[Sly Fox]

From your Wednesday morning fishwrap:

LU's Estes making up for lost time

By Chris Lang
Lynchburg News & Advance
October 11, 2006

E.L. Estes had felt pain on the football field before.

As a sophomore at Liberty, he suffered a concussion during a preseason practice and didn't make it through one play of the opener against West Virginia Tech before getting another one.

He was credited for a tackle, but he didn't play again the rest of the year, instead taking a redshirt.

That was nothing.

Last season against Coastal Carolina, Estes got hit from behind by a Chanticleers receiver, a play Estes claims was dirty. The result was a torn meniscus in his right knee that cost Estes the final three games of his redshirt sophomore year.

"It was beyond belief how upset I was," said Estes, who ranks second among LU's defensive backs with 21 tackles. "I pushed myself in spring ball and during the season I worked hard to get to that position. To have it stripped away on a stupid penalty, a stupid play, that took a lot out of me mentally and emotionally. It really hurt."

Estes fueled his offseason workouts with the bitterness he felt after that play. He had battled to get playing time as a rover last season, not playing until LU's third game against Youngstown State. Against Chattanooga, he had 10 tackles and forced a fumble.

Before getting hurt, he had eight tackles against Coastal Carolina.

That made the injury more painful mentally. After working so hard to become a defensive contributor, he felt like he had his season stolen from him.

"He has a lot more passion for playing," Liberty cornerback Pat Calvary said. "He plays every snap like it's his last."

Liberty coach Danny Rocco wasn't sure what he was going to get from Estes this season. In the spring, he was still rehabbing his knee, and that limited his participation.

But Rocco liked Estes' size (5-foot-11, 185) and his passion for the game. So he penciled Estes in at the corner opposite Calvary in the preseason, and Estes has been a fixture since.

"He's instinctive," Rocco said. "Physically, he's got a good body. He has some range."

Estes gives the Flames a physical counterpart to Calvary, who at 5-9, 175 is quick, but not physically overpowering.

Playing the rover position taught Estes to hit hard, something he did two weeks ago in Liberty's 34-14 loss at Wake Forest.

"There were some plays in that game that were just flat physical corner plays," Rocco said. "That's a really good sign for us to having him playing at this level right now.

"We have some really nice players there in the back end, but in my opinion, he's kind of taken the role of being the vocal, active leader of that group."

Estes played running back and defensive back at Paulding County High School in Dallas, Ga., and dabbled some at quarterback. His play at cornerback drew the eye of coaches at UAB and Liberty, along with a smattering of Division II and III schools.

There was one problem, though. Estes waited too long to take his ACT, and UAB lost interest because he didn't have qualifying test scores. Liberty stuck with Estes, though, and once Estes got the score he needed, LU offered a scholarship.

Playing at Liberty gave Estes an opportunity to make friends with former Flames running back Sam Gado, who now plays for the Houston Texans.

Estes learned something from Gado.

"It was just the patience that he had when he was here," Estes said. "He wasn't a starter, but he just sat back and never said he word. But when he got his time, he just showed he was a player.

"What I took from him was how humble he was at all times. It's something that I always try to keep in mind."

That thought process served Estes well as he battled back from the knee injury. He was going to have to earn his chance to make an impact.

There's no doubt Estes has done just that; just ask some of the opponents Estes has hit this season.

"I never knew where I would find my fit," Estes said. "I never thought I'd be at corner and I'd be starting and things would be going the way they are going right now."

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[bigsmooth]

im glad estes is back and feeling better. another good read by CL!

[Libertine]

And it was a dirty hit from a Coastal player that took EL out last year. In the 1st OT, Coastal ran a run play to the opposite side of the field. He was away from the play and it went for little gain so he slowed up. At that point, a Coastal WR behind him threw a cut block on the back of EL's knees. It was quite obviously an illegal hit and the refs threw a flag, knocking the Chants back 15 yards and, apparently, out of field goal range.