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Gord McIntyre
The Province
Linebacker Solomon Elimimian, son of an English teacher and himself an English major at college, loves nothing better than punishing running backs, then helping them to their feet so he can hit them again the next play.
Elimimian took a few minutes to talk to The Province‘s Gord McIntyre…
Q: There are some good nicknames for Nigerian athletes: Hakeem Olajuwon was The Dream, [former K.C. running back] Christian Okoye was the Nigerian Nightmare, boxer Richard Ihetu [undisputed world middleweight and light-heavyweight champ in the 1950s-60s] was Dick Tiger. Do you have a nickname?
A: Ahh, do I have a nickname. Naw, just Solly, short for Solomon, that’s pretty much it.
Q: How old were you when you moved from Nigeria to the United States?
A: I was about one year old when we moved to San Francisco and I was 10 or 11 when my family moved to Los Angeles.
Q: I find it impressive that in your final two seasons in college you averaged 10 tackles a game for the Warriors.
A: Yeah, I did pretty good in college, made a lot of good plays.
Q: Here’s what SI.comsaid about you when they graded you as a “quality prospect” before the 2009 NFL draft: “A fierce run-defending linebacker . . . [who] plays with a special-teams mentality.” It’s what you love to do, right, hunting down running backs?
A: Yeah. I think coach understands that I want to go out and get the ballcarrier. It just comes naturally to me. As a linebacker you read the blocks, or don’t even worry about blocks, just go out and make plays.
Q: I read what you told my colleague Lowell Ullrich after Korey Banks gave you heck for helping up opposing running backs. Where does that love of punishing running backs come from?
A: I just have a passion for football. It’s God-given. I just want to come out here and compete. I feel that every play is an individual battle and I hate to lose any of them. Every play it’s a battle and I have a deep, deep passion for it.
Q: You were an all-America freshman, man, a three-time all-WAC [Western Athletic Conference]. Your Warriors were 12-1 in 2007, losing only in the Sugar Bowl [41-10 to Georgia]. Were you shocked or just disappointed when you weren’t drafted [he joined the Bills as a free agent and was cut in training camp]?
A: At the time it definitely was disappointing. But how things have turned out, I thank God for. He always has a purpose for our lives and I feel the biggest thing at that time is I grew a lot as a man, as a Christian. I wouldn’t take anything back.
Q: Adversity making you stronger.
A: Yeah. Even though I didn’t reach my goal at that time, I have a different goal now and that’s to help the B.C. Lions. And I want to be the best linebacker I can be. My goal is to be the best linebacker in this league.
Q: What part of L.A. did you live in?
A: South Central L.A., in the Crenshaw area.
Q: Crenshaw has a significant middle-class, but also its gang elements. I’m thinking of songs like Ice Cube’s “How To Survive in South Central.” I assume there were diversions there that tempted a kid to do things other than play football.
A: Definitely. The biggest thing when you’re in that kind of environment is the role models you look up to.
Q: The appeal of a gang, a lot of it is membership, I guess.
A: Yeah.
Q: And football also gives you that kind of…
A: Yeah, camaraderie. But I think it’s bigger than that. I can’t speak about the psychology of gangs and why people join gangs, but a big part of it is role models, who you look up to, who your father-figure is, your home situation. I don’t know. People who join gangs are looking for the right things in the wrong places, basically.
Q: Your older brother Abraham was an all-WAC cornerback at Hawaii. I take it he was someone you looked up to?
A: For sure. He went to Hawaii and I followed in his footsteps. He played in NFL Europe and he played in the NFL and right now he’s coaching at SMU [with former Hawaii coach June Jones].
A: He’s definitely a figure I’ve looked up to, a role model. He always encouraged me to do the right thing.
I think if my brother wasn’t doing the right thing, I probably wouldn’t be talking to you right now. But the fact he was doing the right thing, I wanted to be like him, I wanted to be a success.