The Cincinnati Bengals<\/a>‘ Joseph Ossai<\/a> led a slightly different standout group of African NFL players to the usual suspects in week 13.<\/p>\n However, Kyle Monangai<\/a>, a name that has become all too familiar to African NFL fans in recent weeks, continued his incredible run of form for the Chicago Bears<\/a>.<\/p>\n Chuba Hubbard<\/a> was immense for the Carolina Panthers<\/a>, while YaYa Diaby made a telling contribution for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers<\/a>.<\/p>\n Elsewhere, TJ Maguranyanga made history for the Washington Commanders<\/a> in another week which will live long in the memory for Zimbabwean NFL enthusiasts.<\/p>\n African Player of the Week: Joseph Ossai<\/p>\n Ossai picked up two sacks in the Cincinnati Bengals’ 32-14 win over the Baltimore Ravens<\/a> – one of which was a memorable strip-sack on Lamar Jackson<\/a>.<\/p>\n With the Bengals 7-3 down, Ossai put the Bengals in a prime attacking position as he sacked Jackson five yards from the end zone and the ball spilled, allowing Cedric Johnson<\/a> to gather and run it back three yards.<\/p>\n The Bengals failed to convert that dream offensive position, but ultimately gained control of the game anyway. Lagos-born Ossai contributed in the consolidation of that in no small part with another huge sack under two minutes before half-time, with the Bengals ahead 9-7.<\/p>\n His first half performance rattled the usually formidable Jackson and the Ravens offense, teeing the Bengals up for a dominant second half.<\/p>\n Hubbard’s marauding 35-yard run for a touchdown against the Los Angeles Rams<\/a> proved vital in a 31-28 win for the Panthers.<\/p>\n Born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada to a Canadian mother and Nigerian father, Hubbard was one of the most impressive players of African descent in Week 13. He earned his team a total of 124 yards across catches and carries and capped it with a memorable touchdown.<\/p>\n The Rams had led 7-0 before he darted through their defense midway through the first quarter, beating three chasers before they could even get a finger on him and putting the Panthers on the scoreboard and on course for a memorable win.<\/p>\n Honorable mentions<\/p>\n Kyle Monangai — who has parental ties to Cameroon — gained 130 yards across 22 carries scored a touchdown for the Chicago Bears in their 24-15 win over reigning champions the Philadelphia Eagles<\/a>.<\/p>\n Editor’s Picks<\/p>\n 2 Related<\/p>\n YaYa Diaby, of Guinean descent, also produced a critical moment as he picked up a sack in the Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ 20-17 win over the Arizona Cardinals<\/a>.<\/p>\n Kingsley Enagbare<\/a> picked up half a sack for the Green Bay Packers<\/a> in a 31-24 victory over the Detroit Lions<\/a>, while Uchenna Nwosu<\/a> — who like Enagbare has family ties to Nigeria — got half a sack in the Seattle Seahawks<\/a>‘ 26-0 win over the Minnesota Vikings<\/a>.<\/p>\n Another compatriot, Adetomiwa Adebawore<\/a>, got a sack for the Indianapolis Colts<\/a> – but ultimately in a 20-16 defeat to the Houston Texans<\/a>.<\/p>\n Africa-born player watch<\/p>\n In this category, Ossai stands head and shoulders above the rest for week 13. However, it was also a memorable week for Zimbabwe’s TJ Maguranyanga – a convert from rugby<\/a> via the NFL International Player Pathway (IPP) Program.<\/p>\n He became the first IPP player from Southern Africa to be activated after jumping up from the Washington Commanders practice squad to feature in their 27-26 overtime defeat to the Denver Broncos<\/a>.<\/p>\n This has been a memorable NFL year for Zimbabwe, with the Los Angeles Rams’ Nate Landman<\/a> shining and the Philadelphia Eagles’ Andrew Mukuba<\/a> displaying moments of brilliance. Now, they have another star to celebrate.<\/p>\n Maguranyanga – who attended high school at St. Stithians in Johannesburg and played rugby for Zimbabwe’s national team – made one tackle in the defeat to get off the mark and join the Baltimore Ravens’ Nigerian IPP Player, CJ Okoye<\/a>, in becoming a fully fledged part of a team in the league.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Leonard Solms CloseJack of all sporting trades. Author of my 11-year-old self’s fantasy story about his road to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":322428,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[436],"tags":[49,48,514,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-322427","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nfl","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-nfl","11":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322427","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=322427"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/322427\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/322428"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=322427"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=322427"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=322427"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}‘Gotcha!’ – Joseph Ossai… probably.\u00a0Perry Knotts\/Getty ImagesAfrican Moment of the Week: Chuba Hubbard<\/p>\n