Running back Van rejoins squad after family funeral
Travon Van had a good excuse for Saturday’s absence, but that didn’t make it any easier to be away.
The Edmonton Eskimos running back sat out his new team’s season-opening 30-27 win over the B.C. Lions to attend a funeral for his uncle Zeke Van.
“Yeah, it was tough,” said the 5-foot-11, 195-pound Montana product, who spent the past two years with the Ottawa Redblacks. “Unfortunately, I had to go home for a funeral. My uncle passed away, and the team was nice enough to let me go home and deal with that.
“As much as I wanted to be in the game, I had to go check on my family.”
His uncle was 58.
“We were real close,” Van said. “It was kind of out of nowhere, so we had to scramble to get the funeral together. It was kind of stressful, but we ended up getting it done.”
At the same time, Van said, he considered not attending the service because he felt like he was letting his team down.
“I was actually thinking it,” Van said. “But (head coach Jason) Maas was like, ‘No, go home. Take it off with your family and we’ll see you in a week.’”
On Monday, the Eskimos placed fellow running back LaDarius Perkins on the practice roster to make room for Van, who started the season on the one-game injured list.
He suffered a concussion in training camp and missed a significant amount of time because of it.
“I don’t want to ever let my team down,” Van said.
Because he was in Maas’s offensive system in Ottawa, Van hasn’t had to make up for much lost time.
PRACTICE PUSH
Two seasons ago, D’Anthony Batiste was hoisting the Grey Cup with the Edmonton Eskimos.
Now, the 12-year veteran offensive lineman isn’t even travelling with them, forced to watch from home as they kicked off the 2017 season against the B.C. Lions.
Of course, not every CFL team has someone with that much professional football experience on their practice roster.
Especially one who’s willing to play a mentor role so soon after losing his starting job.
“Not only being a mentor on the offensive line, but it’s huge being a mentor on this team and just keeping that mentality on the offensive side of the ball correct,” said the 35-year-old Batiste, a personal trainer in Edmonton during the off-season.
“Making sure guys are paying attention to what’s going on whenever they’re not on the field.”
But make no mistake, there are no free rides on this team. Batiste is more than happy to take a spot on the active roster if someone slips.
“There’s no layoff, I’m sorry,” Batiste said. “At the end of the day, I’m a competitor.”
CATCHING FIRE
Former Eskimos receiver Nate Coehoorn has become quite outspoken since retiring over the off-season, citing concussion concerns.
The 30-year-old took to Twitter while watching the broadcast of Edmonton’s season-opener at BC Place Stadium on Saturday.
“I’m liking this spreading of the ball around,” posted the Calgary product, who earned 2,376 receiving yards and six touchdowns on 211 catches in the 91 games that made up his six-year CFL career. “Something we haven’t seen in Edmonton for a while.”
IN AND OUT
The Eskimos signed LB Alex Hoffman-Ellis and released WR K.J. Maye. As a side-effect, it freed up No. 11 so first-round draft pick Nate Behar could get his old college number back, switching from No. 82.