Rourke plays the long game in chasing NFL dream

There is some irony in the Nathan Rourke story – at least from a Canadian Football League perspective.

For years, the league and its fans pined for a legitimate Canadian star quarterback, someone who might transcend the game to a degree, exciting people with his play as well as his passport.

And against a backdrop of skepticism that teams would afford Canadians opportunities to make the league’s dream come true, it happened.

Nathan Rourke was truly a dream for the CFL.

He’s a Canadian kid who has earned everything he’s gotten from the sport, with a brilliant football IQ, unstoppable work ethic and a modesty matched only by his talent.

And he was very, very good at playing quarterback in the CFL, so much so that he became appointment viewing in a way the league hasn’t experienced since the days of Doug Flutie.

“Did you see Nathan Rourke the other night?” entered the mainstream sports conversation in Canada.

All of which makes it an inescapable letdown for the CFL that he’s leaving for the National Football League, much as the league and its teams might sincerely wish him well.

Rourke never pretended to have grown up dreaming of the CFL. The Victoria native was inspired by a Green Bay Packers VHS tape he watched religiously as a toddler and still keeps with him to this day.

In a statement released Sunday he called his time in the CFL an “unforeseen detour on my football journey but a necessary one” leaving no doubt about where his long-term sights have always been aimed.

But last season with the BC Lions he represented the cause of all Canadian quarterbacks, even though he would gently tease the media at times for constantly thrusting him into that role.

Given his age, just 24, and remarkable accuracy and efficiency throwing the football last season, it was obvious he was going to have options south of the border beyond being buried somewhere on an NFL practice roster.

In Jacksonville, Rourke is playing the long game, choosing a spot where he will compete for the No. 2 job behind Trevor Lawrence next season over trying to see a clear path to the No.1 spot.

Those places exist, but also were perhaps less willing to take the risk of counting on a player from another league to ascend to a starting role in short order.

And as he proved as Mike Reilly’s backup in B.C. during the 2021 season, he’s capable of making great improvement in the role of backup quarterback.

That’s part of the reason Rourke became so much more appealing to the NFL than he was when he came out of college in the spring of 2020.

In college, Rourke was a true dual threat who was as likely to tuck it and run as throw the ball downfield. When he did throw it, he had a career completion percentage of 58.5 – a stat that made some CFL teams question his suitability for the three-down game.

By the time the opened the 2022 season as the Lions’ starter, Rourke was a vastly improved player. Not just ready for the CFL, but setting an all-time record for completion percentage in a season at 78.7 per cent, and leading virtually every statistical category when he went out with a foot injury in August.

How Rourke adapted to the CFL game and redesigned himself to suit it is a big part of his story. Taken in the 2020 draft, Rourke immediately moved to Vancouver and became as imbedded with his team as he could.

He worked with throwing coach Rob Williams, turning himself into a better passer while he waited for his playing opportunity.

When the CFL resumed play after the missed 2020 season, the Lions quickly knew what they had in their backup quarterback. By the end of that season they committed to making him their starter in 2022, despite starting just two games in his rookie season. 

Rourke’s ability to adapt to a new environment and even a new game is what makes this next step in his journey so intriguing.

Consider his story.

Rourke won a championship in his Grade 11 season in Oakville, Ont., and decided to challenge himself at a higher level by finishing high school in Alabama.

How did the adjustment go? His team went 13-0 and won a state championship.

Too late to get into the recruiting cycle, he spent a year at Fort Scott Community College in Kansas.

How did the adjustment go? He was named a conference all-star.

He then enrolled at Ohio University; an NCAA Division I school in the Mid-American Conference.

How did the adjustment go? He quickly took over the No. 1 job which he held for three seasons during a record-setting career that took the Bobcats to three successive bowl games.

And then he went to the CFL.

How did that adjustment go? Well, we all know that one.  

The point is that every time Rourke has stepped up to a higher level, he’s been able to quickly excel.

Can this pattern continue in the NFL, the place he dreamed of winning championships as a kid?

The answer may not come right away, but at some point, we’re going to find out.