Canadian Football League

Tuesday, March 04, 2008

Duane Forde Joins TSN For Canadian Football League Broadcasts

TSN announced today two-time Grey Cup champion Duane Forde is joining the CFL on TSN broadcast team as a game analyst.
The 12-year CFL fullback will work 30 games this season, all of which will be alongside play-by-play announcer Rod Black. Forde will also contribute regularly to SportsCentre and TSN.ca, where he will write a weekly column focusing on CFL issues, personnel and scouting.
Forde will make his TSN debut on April 30 during TSN.ca's live online broadcast of the 2008 CFL Canadian Draft.
"Sports broadcasting isn't that much different than being a professional athlete in that you always aspire to be part of a successful organization with a commitment to being the best," said Forde. "TSN epitomizes those qualities and I'm very pleased to be joining their team."
Forde joins the TSN team as the network embarks on a new five-year broadcast partnership with the CFL that provides TSN with broadcast and digital rights for the CFL's entire 77-game package annually, including all regular season games, divisional playoff matches and the Grey Cup.

"Duane brings to the table both CFL and broadcasting experience," said Mark Milliere, Vice-President of Production, TSN. "He has all the elements and characteristics we were looking for. Duane and Rod Black have a natural rapport that normally takes years to develop. The addition of Duane to our award-winning broadcast team is the first step of many over the next few months, as we continue to embrace our new partnership with the CFL and gear up for the 2008 season and the Grey Cup."
Forde will work with the popular CFL on TSN broadcast team of play-by-play announcer Chris Cuthbert, game analyst Glen Suitor, Black, on-site host Brian Williams, studio host Dave Randorf, and studio analysts Chris Schultz, Matt Dunigan and Jock Climie. Forde was teammates with each of the TSN studio analysts during his playing days: 1993 in Winnipeg with Dunigan; 1994 in Toronto with Schultz; and 1995 in Toronto with Climie.
Prior to joining TSN, Forde worked for seven years as a game and studio analyst for CFL and CIS Football telecasts on both The Score and Rogers Sportsnet.
Throughout his 12-year CFL career, Forde played for four teams (Calgary, Winnipeg, Toronto and Hamilton) and made five Grey Cup appearances, winning two championships (1992 and 1998 with Calgary). He was the Stampeders' team captain for four seasons and played an impressive 150 consecutive regular season and playoff games from 1993-2000. Forde was also a CIS standout having played with the University of Western Ontario Mustangs for four years, in which the team lost only one regular season game. Forde was named the team's MVP twice and was co-captain of the Mustangs' Vanier Cup championship in 1989.
In June, Forde, who was born in Toronto and resides in Mississauga, will be inducted into the Mississauga Sports Hall of Fame.


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