Lions safety Cauchy Muamba earns fraternal bragging rights

There likely will never be any favourites between the two football-playing sons of Jermaine and Louise Muamba back home in Mississauga, Ont., but the starting safety of the B.C. Lions is now officially further ahead of his brother on a variety of levels.

Cauchy Muamba formally forged ahead in the inherent rivalry that goes with having a sibling in the CFL when he began the first practice week of the regular season as the starting safety.

Henoc Muamba, on the other hand, was told he will serve as a backup with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers on Friday when they meet the Lions at B.C. Place Stadium, having pushed unsuccessfully to take a starting middle linebacking spot.

For one of the brothers, the decision by Lions coach Mike Benevides is the affirmation of steady improvement for a player who had no knowledge of three-down football when his French-speaking family initially fled the civil uprising in his native Congo for Montreal as a nine-year-old.

And though it has been assumed that he would take over all along as the last line of defence in the Lions secondary, Muamba’s importance in establishing the non-import ratio was reinforced with another move made by the rookie coach.

Benevides confirmed that import Adam Bighill has won the job to replace Solomon Elimimian at middle linebacker over James Yurichuk of Brampton Ont., which means the Lions at this stage no longer have another option to go with Muamba in the middle to make the non-import ratio work.

For Muamba, that’s a lot of bragging rights which have been built up in a short time. He and his brother talk daily, a routine that didn’t change when the Lions beat Winnipeg in the Grey Cup nor during the subsequent off-season, when the two trained together in Houston.

But the Lions’ only non-import defensive starter not only refuses to gloat, he still behaves like the backup he has been for two years since becoming part of what now is looking like a decent 2010 draft class for the Lions.

Though working on the scout team is often a chore reserved for backups, Muamba still did his part Monday, and grinned broadly when the protocol faux pas was pointed out. He has graduated now in one sense, ready to sink or swim on his own entering his third CFL season. But he still couldn’t overlook his past.

“Playing on that team the last two years, that’s how I’ve learned,” he said Monday. “I don’t want to take a back seat just because I’m starting.”

Muamba initially got the Lions’ attention when he filled in at safety in a game last season at Toronto, and progressed to a point where Benevides felt he had two non-import defensive options so as to start the required seven Canadians.

Bighill forced one move, a point which was even conceded by Yurichuk. “Adam had one heck of a camp,” said Yurichuk of his import teammate, who also has progressed in steady but unspectacular fashion since being one of the last additions of the Lions’ 2010 training camp.

“Think about how many starting linebackers there are in the CFL; there’s not a lot of opportunities. To compete and win the job is special, especially for people who pegged me last year as not even making the club,” Bighill said.

Muamba had a much more defined path, when the Lions didn’t resign Davis Sanchez and told J.R. LaRose to concentrate on special teams work. But his coach insists he earned the position, even if that may not be confirmed until he becomes an obvious target in a secondary where all-stars galore leave opponents little recourse.

“Cauchy has not disproven anything where we want to change the person or the ratio,” Benevides said.

And that’s saying something when it comes to the disposition of a mere babe playing alongside the likes of Korey Banks and others in the Lions secondary who do not suffer fools lightly.

But Muamba was quickly accepted into the group by using common sense.

“You got to respect them before they respect you. That’s how they accepted me,” said Muamba. “Coming in as a rookie [in 2010] I thought I was going to get picked on. Korey picked on me but at the same time he was the only one who protected me. Ryan Phillips was there for me too. So was Dante Marsh and Sanchez. They’ve helped me become the person I am now.”

A person the Lions are about to count on more than they ­previously envisioned, and one who has obvious bragging rights when he calls his brother every night after practice.