B.C.’S Elimimian King of Beasts
He is Aslan and Simba. The Alpha Male. The leader of the pride.
“The Lion of Lions,” says Josh Bell admiringly. “King of the Beasts.”
Solomon Elimimian is closing on history the way he closes on a tackle, at the rate of seven or so a game — with a visceral ferocity.
At 98 tackles already as he readies for tonight’s skirmish at McMahon Stadium, he finds himself 33 takedowns away from breaking J.C. Sherritt’s two-yearold record of 130.
With six games left on the calendar. And a full 39 ahead of his closest pursuer, Calgary defensive back Brandon Smith.
“Man,” marvels B.C. quarterback Kevin Glenn, “when you’re that far ahead of the secondplaced guy … you must be doing something right.”
“Watch the film,” instructs Elimimian’s old Lion buddy Bell, now the safety here with the Stamps, “and you can see the enthusiasm, the passion … man, you can just see it. Clear as day. He’s got a personal switch. You see him walking around, you see him on the field, two entirely different people.
“As a football player, you always want to have that switch. Off. On. Off again. On again. And you want control of it.
“That fearlessness, that borderline recklessness, that control rage. He can come to the sideline and be eloquent, speak to you calm, cool and collected, then he goes on that field, flips that switch to On, and it’s a whole different language talking to the opponents.
“It’s that level of intensity he has.”
Elimimian hits like a clenched fist. B.C. coach Mike Benevides calls it collide-ability. Whatever description you use, no insurance company is apt to sell a policy on it.
“Honestly,” says Elimimian, “it’s a kill or be killed mentality. It really is. Everybody’s hungry, everybody has a family to feed. Guys come into the league every year that want to make a name for themselves. I was that guy in 2010.
“So I always think about my rookie year, have that mentality from my rookie year. Nothing’s given to you. I started fourth on the depth chart. If you’d asked me when I first came in, I thought I was going home. From my NFL experience, you’re fourth on the depth chart, last on the depth chart, you’re pretty much done.
“Always having to prove something. That’s the mentality I want to keep. No matter where I’m at.”
The 7-5 Lions have been a decidedly hit-and-miss, off-and-on, in-and-out, side-to-side proposition this season. One of the stronghold constants in a B.C. defence that ranks second stingiest among the nine so far is the menacing, marauding No. 56 at linebacker.
The man has a voracious appetite to compete, for contact.
“Great players are that way,” says Elimimian’s old defensive guru, Rich Stubler, now in charge of the Calgary resistance movement. “You get 12 of those guys, you win championships.
“Am I surprised at what Solly’s doing? Naw. I’ve known Solly a long time. We brought Solly in. Barron Miles found him in California.
“He and (Adam) Bighill are just natural players. They just play. They’re both gluten-free, study a lot of film together, have done a great job of taking care of their bodies.
“Those two guys, they play every play as if it was their last play.”
Whenever he starts to feel the least bit comfortable, Elimimian reflects back to his first training camp, the day of a pre-season game when Wally Buono sidled over to him in a hallway. Elimimian wasn’t scheduled to play that night due to a leg injury.
“He just saw me and said ‘Hey, what’s going on?’ I said: ‘It’s my leg.’ And he said: ‘If you don’t play, you’re going home.’
“Smooth as that. I’ll never for- get it, smooth as that. I got the message. That night, I got down on my knees and prayed to God to get me through that game. Things work out for a reason.”
While much of the defensive player of the year chatter has centred around Saskatchewan rush end John Chick and his pursuit of James (Quick) Parker’s singleseason sack record, Elimimian’s numbers demand attention, command respect and consideration.
“The game is a violent game, an emotional game and Solly’s exactly like that,” says Benevides. “Well spoken, a man of faith but when he crosses the white lines it’s a whole different attitude.
“He has that innate ability of exploding on impact. Great tacklers, great linebackers have an innate ability to uncoil from the ankles, hips, and on contact, every bit of energy, every atom of power is unleashed. And he loves doing that.
“I think he’s the best in the game.”
The Elimimian style, in fact, reminds Benevides of a certain dynastic linebacker that everyone in this town remembers fondly.
“When I had the privilege of working in (Calgary) in the early 2000s, Alondra Johnson was here. Not the tallest, thickest or the fastest but he was an unbelievable Hall of Fame linebacker because he had great anticipation and the ability to explode at the point of contact.
“There’s a lot of parallels between these two men, the shared philosophy to the game.”
The record for Elimimian is there, just up ahead, and while not a pre-training-camp goal of his, he’s closing on it the way he closes on a tackle.
“When J.C. Sherritt set that record of 130 tackles,” he admits, “I thought ‘That’s a LOT of tackles.’ I was impressed. I think everyone was impressed. I know J.C., he’s a good guy, and know how hard he worked.
“To get 130 tackles, a lot needs to go right.”
Whether he finishes at 129 or 131, though, there’s no doubting the calibre of season Solomon Elimimian’s put in, his rise to the peak of the CFL defending list.
“I feel that I want to make a statement,” he says with a refreshing bluntness. “I want guys to know I’m around. It’s a pride thing.
“You get to a point in your life … I’m in my fifth year in the league. Middle-point. Not my first year, not my 10th. The middle. So you start think about wanting to be great.
“When you’re younger you just think about hanging on, keeping a job.
“Anybody that isn’t a competitor can’t be great. When you write your articles, you want to be the best, right? My dad’s an English professor. He corrects, he grades, he writes books and he wants to be the best at what he does.
“That’s just the competitive nature. I want to be great, man.” Already is. Lion of Lions. King of the Beasts.