December 12, 2022

Nathan Rourke on 2022 season: ‘Growth comes to mind’

Christian Bender/CFL.ca

TORONTO — BC Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke enjoyed an astounding sophomore season in the Canadian Football League.

The young signal-caller became just the third quarterback in league history to win Most Outstanding Canadian honours and made history on more than one occasion this season. Rourke was the league leader in passing yards (3,281) and touchdowns (25) before suffering a foot injury in Week 11 that would keep him sidelined until the final week of the regular season.

“I think growth comes to mind,” said Rourke when reflecting on his season during an interview with Donnovan Bennett. “I think that in a lot of ways I showed that on the field, but I think off the field my injury certainly gave me perspective and a lot of growing had to happen for me to be able to come back and a lot of growth that needs to happen in the future.”

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Rourke finished the season with 3,349 passing yards and his 25 touchdown passes ranked second to only Winnipeg Blue Bombers quarterback Zach Collaros who led the CFL with 37 majors. More important than individual statistics, Rourke helped lead the Lions to a regular season record of 12-6 and the team hosted their first playoff game in Vancouver since 2016.

When asked about the seemingly immediate success of the 2022 Lions, the quarterback admitted he was a little bit surprised, but said he knew that BC possessed a lot of talent in their locker room.

“A little bit, yeah, I knew that we had a great team,” said Rourke. “The core group that we have in the locker room is really great and something really special and no surprise to us, the people in the building, that we were able to turn it around.”

In just his second start of the season Rourke threw for 436 yards against the Toronto Argonauts in Week 3, setting the all-time CFL record for most passing yards in a single game by a Canadian quarterback.

Examining his path to stardom in the CFL, Rourke said he felt fortunate to be apart of an organization like the Lions, where his ability to play the position vastly outweighed the longstanding stigma surrounding Canadian quarterbacks.

“I remember when I was coming into this league, I was told by numerous people that Canadian quarterbacks aren’t treated the same,” said Rourke. “I was very fortunate that I came into an organization that really didn’t care. The greatest compliment I ever got from our front office was, ‘we don’t care if you’re Canadian, we just want to put you on the field because we think you’re the best option.’

“Hopefully with that kind of approach we’re able to see that we can get Canadian talent from the NCAA or U SPORTS and be able to see that translate on CFL gamedays and I think that will speak volumes.”

The Lions pivot would go on to break his own record twice more this season, throwing for 477 yards and five touchdowns in a Week 9 matchup with the Edmonton Elks. He would then follow up the jaw-dropping performance by readjusting the record books one week later with a 488-yard outing against the Calgary Stampeders.

However, in the late stages of a Week 11 matchup with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Rourke would ultimately suffer the foot injury that would force him off the field until the final week of regular season play.

Reflecting on the recovery process Rourke admitted that the mental battle was a much more difficult task than physically recovering.

“It’s tough, there were a lot of days that were harder and harder than others and some days that were better,” said Rourke. “You just kind of take the punches that it gives you and you just try to ride it out and remain hopeful throughout it. I think that I’ve got a newfound appreciation for just being healthy in this game and how tough it is to do.

“Physically some days I could see that I was making progress, but mentally sometimes I felt like I was stuck in one place and that was the most difficult part for me.”

 

Rourke made his return to action in Week 21 against the Blue Bombers, helping his team capture their final win of the regular season before entering the playoffs.

The Lions hosted the Calgary Stampeders at BC Place and earned a decisive 30-16 win in the Western Semi-Final. Rourke completed 22 of his 30 passing attempts and threw for 321 yards and two touchdowns as he helped his team advance to their first Western Final since 2016.

The incredible season for Rourke and the Lions would come to an end as they fell short, suffering a 28-20 loss in a hard-fought battle with the Blue Bombers in this year’s Western Final.

Entering the off-season the Canadian phenom will have options to weigh and decisions to process.

After what was an outstanding year with the Lions, Rourke has turned the heads of scouts and executives in the NFL. According to reports from ESPN’s Adam Schefter and TSN’s Farhan Lalji, the quarterback will have the opportunity to workout for NFL teams this off-season.

The Lions selected Rourke with the 15th overall pick in the second round of the 2020 CFL Draft. In 2021 the young pivot took the field for his rookie season and served as a backup to Michael Reilly for most of the year.

At the end of the 2021 season, Reilly would announce his retirement from professional football and shortly after Rourke would be named the starting quarterback for Orange and Black entering 2022. Not long after his debut as BC’s new starting quarterback, No.12 quickly became a CFL fan-favourite and took the league by storm.

Evaluating his situation in BC is something that Rourke maintained will be at the top of his mind in the evaluation process should an NFL opportunity arise.

“I think that it first starts with evaluation what you have here, right? And the opportunity that you’d be potentially passing up,” explained Rourke. “I think you have to understand that there’s an organization that’s (doing) something that we haven’t really seen much in the league. Saying, ‘hey we don’t really care if he’s Canadian, we’re going to go out and he’s going to be our guy after starting two games.’

“You have to understand that you’re giving that up and you have to say, ‘is it worth just being in the NFL?’ Because you’re probably going to have to pay your dues in that situation, right? So you have to say, ‘is that more important at this point? Or maybe it will be there at another time in your career’.”

Despite the excitement surrounding the talented passer, Rourke stated that should he be presented with an opportunity to play in the NFL it won’t be an easy or immediate decision to make.

“It would be very difficult, it would be very very difficult,” said Rourke. “It’s kind of like the philosophy my quarterback coach at Ohio used to say in terms of reads, ‘door number one, that’s your flat-route, are you taking it when it’s open or are you going to wait for that curl-route behind it in door number two?’ And maybe door number two, there’s nothing behind it. It’s kind of a funny analogy, but it means something for me.

“It’s the same thing with this, it’s a risk that you’re taking with me at door number two understanding that you have something in door number one, so it would definitely be a tough decision.”

No matter the decision, whether it be joining a new team in a new league, or returning to Vancouver and the Lions, Rourke expressed that the 2022 BC Lions team was a special group to be apart of.

“This year was certainly one of those experiences that I’ll never forget.”

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