Esks defensive end kicks into high gear in emergency relief
He’s on the roster as Odell Willis, but he might be better known as Jack.
After last week’s game, it’s hard to pin a single position on the Edmonton Eskimos defensive end, who showed he can do more than rush passers.
Don’t get us wrong, the nine-year veteran of the Canadian Football League does that part well, earning his 82nd and 83rd sacks of his career in a 37-26 win over the B.C. Lions on Friday to put his name on the top 20 all-time list.
But maybe it should read Jack of all Trades instead, given he closed out the game handling kickoffs after Sean Whyte and long-snapper/ emergency kicker Ryan King went down.
“We were down to our third kicker at the very end and no field-goal kicker really to speak of,” said head coach Jason Maas, who kept his offence on the field for third downs in the final quarter instead of kicking. But there was no way to avoid kicking off.
“Punting-wise, as well, we didn’t really get an opportunity to punt, we’re thankful for that,” Maas said. “But we were prepared to have someone else go in. I won’t specify who that someone is, but obviously you saw who kicked off so you can probably get a good idea of who was supposed to go in.”
Yup, Odell Willis. Or Jack, if you prefer? “It was just something I did, I’ve always been able to do it,” Willis said. “I kicked when I was in high school and all four years in college,.
“When guys go down, you’ve got to step up. Me, I’ve long-snapped here before, too, when King got hurt a couple years ago.”
That’s another job on the resume, for anyone counting. “I feel like I’m just a natural athlete.
“My scholarship said athlete, it didn’t say no specific position,” said Willis.