You could ask any player around the Canadian Football League what they dreamt about when they were a kid and they’d likely having suiting up for an NFL team near the top of that list.

But for Saskatchewan Roughriders linebacker Henoc Muamba, that wasn’t quite the case.

Growing up in Mississauga, ON, Muamba played basketball, not football, and would daydream about bouncing a ball in the NBA, not stopping someone from throwing or catching one.

It wasn’t until high school that – after some convincing from his basketball coach Gary Waterman, who later became Muamba’s college coach at St. Francis Xavier – the 27-year-old decided to try football.

You could say it was love at first tackle for Muamba when he swapped his running shoes for cleats, as he went on to become St. FX’s all-time leader in tackles (149.5) and split his professional career between the CFL and the NFL, having first-rate stints both north and south of the border.

Muamba spent four seasons (2007-10) in Nova Scotia with the X-Men and was named a CIS All-Canadian and AUS All-Star three times while also earning the President’s Trophy in 2010 as the top defensive player in Canadian Interuniversity Sport. He was also named the AUS Defensive Player of the Year in both 2008 and 2010 and competed in the 2010 East-West Bowl.

The 6-foot, 230-pounder’s college career helped him to become one of the most sought after defensive players and was selected first overall in the 2011 CFL Draft by the Winnipeg Blue Bombers. Muamba suited up in three seasons with the Bombers, playing in 47 games and collecting 167 defensive tackles, 54 special teams tackles, four sacks, one interception, one touchdown and six forced fumbles.

His best season in Winnipeg was in 2013, when he was named the Blue Bombers’ Most Outstanding Defensive Player, Most Outstanding Canadian and Most Outstanding Player after he registered 111 total tackles (tied with Montreal’s Chip Cox for first in the league), one sack and one interception.

He also earned CFL East Division Most Outstanding Canadian honours and was named an East Division and CFL All Star.

After making his return to the CFL near the end of last year – his third stint in the Canadian game – Muamba is now preparing to play in his first full season in the league since that stellar 2013 campaign. He spent the 2014 season in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts, the end of 2015 with the Montreal Alouettes and the start of 2016 with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys, playing in three preseason games before he was sidelined with an injury.

“This journey has been awesome for me,” Muamba said of his football career so far. “This sport has helped me to grow as a man. It has helped me to see the world and meet some people that have been so tremendous, so encouraging and has helped me become the person I am today.”

“One of the major things that made me choose Saskatchewan was Rider Nation. They’re the best fans in the CFL.” Henoc Muamba

With optimism in the air – things started looking up for the Roughriders near the end of the 2016 season when they started working well together – and a head coach that he knew and trusted, Muamba decided to sign with Saskatchewan instead heading south of the border once again.

“I’m at a point in my career where I kind of know the league a little bit,” Muamba said of his decision to join the Roughriders. “I know people here and there and so when I looked at my options, there were multiple teams that were interested.

“I looked around and one of the major things that made me choose Saskatchewan was Rider Nation. They’re the best fans in the CFL and also Coach Jones, who pursued me very hard when I was coming back and making my decision to come back into the CFL.”

While it wasn’t Muamba’s childhood dream to get to football’s biggest stage, he was one of the few who did it and he made sure to make the most of his opportunity.

He played in 13 games for the Colts – making six tackles and was a major contributor on special teams – including the Wild Card playoffs against the Cincinnati Bengals, the AFC Divisional playoffs against the Denver Broncos and the AFC Championship game against the New England Patriots.

“We played in Denver in one of our divisional playoff games,” Muamba smiled, remembering his first NFL playoff experience. “It was one of the most electrifying games I’ve been a part of. First of all, just leading up to the game, all of the media and everybody was just talking about Peyton Manning playing against Andrew Luck. That week as well, we had Ray Lewis come talk to us in practice.

“It was so exciting. We went out there, we were down in the game and then we just came back. It was one of the loudest places I’ve ever been in. To be able to execute a comeback the way we did that year it was awesome.”

It’s no secret around the CFL that Roughriders’ fans are loud, proud and some of the best in the league and perhaps when Rider Nation shows up to the opening of the new Mosaic Stadium, they’ll prove to Muamba that Saskatchewan, not Denver, is the loudest place he’s ever been.

“I’m preparing myself to win games and I want to contribute as much as I can and as best as I can and help my team win,” Muamba said of getting ready for the season to get started. “I also want to make Rider Nation really proud, especially with this upcoming season, the inaugural season with the new stadium. It’s really exciting, there’s a lot of excitement in the air. I can’t wait to get out there and see the new stadium and see the fans as well.”