It’s a drizzly, windy Labour Day Monday at the Lions’ practice facility – the type of day that reminds you it’s almost time to put the shorts and flip flops away until next spring- but Solomon Elimimian, as always, has that extra bounce in his step as he confidently trots out for the start of practice. There are plenty of reasons for Elimimian to be chipper as the Lions prepare for a Friday night clash with Montreal. The club is 7-3, having already matched its win total from 2015. Prior to Monday’s games, the Lions’ defence led the CFL in sacks, and shared the lead in pass knockdowns with Calgary. And let’s not forget Elimimian himself. Fresh off setting the club’s single-game tackles record by recording 14 in last week’s victory over the Argonauts, the stout linebacker is second in the CFL with 70 total stops, trailing only Bear Woods of the Alouettes.
“Every time you can break a record, you have to take pride in it because I’ve worked hard. You want the individual success but you also want the team success,” Elimimian said. “As big as it is for me it’s also important to give credit to the defensive line. We have some great players on the D-line that keep Biggie and me free to make plays. I need to thank the defensive line and Mark Washington who has done a tremendous job all season getting us prepared.”
But stop for a moment and consider the fact Elimimian wasn’t sure he would ever get back to the elite form of 2014 when he took home the CFL Most Outstanding Player Award as well as top defensive honours. It’s a far cry from the feeling on August 15th of last year when he was carted off the field after suffering a season ending Achilles injury.
“It feels good. I was determined this off-season, I put in a lot of work. I didn’t want to let the team down; I didn’t want to let myself down,” the two-time CFL All-Star said. “E
very time I come out here I want to have a focus and an intent. Early on it might not have come easy, but I just kept working and kept believing that I was going to keep getting better. I feel good, I feel healthy.”
It’s safe to say the focus and intent have been quite apparent as we head into the stretch drive. You could also tell just how committed Elimiman was to getting back to form when the Lions returned to Tim Horton’s Field in week two and recorded a convincing 28-3 win to propel them to their first 2-0 record since 2012. “For me, it was personal,” Elimimian said when we interviewed him post-game at midfield. You could tell the University of Hawaii product was on a mission that night, especially after he laid a huge hit on Andy Fantuz to force a fumble recovery by Ryan Phillips.
From there, he has just gotten better and will most certainly be in the discussion when it comes to vote for this year’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player in November. The determination and commitment has not gone unnoticed by Wally Buono and the rest of the coaching staff.
“With the kind of injury that he had, it’s not only just a physical thing but it’s also a mental thing,” Buono said. “He’s worked hard, last week he had an outstanding game and obviously for us to win he’s going to have to have more of those. Good football is contagious. Everybody wants to make a play, everybody wants to contribute and the way that we try to work our team is to try to get as many guys playing and having a role so they all feel valuable and important.” As for the accolades, Elimimian is only concerned with one trophy right now, and it has nothing to do with individual recognition.
“Every year you want to win the Grey Cup, every year that’s what you play football for. To be the best collectively. We have a solid foundation. It’s not going to be easy, but we just have to focus each week on our opponent. The season is like climbing a mountain – you just have to keep going, keep pressing. There’s going to be times where it’s hard, but you put your head
down and just keep pressing. That’s what we’re doing.”
As is the case every week, it’s a one game season. And now the focus is on tackling the 3-7 Alouettes Friday at BC Place. It will be fun to see what Solly has in store for an encore.
Matt Baker:mbaker@bclions.com