Alouettes’ Muamba remains optimistic that CFL games will be played
This Sunday, when training camps throughout the Canadian Football League were scheduled to begin, Hénoc Muamba will be at home with his family, relaxing and undoubtedly contemplating his immediate future.
For the first time in nine CFL seasons, the Alouettes’ middle linebacker won’t be on a field because camps and the start of the regular schedule have been postponed due to the coronavirus.
“It’s definitely going to be bizarre and odd. It’s weird. At the end of the day, circumstances change,” Muamba said Friday afternoon, during what has become the team’s weekly conference call. “As a professional, one of the main things we learn to do is adjust. We continue to prepare ourselves.
“Hopefully in the near future we’ll be able to get into camp.”
Muamba, the first overall draft choice by Winnipeg in 2011, was named the league’s outstanding Canadian last season. The 31-yearold, originally from Kinshasa, Congo, undoubtedly was looking to pick up from where he and the team left off in 2019, when the Alouettes went 10-8, qualifying for the playoffs for the first time since 2014.
Although CFL commissioner Randy Ambrosie told the House of Commons last week the most likely scenario remains the entire season being cancelled, the 6-foot, 230-pound Muamba remains undaunted, optimistic games will be played. The league’s seeking $30 million immediately in financial aid from the federal government and up to $150 million if the entire season’s scrapped.
“We’re working our hardest to try and make (games) happen,” said Muamba, who spent part of his childhood in Montreal and now resides in Brampton, Ont. “If we don’t have that faith, that belief that it’s possible, what’s really the point?
“You develop that in sports as well, when things seem impossible in games. Everything starts with the belief.”
Muamba has been busy this off-season. A motivational speaker, he recently launched a podcast that was two years in the making. His first guest was retired UFC combatant Georges St. Pierre.
Muamba also is the Als’ player representative on union matters. He participates in biweekly calls with the players’ association, following which he dispatches emails to his teammates and makes himself available for questions or concerns. The Als are well represented on that front with rush-end John Bowman part of the PA’S executive.
Ambrosie testified alone while appearing before the standing committee on finance more than a week ago and was rebuked by various politicians for not involving the players’ association. That has since been eradicated, although it doesn’t mean the league’s any closer to being thrown a lifeline.
Muamba is one of the Als’ highest-paid players, earning a reported $185,000 annually. He also received an off-season bonus last February, so he’s in no immediate financial peril. But he has heard from some concerned teammates.
“It’s not just professional athletes that have to deal with the uncertainty at this point. We’re not an exception,” he said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty at this moment. It’s a matter of adapting and finding something new if your lane has been quote-unquote closed.
“I feel comfortable ... but definitely there’s a lot of people who may be strapped. It’s a matter of being able to pivot at this point and understanding.”
The latest scenario being floated, assuming a partial season could begin in September, is having two hub cities — one each in eastern and western Canada — serving as a base from which teams would operate and play games. It’s unlikely spectators would be admitted into the selected stadiums due to the continued threat of COVID-19.
While Muamba stressed the topic hasn’t been discussed at the union level, he said he’d be amenable to the prospect.
“At this point, everybody wants to play,” he said. “I think at this point ... it’s about making things work. The biggest thing is to be safe.”
While time remains for the CFL to salvage its season, the uncertainty is causing Muamba and others the most angst. Players who have been seeking outside employment opportunities would like to know where the league stands, one way or another. Even some CFL executives are beginning to grow weary.
“We just need to know,” Muamba said. “At some point we’re going to have to figure out what’s happening.”
We’re working our hardest to try and make (games) happen. If we don’t have that faith, that belief that it’s possible, what’s really the point?