Dale MacMillan
Terry Jones
Edmonton Sun
It’s Military Appreciation Night, presented by Capital Power, Friday and the members of the Edmonton Eskimos offensive line figure the members of Canada’s Armed Forces may be their biggest fans.
The reverse is certainly true.
D’Anthony Batiste is almost eloquent on the subject.
“We call ourselves a band of brothers just like the military. We have to be one voice. We’re one unit. The centre makes the call. It’s like having a general right there on the field with you,” said the Eskimo who majored in criminal justice and was a sheriff’s deputy during Hurricane Katrina.
“Playing on the offensive line is unique to playing any other position on the field. We all have to be on the same page all the time. One defensive lineman can make a really great play on one play and it makes it look like the whole defence did a great job, but on the offensive line it’s not the same. We have to be on the same page every time.
“If one of us misses a blocking assignment, it’s an unsuccessful play. So we take that approach into everything we do. We try to bleed that through our DNA. We have each other’s back. Everybody knows what’s going on every play. There are no secrets kept. We communicate and that’s who we are.
“With our group it’s on and off the field camaraderie all the time. We stick together. The main key to it is being together not just on game day or at practice. It’s going out when we’re not on the field and spending time together. We just develop relationships on and off the field. When you’re on the field you develop almost telepathy. You always know what the guy next to you is going to do.”
Batiste said a veteran player really appreciates it when he ends up on a team surrounded by other veterans who believe in the band of brothers approach.
“I don’t know whether it’s the environment or the league or whatever, but I’m having a lot of fun right now at this point of my career. To be a guy in his 10th year playing professional football and be able to say I’m having more fun at this point of my career is a testament to it.”
General (Justin) Sorensen, the centre, said there really is a military feel to being an offensive lineman.
“You depend on the person next to you. You can’t get your job done without him getting his job done. You have to be all on the same heart beat.”
Sorensen is in his seventh season in the league and second with the Eskimos. Before he arrived the Eskimos didn’t have a stable situation on the offensive line.
“I think they did a good job of bringing in veterans from around the league and making the offensive line a group that could work together and get the job done,” said the former Winnipeg Blue Bomber and BC Lion.
Sorensen says it really is a tight group.
“We don’t just hang out at practice on the football field. We do group activities together. If you see one of us, you’ll probably see five or six more hanging out in the same pack. I think that’s a huge thing. We’re all such good friends. We all communicate on such a great level because we’re such good buddies and we’re always around each other.
While he’s played every position on the offensive line, Sorensen is really enjoying being the man in the middle making the calls.
“I love it. I like approaching the game of football like a puzzle. It’s a lot like that. You see the different fronts they’re giving you, the different tells and blitzes. I really like that part of football. It really dials me in to see everything that’s going on. I put in a lot of time watching film every week. You have to know what you are going up against.”
Interesting with this group which includes Danny Groulx, Selvish Capers, David Beard, Tony Washington, Andrew Jones and Thaddaeus Coleman is the way nine-year veteran Brian Ramsay, cut at training camp, fit right back in with the injuries to Simeon Rottier, Greg Wojt and Alexander Krausnick.
“I’m happy to be back with the group. I stayed in close contact with the guys and I was able to jump right back into the room and get up to speed with what they are doing. Luckily I wasn’t gone too long so I was able to jump up to speed quickly.
“Any time you can get consistency with an offensive line, it’s a good thing. It’s a consistency with the players and the playbook, which are two big things, over the last two years.”
How much is Ramsay enjoying this?
“Do you want a word or a number?
“You get to a point in your career and you get to a point where you know you’re closer to one side of your career than another, you start to enjoy the little things, especially with this group with how everyone is that much closer. It makes it that much better.”
