When it comes to setting records, nobody can take a back seat to JC Sherritt.
In 2012, Sherritt set a CFL record with an incredible 130 tackles.
When it came to working out a new two-year contract extension, the team’s middle linebacker also did it in near-record time.
After being a big part of the Edmonton Eskimos Grey Cup championship team, Sherritt agreed to return to the only team he’d played for in his five-year CFL career the day after free agency.
Sherritt continues to be an undisputed leader on one of the CFL’s most feared units.
Entering his sixth CFL season, Sherritt has amassed 351 career defensive tackles.
For the first time in his career, Sherritt returns as a Grey Cup champion and that’s given him a different perspective of the challenge that lays ahead.
“It was huge,” said Sherritt. “When you get in this league, that’s the No. 1 goal on your list. To battle, to compete for five years and finally get in the game and get the win, it’s everything you can dream of. We got to celebrate it and will go through the ring ceremony.
“Then, you take the next step, trying to be one of those legendary teams that repeat. There are a lot of teams who have won it, but when you go through the list of teams that have repeated, that’s one of the hardest things to do in professional sports.”
Since the 1978-82 five-in-a-row Edmonton Eskimos, it’s only happened twice in CFL history. Toronto 1996-97 and Montreal 2009-10.
Long odds indeed. Yet, not intimidating odds to Sherritt’s way of thinking.
“That’s one of the biggest opportunities I’ve ever had as an athlete.”
“It’s an exciting time right now and as a team, I can say the expectation has never been higher.”
Coming off his first-ever injury-free season and winning the Grey Cup in the same year surely must be more than a coincidence.
“There’s nothing more frustrating than sitting on the sidelines watching your teammates play,” said Sherritt. “It was great to finally put it together and stay healthy through the year and not have some 300-pound lineman laying on the back of your foot or somehow shatter your thumb in a freak accident. It was awesome.”
In retrospect, having a supporting cast around him that helped him share the load on the way to a Grey Cup trumps any individual record.
“I can tell you right now you don’t want to have that tackle record,” said Sherritt. “I don’t think you’ll ever see a team with a tackle record be the league’s best defence. That’s just not how defence is played. If I get 70 tackles a year for the rest of my life, I’d be very happy.”
Heading into his sixth year with the Eskimos, Edmonton is a place where Sherritt has put down his professional roots and a place where he’d like to play out his career. That’s why it took so little time to agree to a deal that will see him wear Green and Gold through the 2017 season.
“I’ve always enjoyed Edmonton,” said Sherritt. “Edmonton has always treated me so well. The city, the facilities, down to (equipment manager) Dwayne Mandrusiak, it’s just a place I’m really, really comfortable with. To go through it, playing in the same city is all you can ask for.”
This was an eventful off-season for Sherritt, who became an uncle for the second time when his middle sister Whitney Petretto delivered Charley in Portland. Uncle JC had time to pay a visit. Sherritt was already an uncle to his older sister’s child.
Sherritt spends his off-season in Spokane, Wash., where he and former Eskimos Matt Nichols and Greg Peach live within five blocks of each other.
The trio were teammates at Eastern Washington before they found their way up to their first CFL gigs in Edmonton. They train together three times a week and even sat together at March Madness games in Spokane.
“Those relationships last the rest of your life,” said Sherritt. “I’ve know those guys since I was 18. We’ve been training together for six years. When we all retire, when it’s all said and done, those will be the two guys I could call and they’d have my back any time.”
Now, he’s as anxious as ever to get back to Edmonton.
“This is always a time where you get sick of working out and you want to start playing football,” said Sherritt. “I can’t wait to get back to Edmonton and get things going. We lost a few (teammates) but that’s the nature of the beast. It’s an exciting opportunity for us, for sure.”