Olafioye back in B. C. … for now
Right tackle sidetracked on the way to NFL, but may not be here for long
KAMLOOPS — The B. C. Lions were on a roll of epic proportions for most of last season, and their Midas streak has retained the half- life of uranium.
What was anticipated to be the natural decay of a Grey Cup championship team through free agency and attrition to the National Football League turned out to be a trickle, not a flow. Only a single individual — linebacker Solomon Elimimian, who signed with the Minnesota Vikings — was lost to the NFL.
Defensive tackle Khalif Mitchell, on the verge of signing with the Miami Dolphins, had a change of heart, and right tackle Jovan Olafioye was rejected by the St. Louis Rams for medical reasons, after agreeing to terms.
So the appearance of Mitchell and Olafioye on the practice field for the first day of training camp Sunday represents an unexpected bonus — one the Lions will use to their advantage in an attempt to win backtoback championships.
“This is part of our good fortune, both with Jovan and Khalif, that we didn’t lose them,” said Lions GM Wally Buono. “Getting big men is difficult. Getting big men who are as big and athletic as these guys is extremely difficult.”
But Buono knows that Olafioye still is pointed toward the NFL ( he’s only 24) in 2013, and he won’t make any attempt to stand in his way. Whether Olafioye’s medical issue ( high blood pressure) represents a red flag to the NFL is up to the NFL to decide.
The Lions feel the situation is under control, however, through diet and medication. And Olafioye will again line up at right tackle, where he was impregnable last season and finished as runner- up to Montreal’s Josh Bourke as the CFL’s most outstanding lineman.
While he may be going into his option year, the Lions don’t view Olafioye as an option beyond this season.
“He’s going to just play, hopefully his medical situation stabilizes and the NFL gives him another opportunity,” Buono said. “I’m hoping that Jovan, by staying disciplined to what he needs to do medically, will get that chance.”
Managing his hypertension is part of Olafioye’s lifestyle, knowing that he is at risk because of his size ( 6- 6, 325 pounds) and genetics. The condition runs in his family.
Unfortunately, Olafioye decided to take himself off his medications around the time he was going to a series of NFL workouts earlier this year, believing he had a handle on the situation.
Ironically, his father, Dr. Salewa Olafioye, is a practising physician who lectures at colleges in the Detroit area and is considered one of the world’s leading scholars on the prevention of HIV and AIDS. His mom, Shawn Gholston, is a nursing assistant who regularly reminds patients to take their meds.
“I stopped taking my medication,” Olafioye admitted, after a light practice at Hillside Stadium. “Me, just being young, thinking about the workouts, I thought I would be all right if I just ate right. I thought, ‘ I should be good.’ Was I trying to do the right thing, and it turned out not to be the right thing? Exactly. I’m taking my meds now and staying away from things like red meat. I’m eating lots of salads.”
In February, the Rams won a limited bidding for the unheralded lineman, who fell though the cracks at the Detroit Lions rookie camp and into the arms of the B. C. Lions, as a CFL rookie in 2010. Olafioye started all 18 games that year, made the West Division allstar team and quickly established himself as a Baby Huey who wouldn’t be contained in Canada for long.
Halfway through Olafioye’s first season, B. C.’ s offensive line coach, Dan Dorazio, was predicting that he would soon be NFL- bound.
Indeed, there were as many as 15 teams interested in working out Olafioye during the option year window following his second season with B. C. The Rams guaranteed him $ 85,000 in base salary in the first two years. But after agreeing to terms, Olafioye’s contract was disapproved four days later when he failed his physical.
“It was a difficult time,” Olafioye said Sunday.
“My dream was always to go to the NFL. To get so close, and have it taken from me, was hard. It was really hard on my family. They know how hard I’ve worked to get there. But I look on it as a little bump in the road. Wally called and asked me if I’d like to come back. I said, ‘ Yes, I’d love to come back.’ It’s a family here. That’s why I love B. C.”
Though the Lions can keep belting out the Sister Sledge classic We Are Family as their anthem in 2012, there is still one voice missing from the chorus — Elimimian, whose family roots, like Olafioye’s, extend from Nigeria. They are former Lions roommates and remain extremely close.
“Hopefully, I’ll join him [ in the NFL],” Olafioye said. “I’ve got three doctors who’ve cleared me. I could get another shot. I’m ready to go.”
But for the next 180 days, he is still a B. C. Lion — and evidence that the team’s lucky streak remains intact.