Without Kurtis Rourke, there would be no NFL for Nathan Rourke.
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And without his big brother, there would be no NFL dreams for Kurtis.
Nathan paved the way. Kurtis propped him up. They both pushed each other.
After an off-season of uncertainty, Nathan is sticking around the NFL; the former B.C. Lions star re-signed with the New England Patriots this week. And after obliterating all sorts of records at Ohio University — including some of his brother’s — Kurtis is a week away from spring football with the Indiana Hoosiers, after using the portal to transfer to the Big 10 school in January for his final year of eligibility.
“I’m glad that he’s moved on from Ohio, because that means at least some of my records will be safe,” laughed Nathan, the older brother at 25 to Kurtis’s 23.
“I know he wasn’t gonna get some of my rushing records, so I wasn’t worried about those. So that’s good. But I’m glad that he’s going to get the opportunity that I never did. I was in a very different situation than he was.
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“If given the opportunity, I would have absolutely done what he did, and gone to a bigger program and tried to get playing time. I always knew in the back of my head that playing in Ohio would have its downsides in terms of not getting the exposure or given the credence that playing against the type of competition that an SEC school or Big 10 school might get. And for him to take the advantage that … I think this is going to be really, really good for him and for his draft profile, and I’m really excited for him.”
Nathan had little exposure or interest when he was playing football for Holy Trinity in the Ontario Federation of School Athletic Associations, despite leading the school to an undefeated season and its first provincial title as a Grade 11 quarterback. He elected to move south to Edgewood Academy in Elmore, Ala., for Grade 12, which turned out to be the first rung on a longer-than-expected ladder to pro football.
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But if Kurtis and his mom hadn’t joined him in the U.S., Nathan wouldn’t have been eligible to play, and says he’ll forever be indebted to his family for their sacrifice.
“He’s paid it back, many times already,” Kurtis said this week. “It was a tough year for me, because I went from being excited and looking forward to my sophomore year back in Canada … to dropping everything and moving with my mom to essentially sit on the sidelines in both football and basketball and watch Nathan be the guy.
“It was an amazing experience just to watch him do that. I’ll be his No. 1 fan forever, but outside of his success and all the great things that he did, it was tough to fit in down there. But I would do it again because of the success that it brought Nathan, and where he’s ultimately at today.”
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“He was a great teammate to me. He was a great role model of what it’s like to be a supportive teammate in the room,” said Nathan. “It was good, because up to that point, I hadn’t been a backup. So to see him model that was important for me for when I got to B.C., and obviously my last two stops as well in the NFL.”
When Kurtis and mom Robyn returned to Oakville after that year, it was the former freshman’s turn to come into his own. He, too, led the Holy Trinity Titans to a provincial title, and, by his final year, he had sprouted to 6-foot-5 — three inches taller than his brother — and had an arm that left his coaches in awe.
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“He’s the only guy that you could stand behind, and when he threw the ball, you can hear the ball whistle,” said Joe Moscato, who coached both Rourke brothers at Holy Trinity. “Sometimes the coaches would come off the field after game, and they’re like, ‘My God, what a quarterback. What an arm.’ ”
Kurtis received interest from several schools, but one offered early — Ohio — as his brother made sure his coaches knew about his brother’s potential. His word carried weight, too, having led the Bobcats to multiple bowl victories, and he won two straight Jon Cornish trophies as the top Canadian football player. He didn’t host Kurtis on his recruiting visit, though — he was too busy preparing for that week’s game.
Kurtis redshirted his freshman year — Nathan’s last — and when his older brother left, he gave his coaches some parting words: “Don’t coach him like me. We’re different.”
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Nathan’s success was as a dual-threat QB, with the ability to break out of the pocket and score with his legs. Kurtis and his cannon arm had hit through the air, having games where he threw for 537 yards or five touchdowns — totals far higher than his brother. He would finish his Bobcats career with 7,666 yards (second all-time in school history), one rung above Nathan’s 7,454. But Nathan’s 60 total TDs is better than Kurt’s by 10, and he’s the highest-rushing quarterback in team history.
It leads to some spirited conversations over holiday dinners, Nathan chuckled, the inevitable extension of their long-standing sibling rivalry that spilled over to just about every corner of their lives.
“At a youth group, my senior year, and we’re supposed to be the leaders for Athletes in Action and we’re playing this card game against each other … and we both kind of showed a pretty ugly side of ourselves in front of those at our team chapel,” Nathan said, laughing.
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“As long as there’s a winner and loser, we’re going to compete.”
They would battle over everything, but one-on-one basketball was their personal Super Bowl. As for the better player?
“See, this is always a debate because it’s been a long time since we played,” said Kurtis. “I think I’ve always been more of a shooter, because I hit my growth spurt so late, and so I needed to be able to shoot, because every time I’d go to the rim, he would block me.
“And then I kind of got my growth spurt and was kind of able to even the playing field. But then we both kind of went away in our own careers, so we haven’t played in a little bit, but there’s gonna be a point where we’re gonna play some pickup like the old days.”
That will have to wait, as there’s too much on the line to risk a twisted ankle, blown-out knee or finger injury.
Rourke is focused on securing a spot with the Patriots. With Mac Jones being traded this week — %7B%22provider_name%22:%22Twitter%22,%22provider_url%22:%22https:%5C/%5C/twitter.com%22,%22object_url%22:%22https:%5C/%5C/twitter.com%5C/nfldraftscout%5C/status%5C/1759979018755911899%22,%22html%22:%22
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2024-03-18 13:04:10
#Lean #intertwined #football #journeys #brothers #Nathan #Kurtis #Rourke
