New Carolina Panthers signing Mapalo ‘Maz’ Mwansa grew up wanting to emulate Manchester City legend Yaya Touré, but he had all but given up on organised sport before an off-the-cuff comment changed his life.
The son of two Zambian parents, Mwansa grew up in Peterborough in England, hence his love for soccer. He was aware of American football due to family connections in the US, but initially, it never went beyond throwing the ball in the garden.
That would have remained the case had it not been for the keen eye of his friend, current European League of Football (ELF) player Henry Rowland.
Rowland was coming through the NFL Academy at Loughborough University when he noticed at an informal sports day that Mwansa, who was studying economics and finance and not focused on sport, was a particularly impressive 100-metre sprinter with a solid physique.
“I grew up loving [soccer] and my team was Manchester City. I’m 20 years of age right now and growing up, I always wanted to be [City legend] Yaya Touré,” Mwansa told ESPN.
“When I was at university, I attended an informal sports day and ran 100 metres and someone from this (Rowland) managed to see me and they thought: ‘What’s your sporting background?'”
At this stage, he had given up on taking part in any sport – from soccer to sprinting – at a professional level, thinking his window had passed.
“At that point in time, I said I didn’t play any sport competitively and that I was just going to the gym,” Mwansa recalled.
“He (Rowland) just said: ‘What a waste.’
“I took on American football as he suggested… I went home, watched Last Chance U, went on Netflix, watched the Quarterback documentary which they made. I continued to grow a liking for the sport. Through that journey, I took myself to Loughborough Students – the university team – and continued to delve into my journey right now.”
Being a latecomer to the sport, Mwansa was allocated to the IPP Program rather than the academy, which is geared towards players aged between 16-19.
Despite having only been playing for a year, he blossomed rapidly and having started out as a defensive end, he moved to EDGE rusher after gaining tactical knowledge.
“I decided to take up this sport when I was in my second year and I was playing D-end. The phrase they say is: ‘See ball, get ball.’ Go and get the ball – not too much to think about,” he said.
“American football is a very tactical sport and a lot of knowledge is needed to play the sport… I’m taking the explosive power that I have, the speed that I have, and using these traits to become an EDGE rusher/outside linebacker – to bend the edge and hopefully get some sacks and be successful in the NFL.
“I have a similar sort of frame to Nolan Smith Jr., the Philadelphia Eagles EDGE rusher and he’s someone with very similar traits and that’s someone that I was given as a prototype to study – try look at his film and look at what he does well.”
Mwansa carries a sense of pride representing Zambia and is driven by a desire to ensure that the world gets used to sporting greatness from his family’s country rather than being shocked each time they see it.
He pointed to the reaction to 400m sprinter Muzala Samukonga’s Olympic bronze as an example: “He won the 400m bronze medal at the Olympics and everyone was like: ‘Oh, wow. This guy from Zambia – he’s achieved something great.’
“When people have that reaction to being successful, it’s like: ‘Oh, you never thought we could do it?’
“Even in 2012, seeing Zambia win AFCON for the first time, I was sitting there with my family and we all enjoyed it, but we were all surprised. I want to take that surprise nature away from Zambians being successful.
“West Africans have a lot of role models and people out there who have been there, done that, and are prominent in our society.
“If I can pull this off – when I can pull this off – It will be great to put Zambia on the map and show people what athletes from this country can do.”