Failure an explosive success

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This article was published 18/11/2022 (768 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

REGINA — Who knows where the Winnipeg Blue Bombers would be if the 2018 offseason shaped out differently.

The Bombers wanted to make a splash in free agency. Star Canadian linebacker Henoc Muamba, a player they drafted first overall in 2011, who left after three seasons to chase the NFL dream, was available.

The Bombers desperately wanted to reunite with Muamba, who had spent the previous two years with the Saskatchewan Roughriders once he returned to the Canadian game. They flew him into town, gave him a tour of their facilities, and reportedly offered him a contract worth $170,000, plus incentives.

It was a strong pitch, but Muamba wanted closer to $200,000. The Bombers weren’t willing to make Muamba the highest paid Canadian on the team (running back Andrew Harris held that title), so the defender from Mississauga, Ont., took his talents to the Montreal Alouettes instead.

It was a crushing blow to a Winnipeg team that needed more star power to reach contender status. Luckily for them, a few months later a different linebacker hit the market: Adam Bighill.

Bighill was returning north after a year with the NFL’s New Orleans Saints and decided to take his talents to Winnipeg. If the Bombers landed Muamba, Bighill never would have made it to the Manitoba capital.

Sometimes the best moves are the ones that don’t work out.

Bighill and the Bombers have a chance to win their third straight Grey Cup if they can get past Muamba and his current team, the Toronto Argonauts, today at Mosaic Stadium.

“Yeah, it’s a small league. Those things happen. You never know where guys are going to end up,” said Bombers defensive tackle Jake Thomas, one of only two players (guard Patrick Neufeld being the other) that played with Muamba in 2013 before he signed with the Indianapolis Colts.

“I’m sure the brass at the time was upset that Henoc chose to go elsewhere. But I think we’re pretty happy that Adam’s here.”

No kidding.

In addition to the championships, Bighill has won the CFL’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player award in two of his four seasons in Blue and Gold. Muamba is one of the best Canadians to ever play the game, but it’s hard to see the Bombers soaring to the heights they’re at today without Bighill’s presence.

As for Muamba, he and the Als failed to win a playoff game in his two seasons there. Muamba joined the Argos prior to the 2021 campaign, and last week’s East Division final victory over Montreal was his first playoff win since 2017. Even though the Bombers turned into the most successful team in the league in that same stretch, Muamba has no regrets about his decision.

“It’s great. Good for them. Good on them,” said Muamba on Winnipeg’s recent dominance.

“But life is about growth. Life is about evolution. And I feel like I’ve gone through so much growth since that time as a man, as a leader, as a football player, as a husband, as a father and I really believe that I am where I am because God wanted me to be there and I embrace that.”

Muamba does, however, think highly of the time he did spend with the Bombers — even though the team was a mess and went 3-15 in his final year before he bolted to play for the Colts in 2014.

“I was such a young pup coming into the CFL, wide-eyed, didn’t know it, and didn’t understand the league for what it is or even know half the stuff that I know now. That’s where I grew up and that’s where I learned a lot of what I know and am the man that I am today,” said Muamba.

“When I think about Winnipeg, I think about the beginning. One of the things that’s very vivid at first was (former general manager) Joe Mack, who drafted me that year in 2011, was super gracious. He flew myself and my whole family in to celebrate, which is something that’s not always done. I don’t know how many times that’s been done since in the CFL. But they chose to do that, they wanted me to really enjoy that moment, and it was special for me and my family and I’ll cherish that for the rest of my life. No one can take that moment from me. I’ve always been and I’ll always be gracious to the organization that is the Winnipeg Blue Bombers.”

Muamba reached the Grey Cup in his rookie season, but the Bombers were overmatched by the B.C. Lions 34-23.

Muamba, now 33, hasn’t played in a Grey Cup since. Until now.

“I was drafted first overall, and yeah, I missed a lot of my first year because I was hurt, but my thought at the time was ‘Oh man, I can totally get used to coming to the Grey Cup every year.’ And it ended up being 11 years in between,” said Muamba. “It speaks to the level of competition in this league. It’s a testament to how great you really need to be in order to be a champion.”

Now that he’s finally back on the grand stage, Muamba has an opportunity to knock off his former club and spoil their dynasty.

“We’re not focused on ruining their dynasty, their run at their third one, or whatever it is that people are talking about. We’re trying to etch ourselves in history.”

taylor.allen@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @TaylorAllen31