On Tuesday night at approximately 10:00 PM EDT Alain Cimankinda, a Congo-born, Ottawa-raised football player got a phone call from the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders that changed his life. From a very young age, Cimankinda has been working hard to become a professional football player and now at 25 years old the established pass rusher has the opportunity to be exactly that.
Cimankinda has had a long journey to get to the CFL, after graduating from Franco Cite High School in Ottawa, Ontario he’s attended Champlain-Lenoxville College where he played for the Cougars in CEGEP, the New Mexico Military Institute where he played a season of JUCO football all prior to his 16.5 sacks in 23 games played over 3 seasons at the University of Guelph. He has since transferred to Carleton University in Ottawa, Ontario, however with the opportunity in front of him to play alongside A.C Leonard, Jordan Reaves, Freddie Bishop and Micah Johnson with the Saskatchewan Roughriders will take away the chances of him suiting up as a Carleton Raven. In Saskatchewan Cimankinda will look to make an impact on the defensive line, standing at 6-foot-1, 245 pounds he is just one of two Canadian defensive ends on the Roughrider roster, making playing time very reachable in his first year at Mosaic Stadium and to have a good future out west.
Watch in the video above, Alain Cimankinda receiving the call from the CFL’s Saskatchewan Roughriders, his family’s reaction and hear from him just moments following the call in an interview with Jordan Zlomislic of JZ Media. Cimankinda also has a documentary series releasing very soon thanks to the likes of Ronny Musikitele of Skyline Sports Global, Eldrinson Vado of Vado Visuals and Jordan Zlomislic at JZ Media. The series will feature the growth and rise of Alain Cimankinda, starting with his childhood in Ottawa, playing football for NCAFA’s Bel Air Lions to becoming a CFL player, having aspirations outside of just the game of football. The trailer has been out for several weeks on YouTube and this coming weekend will be the release of part one where you will be introduced to Alain Cimankinda and how he was raised in the city of Ottawa.
JZ MEDIA 