Chris O’Leary
Edmonton Journal
EDMONTON – He was brought in as an emergency replacement, but Brandon Lang is turning out to be a gem of a find for the Edmonton Eskimos.
Lang joined the Eskimos on Sept. 25, when the Canadian Football League club was looking for just about any able-bodied defensive lineman to fill the rapidly depleting roster spots. Injuries have plagued the team all season.
The six-foot-four, 257-pound Tucker, Ga., product has done more than fill in, however. In the three games Lang has played, he’s shown he has a great nose for the ball. His stats aren’t overwhelming — five defensive tackles, a knock-down and one interception — but when he’s on the field his opponents’ productivity plummets.
“I’ve still got to get better,” Lang said of his start in the CFL. “I feel like I can improve my game a whole lot. I’m still trying to learn, but it’s been fun.”
Football is a lot more fun than real work. Before the Eskimos called him last month to come up north to play, Lang was working in a Wal-Mart distribution warehouse in Atlanta. He had played 10 games with the San Diego Chargers in the National Football League in 2010 and for the Orlando Predators in the Arena Football League earlier this year.
But for the last six months, he was working in a warehouse.
“Working slave hours,” he said. “I’d go to work at six in the morning, probably wouldn’t get off until six in the afternoon. Sometimes, I’d cover a shift for somebody so I wouldn’t get out until three or something.”
It was the first time in his 26 years that he had not been playing football.
“It was very hard. It made me do a reality check on myself, made me appreciate (football) a lot more,” he said. “Once it’s gone, it’s gone. Some people don’t get a second chance.”
In Edmonton, Lang looks like he’s played with that understanding in the back of his mind. His interception against the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Oct. 5 was a highly skilled play. He tipped quarterback Henry Burris’ pass upward and managed to pull it in while running for the turnover. His knock-down on a Darian Durant pass on Saturday against the Saskatchewan Roughriders was almost an interception as well.
In Lang, Eskimo head coach Kavis Reed got the body he needed and found something he wanted out of his defence.
“He’s an exceptional athlete,” Reed said. “The one thing that we talked about, if your notes will serve you, is that we weren’t getting knock-downs and I think he has three now, one for an interception. It’s very important because of his length and very important because of his change of direction skills.”
Lang figures he’ll be able to do even more once he gets his body back into football shape.
“I was trying to get my body back into shape (when he got the call from Edmonton). I’m still warehouse material,” he said.
coleary@edmontonjournal.com
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