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Tim Biakabutuka

Tim Biakabutuka

Running back uses Canada as launching pad

2001

It would be easy for Tim Biakabutuka to make Canada a distant memory. He is a scholarship athlete from the University of Michigan, a former NFL running back and the Carolina Panthers all-time leading rusher. Canada was simply the starting point, the springboard, for this successful career.

Yet the 28-year-old returns each year to Montreal, the city that gave him his start, and invests his time and money to develop both area youth and the game of football.

The Tshimanga (Tim) Biakabutuka Foundation grants scholarships to financially disadvantaged Quebec high school students who have good grades.

"Academic performance is important to us when we are evaluating candidates," said Biakabutuka. "If kids haven't shown any kind of work ethic up to that point we're less likely to help them. We don't want kids who are going to start college and then quit. The kids we really want to help through the Foundation are those who deserve to be sitting in a college classroom, but can't afford it."

Biakabutuka also runs a football clinic each Spring for aspiring Montreal-area football players, passing on the fundamentals he feels are necessary for improvement. He sees a positive trend in the development of football players from his home province, and wants to help this along.

"Kids in Canada simply don't play as much football as kids in the US," added Biakabutuka. "I feel that if I can pass on some fundamentals and some inspiration in a two-day clinic, then maybe these kids will start playing on their own and develop their skills."

Football clinics for financially disadvantaged kids didn't exist when Biakabutuka was growing up in Montreal. Biakabutuka, who was born in Zaire and moved to Canada at the age of six, didn't play a down of organized football until he was 16. After making it through a difficult first practice on the Jean Jacques Rousseau high school team, the talented running back never looked back. He went on to Vanier College in Montreal, where he earned league Rookie of the Year honours by rushing for 1,300 yards and 12 touchdowns. In 1993 Tim accepted a scholarship offer from the University of Michigan, and went on to set numerous school records. Tim was drafted in the first round, eighth overall, by the Panthers in the 1996 NFL Draft. After six successful years with the Panthers, Biakabutuka retired in 2001.

"I've been fortunate," said Biakabutuka. "And I'm happy to help develop the game here in Canada, where I got my start."