Sherritt tackles job with unabashed zeal

Somewhere on a football fan’s bucket list, some one-on-one time with J.C. Sherritt is necessary.

The second-year Edmonton Eskimos linebacker leads the Canadian Football League in tackles, with 41 in five games. On a handful of the 10 takedowns he had against the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on July 26, Sherritt all but lassoed his targets, dropping them to the ground before they knew they were wrapped up by the five-foot-nine, 218-pounder from Pullman, Wash.

He has already been named the CFL defensive player of the week twice and was an easy selection for the league’s defensive player of the month in July.

Sherritt works hard on and off the field, but he isn’t limiting his success to traits like heart and hunger that like to make themselves at home with undersized players. That’s why he’s worth the bucket-list sit-down; or as a keynote speaker for kids at a football camp. “The heart comment is usually pretty funny to me. I’ve just heard it so much,” Sherritt said after the Eskimos’ walk-through practice Thursday.

“A lot of it is preparation, leverage, experience and making sure you take the right angles to the ball,” he said, his eyes shifting over a few stalls in the Eskimos locker-room.

“I think T.J. Hill is honestly the best tackler in the CFL and he’s not the biggest guy either, but you see the way he approaches his angles and the way he wraps up. That’s something for me, you always try to copy the best and, to me, he’s the best tackler right now, so I just watch what he does and try to improve my game.”

While Sherritt has his influences in the locker-room, Eskimos head coach Kavis Reed said the 24-year-old has one person directly responsible for his success so far this year.

“J.C Sherritt,” the coach said. “Again, he epitomizes what this football team is about: A diminutive guy that has the work ethic and tremendous character, and football is a passion to him. It’s not a job.”

The word of the week for the Eskimos has been “unassuming.” Reed has used it to describe defensive halfback Weldonbrown, tail back hugh charles and his defence as a whole.

“They don’t look at the clock. There isn’t one clock in our meeting room and our players don’t look at the clock,” Reed said. “J.C. is a football player and he fits the mould of an Edmonton Eskimos middle linebacker.

The (Dan) Kepleys to the (Willie) Plesses to the (Larry) Wrucks; smaller guys who play football with a passion and a hunger.

“If (Sherritt) stays healthy, that young man is going to have a very, very successful career.”

The three league honours this season suggest as much. Sherritt was also last year’s West Division rookie of the year.

As the heartbeat of the league’s stingiest defence (79 points allowed in five games), Sherritt said he was ready to get another shot at the Saskatchewan Roughriders, who won the teams’ defensive showdown 17-1 on July 8.

“Our defence played good, but not good enough at the end of the day,” he said.

“We’ve got to take advantage of our opportunities this game.