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There’s been a fascination with his first name since the day he arrived.

“My first name was supposed to be Akosah but when I came to Canada when I was two, my father when he was doing the paperwork put my middle name as my first name and my first name as my middle name,” he said.

“In the part of Ghana where I’m from, your middle name is supposed to be the day of the week because we value the days of the week. Kwaku stands for ‘Born On Wednesday’.”

Akosah Kwaku Boateng thus became Kwaku Akosah Boateng on his immigration papers and so Kwaku he became.

Whatever, there’s no denying Boateng is making a name for himself very early in his CFL career.

How many defensive players drafted in the fifth round as the 41st pick overall, become a CFL starter and star in their second season and are happily extended as a ratio-breaking potential face-of-a-franchise calibre player in their third?

With 17 sacks in his first 25 games as a starter, Boateng is just getting his engine warmed up.

“This is me going into my third year,” he said.

“As much as I learned the first two years, the way I’m evolving right now, I think I’m learning a lot more. I think I’m very fresh on the campaign and the path of my career. I think there’s a lot more I have to learn. Eventually, I want to be a top player in this league.”

Ratio breaker?

Boateng doesn’t even want to hear the term.

“I don’t even care about that stuff. I want to win games, get sacks and pressure for my defence. When it comes down to whether I’m Canadian, American, Japanese or whatever, it doesn’t matter. I want to be the best player at my position.”