OILERS FANS GIVE ELKS QB TASTE OF LIFE IN EDMONTON
Khalil Tate got his first look at Edmonton fans even before boarding his flight to Elks rookie camp this week.
Of course, they were wearing Oilers jerseys instead of green and gold, but it brought the two sports worlds together in his hometown of Los Angeles, whose Kings will be at Rogers Place for Game 7 of their opening-round NHL playoff series Saturday.
“It was crazy. Before I left home I went on a date with my girlfriend and we were eating near L.A. Live,” he said of the downtown entertainment complex. “And toward the end, I started seeing some people walk past us and they had their Oilers jersey on. And I was leaving (for Edmonton) in two days, so it was crazy just being in that situation at that time.
“So, yeah, I am paying attention to the Oilers and the Kings.”
Not that the series is capturing as much attention back home.
“In L.A., there's a lot of different things going on, so it's not the biggest. You have NFL, NBA teams, Lakers, Rams, college teams, USC, UCLA, so it's not super big but when the Kings are good, it's pretty big.”
He's never been to a hockey game.
“I have not. I want to go tomorrow. I saw the tickets, they're pretty steep but I definitely want to try my best,” said the six-foot, 216-pound Arizona product, adding he hopes to be able to see a lot more of the local fan base. “I think that's fate, me being in Edmonton and they just happen to be playing the Kings. The (Oilers) fan base is very big, they mean a lot to this city and I'm willing to embrace that also just to be a part of this city.”
Tate comes to Edmonton having spent the past two seasons in the NFL despite not being drafted, but didn't get to play quarterback.
“After I didn't get picked up, the (Philadelphia) Eagles said we want you to play receiver, and I kind of didn't have a whole lot to bargain against them with,” Tate said. “I enjoyed my time in Philadelphia, I had fun, it felt good just to be out there and to put my best foot forward.”
Which is what he's been doing at Commonwealth Stadium as one of six rookie quarterbacks looking for an extended invitation to main camp Sunday, where the job of first-string QB is up for grabs. And his past pro experience might have helped him this week.
“I think it does, just being around professionals,” Tate said. “That's the biggest thing, NFL or CFL, they're all professionals. Coming here, it's not too much of a difference. Everybody's grown, might have kids, might have a family, might have a wife and everybody has the same goal — win a championship and get paid.”
As for Game 7, Tate doesn't mind sharing his own personal prediction.
“I don't want to come to Edmonton and get hated,” Tate said with a laugh. “So, Oilers win (Game) 7.”
TWITTER CAPER
While Jones' focus has been on the field during rookie camp, one of the off-the-cuff statements he made earlier this week has become the talk of the town.
Asked on Wednesday about his thoughts on a tweet involving ongoing talks over collective bargaining between the Canadian Football League and its Players Association, Jones interrupted the question with one of his own.
“A what?” he said in his patent southern drawl, apparently uneducated in the ways of Twitter's social media sphere.
Well, it turns out he wasn't simply trying to avoid the CBA question.
“I don't have Twitter,” Jones told reporters assembled at Friday's
The (Oilers) fan base is very big, they mean a lot to this city and I'm willing to embrace that also just to be a part of this city.
final session of rookie camp, before directing his players to go high-five a group of youngsters lined up at the edge of the stands.
Shown a mighty official-looking profile named “Coach Chris Jones” (@Chrisjoneshc), complete with his team headshot and an Elks banner, with 3,702 followers as of Friday afternoon, Jones claimed no knowledge of the account or who's been running it.
“Sammy G., now that makes sense,” Jones said after scrolling down and recognizing a retweet from the account belonging to Elks director of U.S. scouting Sammy Gahagan. “That must be Sammy. That makes sense because he's all the time on his phone.”
In and out: The Elks are required to get down to 85 players on the roster, plus non-counters such as draft picks, by Saturday, and cut another 10 more by Tuesday. There were 110 players listed on the team's website Friday afternoon.