Henoc Muamba, a linebacker for the Saskatchewan Roughriders, focused his youth on a completely different sport.
“I used to be a huge basketball guy; loved basketball, played basketball all of the time,” the 27-year-old player said. “It wasn’t until I reached Grade 10 that a few of the people around me that I trusted and knew loved and cared for me suggested that I try football.”
Those people included his basketball coaches, brother and parents. So he did.
“Literally at that point, I was literally running for my life, because I was a running back to begin with. I was running for my life trying not to get hit,” he said. “I didn’t love it at first, but I tried it out. That’s part of my message as well: you may not love everything that you do at the beginning, but sometimes you just have to persist and push through to your full potential.”
Muamba visited the Northeast from Feb. 15 to 19, encouraging students at local schools to believe in themselves, seek out positive influences and work hard to achieve their dreams, and speaking about his Christian faith at hockey games, church services and other events.
The linebacker, who was raised in Mississauga, Ont., went to university at St. Francis Xavier in Antigonish, N.S.
“It wasn’t until university, when I reached maybe second-year university, when I really started to take [football] very seriously and started to work at it with the intent to reach the professional level.”
When Muamba made that decision, there were a lot of people who told him that dream was impossible.
“There’s always a lot of negativity, but when you have the faith that continues to hold you up and the right people around you to back you up, you are able to overcome these obstacles that come your way.”
That’s why Muamba encourages those listening to him to hang out with people that encourage them to become better. In university, his roommates were those people, helping him with both school and football.
“We always challenged each other to become better men, become better players, become better students. In all aspects of life, I was supported and encouraged in every way with the people around me.”
Muamba worked hard to become a good player through university and was selected first overall in the CFL 2011 draft and was the first pick of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, where he spent three years. In February 2014, Muamba signed with the Indianapolis Colts, followed by the Montreal Alouettes in 2015 and the Dallas Cowboys from July 2016 to September 2016.
“After I was with the Cowboys, I had an injury,” Muamba said. “I sprained my hands. It wasn’t too bad, but I took some time off and I was rehabbing and literally as I was rehabbing I was evaluating my options with regards to my next stop.”
There were teams in both the NFL and CFL that were interested in him, but the Roughriders’ head coach, Chris Jones, contacted Muamba’s agent multiple times. Jones was someone that Muamba had known for a long time and was always interested in playing under, so he signed with the team in October 2016.
Muamba said he’s been having a good time in the Northeast. People have been willing to listen to his message that with enough hard work, the right attitude and having positive influences in one’s life, anyone can be great. He also said people have been encouraging, not just about the upcoming season, but to him as a person.
“It’s really warming and humbling to be a part of something like this.”
