Elimimian showing old tackling flair
THROWBACK LINEBACKER: After slow return from Achilles injury, defender back among statistical leaders
OTTAWA — On the way to the hotel pool for a water-cise workout, a B.C. Lions teammate jokingly chided Nigerian-born Solomon Elimimian, reminding him of the stereotype that blacks lack buoyancy. Elimimian, who is as sharp as he is talented, didn't miss a beat.
“What about Simone Manuel?” he shot back. “Two gold medals. Weren't you watching the Olympics?”
African-American swimmer Simone Ashley Manuel won two golds and two silvers at the Rio Olympics.
“I learned to swim when I was a kid,” Elimimian said. “(My father Isaac) was a really good swimmer, and he taught me. I swim like a fish.”
Still, some followers of the Lions had the old, sinking feeling that Elimimian might not return to the player he was before — on dry land, following surgery to repair a ruptured Achilles. Even the most competitive of athletes have trouble dealing with the thought: Could this be career-changing? Can I return with the same power, physique and purpose? Does this bring me one step closer to The End?
That day seems to be some distance away.
Elimimian hit the halfway pole of the Canadian Football League season last week at a full gallop, following the Lions' 29-23 win over the Ottawa Redblacks. With 21 tackles in his past two games, he has vaulted into a third-place tie with Winnipeg's Ian Wild, both with 56 defensive tackles. Lions teammate Adam Bighill is alone in second with 62, four behind league leader Bear Woods of the Montreal Alouettes.
Elimimian's four quarterback sacks also make him the leader among linebackers in that category.
“I think he would tell you, in Week 1 or Week 2, Solly wasn't playing to his standard,” Bighill explained.
“I think, every game, since midway in July, he's played exceptionally well. It's tough to say Solly isn't playing well, in a game where he has only four or five tackles. He's still doing his job effectively. Just because he wasn't making 10 tackles in a game, people got the idea there's something wrong, that he's not the same player. “He's making plays as well as I am.” Elimimian and Bighill each recorded seven defensive tackles against Wednesday's opponent — the Toronto Argonauts — earlier this season. But that July 7 game at B.C. Place Stadium was not a gem to be remembered. Ricky Ray threw for 289 yards and a touchdown as the Argos prevailed 25-14.
The Lions will be facing Ray again — not backup Logan Kilgore — this week at BMO Field, in the former's return from a knee injury.
Like the quarterback sack, the defensive tackle is a stat of some questionable merit and debate. It only tells the story of who was around to collect the glory at the end of the play, and says nothing about the teammate who selflessly took on two blockers to make it happen.
In the Lions' 37-9 home loss to the Calgary Stampeders on Aug. 19, Elimimian had a season-high 11 tackles — and, he'll admit, he had plenty of opportunity to make them. The Stamps controlled the ball for 37 minutes, 45 seconds of the game; the Lions for just 22:15. A stat has yet to be derived that measures tackling efficiency — tackles per minutes played — or missed tackles, as happens in baseball with batting averages and fielding efficiency.
Still, with that in mind, you don't need a statistical measure to see that Elimimian is showing up in the crumple zone of CFL body crashes with more frequency these days.
“I don't think that anybody knew what to expect,” Elimimian said. “My motto is: Keep working hard, and God will take care of the rest. I had to trust in that when I was going through my rehab (from Achilles surgery). The Achilles is a long process. Even I wondered if I could come back. I just had to put one foot in front of the other. Every day I had to envision myself coming back and playing at a high level. That was the finish line. But there were some dark days I had to go through to get there. I was frustrated. Things don't come as fast as you want them to.”
Halfback T.J. Lee, shaping up for an all-star season before rupturing his Achilles in July, said Elimimian's return has given him positive reinforcement that he can do the same. But there's an important corollary.
“The best thing, from T.J.'s perspective, is he doesn't realize yet how hard it will be,” Elimimian said. “If I knew everything I would have to do when I got this injury — to overcome the physical and mental torment — I don't know if I would have done it again. Honestly, I really appreciate Wally (Buono). He brought me back in a situation where some GMs wouldn't have brought me back, not knowing if I'd be the same after a substantial injury. He's been fair to me. My mindset is to go out on the field and leave it all out there for him, and others who believed in me.”
An intense, throwback player, Elimimian believes he can dial it back to 2014, when he set a new league standard for tackles and was named the CFL's most outstanding player. It may not be achievable. But buoyed by his recent performances, he no longer swims against the tide.