Finally this year, Wally made the decision to stock the cupboard with fast, hard hitting linebackers from the U.S. Guys too small for the NFL, but with amazing speed, athleticism and football instincts. After we lost Otis Floyd, Jamall Johnson and Markeith Knowlton, our cupboard was bare. IMO ...“On, that’s standard,” says Aluminum, a.k.a. Elimimian, the Nigerian-born middle linebacker for the B.C. Lions. “My name has been slaughtered since I started playing football. So I don’t mind that. It’s one of those things where you take the good with the bad.”
“I thank God for the passion I have,” says the 23-year-old Elimimian. “I’ve been blessed with that attribute. I love this game and I respect it. Playing linebacker, you have to be very aggressive. And there are times when you’ll get hit. But you always have to have the mentality of punishing the ballcarrier.”
Elimimian, Leonard, Henderson. These guys can fly. And find the ball. And hit.
High praise for Alum.“I’ve been blessed to play behind a great defensive line,” Elimimian says. “In the Calgary game, Keron [Williams], [Khalif] Mitchell, J.B. [Jonathan Brown] and B.J. [Brent Johnson] played a tremendous game. They were really the stars. Keron initiated the sack on Henry. I just finished it.”
Modesty becomes him, says coach Wally Buono. But he’s already comparing the magnitude of Elimimian’s contribution with a magnificent linebacker he used to have in Calgary, Alondra Johnson.
“A.J. used to hit everybody, whether you were on his team or not, and Solomon is a hitter in the same mold,” Buono says. “A.J.’s attitude was infectious. We needed that. And Solomon has that. He’s part of a good young core on defence meshing very nicely with our veteran players.”
Henderson seems to have taken a back seat for a while, but I don't think the Lions have given up on him.
