It’s just starting for ‘All-Over’

Humble Muamba set to prove worth

By: Ed Tait Posted: 1:00 AM CDT Monday, May. 9, 2011

His nickname is 'A-O' -- as in 'All-Over' the field -- and it couldn't be more fitting for the man the Winnipeg Blue Bombers selected first overall.

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His nickname is 'A-O' -- as in 'All-Over' the field -- and it couldn't be more fitting for the man the Winnipeg Blue Bombers selected first overall.

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His nickname is ‘A-O’ — as in ‘All-Over’ the field — and it couldn’t be more fitting for the man the Winnipeg Blue Bombers selected first overall.

Henoc Muamba, after all, was born in Kinshasa, Congo, moved to Montreal when he was in Grade 3 then to Mississauga, to Antigonish, N.S. for university and now here to Winnipeg.

He is fluently bilingual, deeply religious and holds up his parents as his role models.

CP
john woods / the canadian press
New Blue Bomber Henoc Muamba gets a hug from mother Louise as father Germain looks on Sunday at Canad Inns Stadium. — CP john woods / the canadian press New Blue Bomber Henoc Muamba gets a hug from mother Louise as father Germain looks on Sunday at Canad Inns Stadium.

Oh, and one more thing, the 22-year-old prospect flies around the football field with an unmatched energy and enthusiasm.

“Off the field, I’m one person, but when I put on the helmet and shoulder pads I become someone else,” Muamba said with a grin. “As a linebacker you have to fly around. That’s what I do. I’m a sideline-to-sideline guy, athletic, and I like to bring energy to the field and feed off my teammates.

“I’m a humble, hard-working guy. Obviously Mr. Mack and the rest of the organization feel strongly about myself and my abilities. This is just the first step. Now I have to go out and prove them right and to the rest of the world that I belong here.”

Muamba is the first No. 1 pick in the CFL Canadian Draft by the Bombers since 1975. The club has traded away most of its top selections in the last decade — Brendon LaBatte (2008) and Daaron McField (2000) were the only other first-rounders in the last 15 years — and have been targeting this draft as a way to help restock their Canadian content.

Muamba, along with fourth-overall selection Jade Etienne and Cory Watson and Chris Greaves from last year’s draft, are seen as key components to that rebuild.

The Bombers did it up right with Muamba this weekend in advance of Sunday’s draft. They flew in his mother and father and two brothers — older brother Cauchy is a safety with the B.C. Lions — picked them up at their airport in a limousine, set them up in the Presidential Suite at the Delta and they ate like kings at 529 Wellington.

“I’m excited to be a part of the organization right now,” said Muamba. “It’s hard to describe, but I’m real honoured also to be here and to be able to share this moment with my family. I’m thankful for everyone who supported me.

“(The weekend) has been definitely everything I imagined and more. I’m still trying to soak it all in… it hasn’t hit me yet. We’ll see, maybe it will on the plane ride home.”

Interesting to note is that Lions fullback Rolly Lumbala is a cousin of Muamba, while one of his housemates during his days starring with the X-Men at St. Francis Xavier is Akeem Foster, a receiver with B.C.

“I’ve been blessed to have good people around me my whole life,” he said. ” My parents are my heroes, my role models.

“We moved here for opportunity, for a better future for everyone. Obviously, it was a good idea to do that.”

ed.tait@freepress.mb.ca