence quickly reminded fans what they missed last season, even with a receiving corps that was, and still is, filled with playmakers.

Now as fall practice was begun and the season opener is quickly approaching (Sept. 1 at Saginaw Valley State), Ford’s talents are adding to what is an already deep receiving corps that features three key returners from last season (Griffin Roelle, Quin Roberson and Seantavious Jones).

The four receiving stars have combined for 183 receptions for 2,439 yards and 22 touchdowns in their VSU careers, which don’t exceed two seasons each. That is a lot of experience returning for the Blazers this season, and next season too.

“Dangerous,” said Ford when describing the receivers. “That is one word I could use to sum it all up. We have height, we have speed, strength. We should be able to do it.”

With such a deep group, opposing defenses will be pressured to cover every receiving option the Blazers put on the field, giving Ford and the others opportunities for one-on-one coverage.

“I feel like we all compliment each other,” Ford said. “We have everything, we have all the packages. We have big, we have fast, we have small. I think we can all flourish.”

Despite the suspension, coaches around the conference are expecting another monster year by Ford; they voted him onto the preseason All-Gulf South Conference team.

Ford said while he likes the attention, he would rather have the attention be towards the team and not just himself.

“I just want to flourish with my team,” Ford said. “I don’t want to be a standout. I mean if I am a standout, that’s fine, but I want to standout with my team.”

“With (Ford) being named All-Conference, that reputation speaks for itself,” Dean said. “There will be some folks, Fort Valley, Saginaw Valley and Angelo State that have not seen him play, so hopefully he can sneak up on those guys. But everyone in the conference, I think they are going to know about Gerald Ford.”

As he moves forward in his final two years with the Blazers, Ford said he hopes he can continue to perform on the field for the Blazers, along with mentor younger players and help them in knowing the importance of working hard on the field and in the classroom.

“I just try to give them my story and let them know that is the wrong road to go down and how to clean up their act, early,” Ford said. “I am just trying to steer them in the right direction.”