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And on Saturday, Sherritt will get his first taste of the Battle of Alberta from the southern side of the fence.

“Yeah, the football gods always have a sense of humour,” said Sherritt, who won a Grey Cup and surpassed the 500-tackle plateau in 109 games played with the Eskimos. “It’s a premier organization. It might be a rival, but the respect you have for them was through the roof my whole career. So to get to join a top-notch place and continue learning from people who are so talented, I just feel fortunate.”

It was a different feeling for Eskimos fans, who, as expected, didn’t hold back on social media.

But it turns out the reaction basically fell on deaf ears.

“I have one Twitter account that I don’t really use. I’ve got to be honest, I’m one of the worst social-media people out there,” said Sherritt. “I had a flip-phone until, like, 2015. It’s just not for me.

“But how can you fault fans for having blowback? Fans are one of the greatest parts of this game, I’m not going to fault a fan for getting upset with that stuff. Human nature is human nature.”

As much as he owes Eskimos fans over the years, and vice-versa, they weren’t the first thing on his mind when the answered the call to coach.

“As soon as I got that call, I was just focused on preparing for my interview, because I knew what an opportunity it was,” said Sherritt, who had no chance of joining an Eskimos coaching staff that had already been filled. “No disrespect to anybody but the situation I ended up in, you could almost say the timing was perfect with how my retirement timed out. To be able to get a linebacking job for the Calgary Stampeders, I know how lucky that is because it’s not easy to get a job.

“Especially at a professional level.”

Email: gmoddejonge@postmedia.com

On Twitter: @GerryModdejonge