Montreal Alouettes linebacker Henoc Muamba of Mississauga, Ontario was named the most outstanding Canadian in the Canadian Football League for 2019. In an interesting twist, there were two Canadian linebackers nominated for the award as Muamba beat out Saskatchewan Roughriders linebacker Cameron Judge of Montreal, Quebec.
Muamba becomes only the third linebacker to be named the most outstanding Canadian. He follows in the footsteps of Hamilton Tiger-Cats linebacker Zeno Karcz of Toronto, Ontario, who won the award in 1965 and Toronto Argonauts linebacker Mike O’Shea of North Bay, Ontario, who won the award in 1999. Ironically, O’Shea is also in Calgary this week, as he is the head coach of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers, who are playing in Sunday’s Grey Cup.
In 2019, Muamba had 93 tackles, two forced fumbles and one sack. Muamba was fourth in the CFL in tackles this year. He was only behind Calgary Stampeders defensive back Nate Holley (100 tackles), Tiger-Cats linebacker Simoni Lawrence (98 tackles) and Stampeders linebacker Wynton McManis (95 tackles). Interestingly, Holley was named the CFL rookie of the year.
Another Canadian was honoured with an award on Thursday. Tiger-Cats offensive tackle Chris Van Zeyl of Fonthill, Ontario was named the most outstanding lineman as he beat Winnipeg Blue Bombers offensive lineman Stanley Bryant. The other award winners were Tiger-Cats wide receiver Brandon Banks (most outstanding player), Orlondo Steinauer of the Tiger-Cats (coach), kick returner Frankie Williams of the Tiger-Cats (special teams), and Blue Bombers defensive end Willie Jefferson (defensive player).
