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Akingbulu embraces Nigerian heritage in final year

After playing his last home game at Bulldog Stadium, Alex Akingbulu said he didn’t want to get emotional until he saw his fellow seniors in tears, so he joined them in the bittersweet moment.

He looked into the Red Wave crowd for the last time, saw his mom cheering in pride and even cherished the physical pain he was enduring.

“If I got hurt or anything, people asked me, ‘Why are you smiling? Why are you smiling?’ I’m like, this is what we like. This is what we want,” Akingbulu said. “Even the pain was something that like brought me joy in a way because I don’t know if I’ll ever necessarily feel that again.