Emmanuel Rugamba: From escaping war to becoming the first Rwandan NFL signing
Rugamba was born in a refugee camp in Zambia but moved to the United States aged two. He tells Olympics.com how he stumbled upon the sport by chance, and was signed by the Cleveland Browns.
“My situation isn’t like everyone else’s,” says Emmanuel Rugamba with a huge helping of understatement.
Rugamba was born in a refugee camp in Zambia to Rwandan parents who fled the horrors of the 1994 genocide. When he was two years old, his family emigrated to Chicago. There followed a whirlwind period before he found some "sense of purpose" in sport, and then a career as a gridiron football player.
“Football changed not just my life, but my family's life as well,” the 26-year-old tells Olympics.com exclusively from Vancouver where he now plays for BC Lions in the Canadian Football League (CFL).
“You can take away colour, race, status, but sports allow everybody to feel equal. It's always given me a sense of purpose and opportunities to grow.”
Emmanuel Rugamba on finding purpose on the football field
'Manny', as he's commonly called by teammates and family alike, was born in adversity. He learned the value of hard work from his mother, Daniella Esperance Umutanguha, who single-handedly raised him and nine other children, some of whom she adopted after they were orphaned in the Rwanda genocide.
In 2001, they were offered the opportunity to move to the U.S. on a refugee programme. After living and shutting across several states, she eventually settled in Chicago.
“As the youngest, I was fortunate enough to be around so many siblings,” he recalled. "It was challenging at first. There were financial issues coming up, with so many of us at home.
"At certain times we were overpacked in a space, or we might have not had enough meals. And my mum, raising about 10 of us in that house, putting herself through nursing school, yet she barely spoke English, she really is the story.”
Sport soon became an outlet for the children, and gave his mother much-needed breaks. It also presented a way to improve their health and life chances, and keep them safe.
“My mother didn't have all the time in the world to be looking after all of us,” remarked Rugamba. "She knew we were interested in sports as we'd be playing all the time. She put all my siblings in basketball, but the cut-off age was 10. And I was nine years old at the time. So, she found football and signed me up.”
That was the beginning of a life-changing journey.
Emmanuel Rugamba found purpose on the football field
How football for convenience turned into an obsession
The sports environment was a new but rewarding experience for Rugamba. There was a rollercoaster of emotions, but he loved being out on the field.
“It did start off as just something that she just had to get her son into because he had too much time on his hands," he admitted. "And I just kind of fell in love with it. I remember not even knowing what I was doing… but it was just so much fun being out there, the friends that you have and the relationships that you built… just those experiences*.”*
Fast-forward to high school where he started playing football seriously. Rugamba's work ethic stood out and caught the eye of his high school coach, the late Tim Lavery.
“I was a freshman in high school, and I was playing very well. He [Tim] he told me, ‘If you keep playing like this, someone's going to pay for your college.' I'm like, ‘What do you mean by that? They'll pay for my school, and I go free?’ And that was my first goal right there,” he recalled of the thought of helping his mother, who was holding multiple jobs to support her large family.
“My first goal was, ‘How can I help whatever situation we have at home? Because if I can get a scholarship, I can save my mum a couple of thousands of dollars.' Then and there, it became like an obsession.”
The resident of the western suburb of Naperville showed his driving force and determination to be the best playing as a wide receiver. And the scholarship offers came. He committed to Iowa, where he switched to the defensive position of cornerback.
He recalls, “After my first scholarship, seeing the look on my mum’s face how proud she was, and knowing how bad I wanted to do that and being able to do that… That was the first moment as a young man I felt like I've done something for my family, and I am just going to do that to the best of my ability.”
Emmanuel Rugamba on signing with the Cleveland Browns
The footballer got the chance, and that was all he needed. He chose not to 'redshirt' where many college student-athlete freshmen sit out their first year to enable them to play four years from when they are more mature. In fact, he looks back with pride at being able to mix it against more seasoned players as a freshman.
“What I am proud of is I ended up getting my first start against, like, the number five team in the country," he says." That was Michigan, and we ended up beating them. I got defensive player of the week and freshman of the week.”
His star shone even brighter after he transferred to Miami University ahead of his junior year in 2019. Rugamba's regular season exploits earned him All Mid-American Conference (MAC) Third Team honours, and he received the MAC Championship Game Defensive MVP award as the Redhawks took the title. He was named again in the All MAC Third Team in his senior year.
After his heroics at college, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in kinesiology majoring in sport leadership and management, Rugamba was not selected in the 2021 NFL Draft. But he was signed immediately after as a free agent by the Cleveland Browns.
"Signing an NFL contract, becoming the first Rwandan… that changed my life to a crazy extent,” he admitted of the period in 2021 when he also received his U.S. citizenship.
The Browns released him before the start of the regular season, but he was picked up by BC Lions at the start of 2022 to play in the CFL where he has enjoyed great success. In 2023, he was selected to the CFL West All-Star Team.
“It's now my fourth year professionally," he says. "Just knowing that the average football career lasts around like 2.8 years or something like that... So, I continue to celebrate some of the smaller accomplishments I feel like I've had over the years."
Emmanuel Rugamba: Sport offers refugees "faith and understanding that there is a tomorrow"
The significance of Rugamba's accomplishments go beyond being a name on a football roster, or just making history in his motherland Rwanda, which he has yet to visit. His story resonates deeply with more than 120 million people forcibly displaced for various reasons.
“When I think about these events, these traumatic events that affected my family, I never think of it in a negative light," he remarks. "I feel like I can give somebody else hope, and God used me for a good purpose.
“Their situation is not their identity. And the biggest thing that I can take away from that is just having hope, having faith and understanding that there is a tomorrow."
He believes his story and those of other athletes, including representatives of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team at the Olympic Games, is testament to what refugees can do given the opportunity. And Rugamba hopes refugees will turn to sport as a way to heal and shine.
“One thing I can tell refugees, when you feel like you're looking for some kind of confidence, some kind of identity in a place you're very unfamiliar with, you can find that in sports. There are so many lessons in sports that you can apply to your everyday life, find some guidance and grow positively."
Rugamba is actively in mentorship and outreach programs with BC Lions, but he has unfinished business thousands of kilometres away. "One of my biggest things is I want to go back home for the first time, as soon as I feel like, I could bring forth something for the community through sport," he reveals.
“I dream about that day when I will go, and that football comes to Rwanda in some way, shape or form. I want to be a part of that.”