Quarterback Kurtis Rourke is the newest Canadian addition to the NFL.
The Oakville, Ont., native and former Indiana University standout was selected in the seventh round by the San Francisco 49ers.
"... I'm going to give everything I've got to you guys," Rourke told 49ers team reporter Lindsey Pallares. "I've played a lot of football and been a part of a lot of winning teams. I'm excited to bring all that to San Francisco and be a part of one of the best fan bases out there. I'm excited to get to work."
The 24-year-old led the Hoosiers to the 12-team College Football Playoff while throwing for 3,042 yards, 29 touchdowns and only five interceptions.
Rourke is also working his way back from a torn ACL that required surgery back on Jan. 8 but is expected to be a full participant for the start of training camp.
Rourke, the younger brother of B.C. Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke, transferred to Indiana for his final NCAA season after starting at Ohio.
"He’s a guy that we really liked," 49ers GM John Lynch said. "I think really displayed his toughness, played a lot of the year on a partially torn ACL. It was a previous ACL that was done in 2022, a re-tear but toughed it out and played through it, had surgery after the season."
“We took him with the understanding that he’s not going to likely be cleared until training camp, but we felt like there was a lot of talent, a lot of ability. The guy plays the game the right way and you can’t have enough good quarterbacks. Wanted to add him to the mix and we’re able to do it in the seventh round.”
The Canadian now joins a 49ers QB room of Brock Purdy, off-season signing Mac Jones and Tanner Mordecai.
"Love the size, love how he throws, love how he plays the position, especially watching him this year. I don’t think it was a coincidence how good of a year they had with the type of quarterback they had and he did it the whole year with a broken finger, a torn ACL, and still was really, really impressive," 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan said.
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