After stints with four NFL clubs over the last year, quarterback Nathan Rourke is coming back to the CFL.
The BC Lions announced on social media that the Victoria native and 2022 CFL’s most outstanding Canadian Rourke would be returning to the club, with his first appearance scheduled for Wednesday.
🚨 BREAKING 🚨
2022 @CFL Most Outstanding Canadian Nathan Rourke is returning to the #BCLions.
Rourke will arrive at the club’s facility for Wednesday practice with media availability to follow at 1:30 pm. pic.twitter.com/4zq2zdzYc8
— BC LIONS (@BCLions) August 13, 2024
On August 1, Rourke signed for the Atlanta Falcons, a little over a week before the team’s preseason opener. But going 3-for-13 for just 37 yards in a preseason appearance earlier this week, Rourke was cut by the Falcons. They were his fourth NFL team in under two seasons, also having stints with the New England Patriots, Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Giants.
The return of Rourke is a welcome one for both the Lions and the CFL as a whole, though maybe not for the teams playing him.
In 2022, Rourke had a remarkable campaign for the Lions in his first year as a starter, throwing for 3,349 yards and 25 TDs in just 10 starts, winning the CFL’s Most Outstanding Canadian award along the way and putting up one of the best ever seasons by a Canadian QB.
If Rourke’s past comments hold true, that might be the end of his NFL career.
“Ultimately, the answer here is, I wouldn’t not want to come back to the CFL. My experience there was super positive. If I do come back to the CFL, it would be because all NFL opportunities are closed, like there’s no more doors open there,” Rourke said in an Instagram video back in January.
“The NFL has always been the dream, to be able to play in the NFL and have success there, be a starter there. And until those possibilities are closed, at this point, that’s the only time I would return to the CFL.”
More to come…
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