When Kurtis Rourke first started playing football, he was afraid of being tackled.
He knew he loved the game, and he knew he loved playing quarterback. But, at four years old, he knew he was also a little bit scared of getting hurt.
Fast-forward 20 years later, Rourke is even more in love with the game. He's the first quarterback from Indiana University to receive an invitation to the NFL Combine since Nate Sudfeld in 2016, he was named the top Canadian football player in the NCAA in 2024 and he led the Hoosiers to their first College Football Playoff game in program history.
And he's not afraid of getting tackled anymore.
How could he be, really, when he did all of that with a torn ACL and a broken thumb?
In July, when Rourke was preparing for his first season at Indiana – recently transferring from Ohio University for his final year of college eligibility – Rourke felt a little twinge in his right knee. An MRI revealed a partially torn ACL. He knew he would probably have some uncomfortability throughout the season, but the doctors didn't tell him he couldn't play. So, he kept playing.
In October, Rourke sustained a thumb injury on his throwing hand in the second quarter of Indiana's win over Nebraska. Rourke exited the game and didn't return in the second half, sparking conversations of just how serious the injury was.
As it turns out, Rourke had broken his thumb. After undergoing successful surgery just days later, Rourke missed Indiana's next game against Washington. But that was the only game he would miss, returning to the field less than two weeks after surgery to lead Indiana through its final four games of the 2024 season (in which the Hoosiers went 3-1) and their CFP game against Notre Dame.
"I wanted to be out for as little time as possible," Rourke said Friday at the NFL Combine. "As soon as I could grip the ball, I was ready to go."
Rourke has endured his share of injuries throughout his college career, including a torn ACL in 2022 – the same one he would re-tear in 2024 – that kept him out for the last game and a half of the regular season for the Bobcats. It was through those injuries, though, that Rourke was able to realize just how much the game of football meant to him.
"I just wanted to be out there," Rourke said. "Every time I've gotten injured, it's just shown me how much I love football and how much I don't want to miss it. And so any opportunity that I was given to get in to play, I wanted to."
So, throughout the 2024 season, even when Rourke felt that nagging pain and uncomfortability that he knew would come with his partially torn ACL, he kept playing. He wanted to play with the best, and he wanted to compete – after all, that's why he transferred to Indiana. He wanted to show he belonged. So, he kept playing.
"I was healthy enough to play, and that's all that mattered to me," Rourke said. "I wanted to make sure I gave it everything I had this year."
It wasn't until after the conclusion of the season Rourke realized that at some point, his partially torn ACL had turned into a fully torn ACL. Rourke said his best guess as to when it happened was during fall camp – so, August – but there was no way to really know for sure. In January, he underwent successful surgery, and is progressing well through rehabilitation with the goal of being fully recovered by the time NFL training camp begins in July.
Rourke, in 12 games for the Hoosiers, recorded 3,042 passing yards, 29 touchdowns and five interceptions, with a career-high 69.4 completion percentage. His game wasn't necessarily all that impacted by his ACL injury, he said, as he's more of a pocket passer than a running quarterback.
"It changed my mindset – obviously I feel very confident throwing the ball, and that's what I like to do anyways," Rourke explained. "So it didn't change too much of what I usually want to do. But I definitely had it in my mind, so if I can make more time in the pocket to deliver a throw, I'd rather do that rather than just run around. But I knew it was part of the game, part of the position, and something that I need to utilize. So if I had to run, I would run."
As Rourke goes through the combine and draft process, the 24-year-old quarterback has a few things as part of his "sales pitch" to potential teams.
First, his experience; Rourke has 46 games worth of college football experience (with a 30-14 record in games he's started) with 10,144 career passing yards, 71 touchdowns with 20 interceptions.
"I've played a lot of football," he said. "I've learned a lot, and I've been a part of some really explosive offenses. I've been a part of a lot of winning teams, and it's helped me with the way I see the field, the way that I process, the way that I anticipate and play on time. And the best part is, I'm still growing and learning."
Second, his resiliency and ability to battle through injury, and have major success while doing so; with Rourke (and head coach Curt Cignetti) at the helm, the Hoosiers recorded the program's first-ever 10-win season. And while they lost to Notre Dame in the first round of the College Football Playoff, even making it to that point in the postseason was viewed as a huge success.
"I look back and look at how great the team did, and how well I was able to perform with the torn ACL," Rourke said. "So I just look at it and want to tell teams that, if I did that on a torn ACL and broken thumb, imagine what I could do when I'm fully healthy."
Players with Indiana ties at the NFL Combine:
- Darius Alexander (DT, Toledo/Fort Wayne Snider High School)
- Beaux Collins (WR, Notre Dame)
- Howard Cross III (DL, Notre Dame)
- Mitchell Evans (TE, Notre Dame)
- Kenneth Grant (DT, Michigan/Merrillville High School)
- Jay Higgins (LB, Iowa/Brebeuf)
- Maxen Hook (S, Toldeo/New Palestine High School)
- Jack Kiser (LB, Notre Dame/Pioneer High School)
- Riley Leonard (QB, Notre Dame)
- Rylie Mills (DL, Notre Dame)
- Bam Martin-Scott (LB, South Carolina/Fort Wayne Snider High School)
- Marcus Mbow (OL, Purdue)
- Benjamin Morrison (CB, Notre Dame)
- Kurtis Rourke (QB, Indiana)
- Xavier Watts (S, Notre Dame)
- C.J. West (DL, Indiana)
