Don Landry
CFL.ca
There will be no brotherly love on Grey Cup Sunday, at least not between the opening whistle and the final gun.
As unfortunate as it might be, only one of the Muamba brother can be crowned a Grey Cup champion at the end of the day.
It’s either Blue Bomber’s rookie linebacker Henoc, or BC Lion safety and special teamer Cauchy. And if they happen to clash heads at any point during the game, they will treat each other as adversaries – at least for just that play.
“If he’s not wearing the same colours as me, he’s not my brother at that time,” says 24-year old Cauchy.
“On Sunday, for three hours, he’s not going to be my brother. After that, everything will go back to normal.”
22 year old Henoc, who was taken first overall by Winnipeg in the 2011 draft, agrees.
“Once the whistles blow on Sunday, he’s a B.C. Lion and I’m a Winnipeg Blue Bomber.”
If you’re somehow thinking that The Cup is tearing the brothers apart, then breathe easy. Henoc sternly assured us that all is well off the field.
“We always talk, even during the season. That hasn’t changed. I saw him yesterday, already.”
It’s a strange time for the brothers Muamba. They can’t recall ever being on opposite sides for anything much more than maybe a game of pick-up basketball.
Through their lives they’ve played together, even while at St. Francis Xavier playing for the X-Men.
They have not had a chance to face each other as pros, making the championship game the first time that will happen. It’s an enormous family moment that is not lost on them.
“We both realize how blessed we are to be able to play this game that we all love on this high of a stage,” says Henoc. “Not only that we’re able to play against each other, but to do it in this game….the Grey Cup.”
Both will see ample time on special teams, leaving a decent chance that their paths do cross at some point during the game.
However, the football field is where the aggression ends.
“We never got into a fight,” he replied, when I asked him to recall a time he and Henoc ever got angry with each other. “We always pick each other up. We’ve always got each other’s back.”
That’s okay, as long as it doesn’t happen during the game. That’d be a blocking infraction.
The two brothers seemingly have it all figured out. It’s clear that they understand what belongs both on and off the football field.
But what of the parents, Germain and Louise? They must be suffering, no?
“They don’t want to hear about it,” says Cauchy. “Mom might close her eyes when we’re both on the field.”
It’s expected that their parents will be sporting special jerseys that feature both Winnipeg and BC. That’s just what supportive, loving parents would do, especially since they’ve been doing their best to support both their football playing sons all the way through.
“They’ve been very supportive of both of us, since we both started playing professional,” says Henoc. “At the end of the day, they’re going to be happy because one of us is going to bring the ring home. I’m hoping it’s going to be me.”
THE EXTRA POINT
If the game is tied after regulation on Sunday, perhaps the CFL can give some consideration to having the Muamba brothers settle it with a good old fashioned game of… chess.
They have a habit of playing the thinker’s game against each other, although it’s tough to know which brother is best. I asked each of them, at separate times, to name the one thing other than football that they know they can beat their brother at. Both of them replied “chess.”
“We play chess a lot,” began Henoc. “He always thinks he’s going to beat me, but I beat him all the time. He always makes mistakes.”
“No. He lied,” retorted Cauchy. “I’m a good chess player. He always tries to beat me but he doesn’t. I’m always looking for a challenge but he never wants to play against me because he always loses.”
Easy, fellas. Settle it on the field.
