MontrealAlouettes.com
MONTREAL – It sure didn’t take long for Rod Davis to realize that he isn’t in Edmonton anymore.
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Davis found himself in uncharted waters this weekend in Montreal. |
The newest member of the Alouettes defensive corps was in Montreal this weekend for the first time as one of the good guys, but that wasn’t the only first he experienced.
In town for a team photo shoot, the former Eskimo found himself trading in the oil fields of Alberta for the bright lights of a trendy Plateau photo studio.
“You know, I’m always talking to my wife about her putting on make-up all the time, and now I gotta go back home and tell her that I actually sat in a make-up chair!” admitted a laughing Davis. “I’m not sure that it’s something that I’ll be able to get used to.”
Surely the Southern Mississippi product will have to, in a city as style conscious as Montreal?
“One thing the Alouettes will find out about me quick is that I’m very vanilla,” confessed the Alouettes’ prized off-season acquisition. “I’m from Mississippi, very country, you know. It takes very little to please me, so all of that flamboyant stuff, that’s just not me. I’m just gonna come to work every day and get ready to play on that field.”
Easily pleased, Davis will be downright chipper then, to be playing on the same team as CFL rushing leader Brandon Whitaker this season.
“Oh man, it’s great. I’ve got great respect for B-Whit, you know, especially with all that he went through to accomplish what he did this past year. Going against him was a nightmare. He actually changed our whole defense last year, making us tailor it specifically for him. He had us running with our heads cut off when the Alouettes played us in Edmonton last September. I think he scored like three touchdowns in that game, two receiving, which is unheard of for a running back. It’s going to be a lot more fun this year knowing he’s on my side.”
But, any locker room horseplay this season aside, did the imposing 6-foot-2, 240-pound linebacker manage to get any good hits on the Alouettes’ speedster last season, while he still had the chance?
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Brandon Whitaker escapes a Rod Davis tackle last year in Edmonton. |
“I think I got a couple of nice clean hits on him, but he made a couple of good plays on me too,” said Davis with a smile. “He actually caught a pass on me, about a 10-yard out, and I think I got a picture of me trying to tackle him, but he got away from me that time. I remember the play, and like I said, he got me a few times, I got him, and now I’m just happy that he’s on my side.”
Likewise, fans in Montreal will be happy to have the Gulfport-native as one of their own over the next two seasons, and not just because of his dominant play on the field. Cognizant of the market, Davis memorized a couple of lines in French prior to flying in on Thursday, and was all too keen to greet all he met with a drawly ‘bone-joor’.
But can fans expect even more lines come June?
“Ehh, I think so!” hinted the Alouettes new number 12. “I think throughout my life, anything I’ve put my mind to, I’ve able to achieve, so it should be easy to pick up, I hope. I’m gonna take a few lessons, or something like that. I don’t want to feel out of my element, you know. This is where I’ll be, so I want to feel like I fit in, and I’ll just try to do my part by speaking a little French, and a little English too.”
