The Indiana Hoosiers broke through and earned the best season in program history in 2024. It turns out that feat was even more impressive than you might think.
Quarterback Kurtis Rourke quickly grew into a sensation in Bloomington. The 24-year-old former Ohio Bobcats quarterback flashed brilliance all year in the vaunted Big Ten. The 2022 MAC Player of the Year transitioned quite well to major college football.
According to his agent, that transition came under uncertain circumstances. Rourke’s agent revealed that the quarterback played this past season with an ACL injury.
NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero reported the details that Rourke tore his ACL in August, but played throughout the season with that injury.
Indiana star QB Kurtis Rourke, a 2025 NFL Draft prospect, will undergo ACL revision surgery Wednesday, per his agent Casey Muir at @octagonfootball.
Rourke is believed to have re-torn his ACL in August — yet amazingly played and led the Hoosiers to the playoff. One tough dude. pic.twitter.com/0bZze2ZMrC
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 3, 2025
The Indianapolis Star confirmed the news later on and said that the quarterback never complained to IU’s medical staff.
“Per IndyStar’s source, Rourke partially tore the ACL during the summer. Pelissero reported the full tear was believed to have occurred in August. Rourke did not alert Indiana’s medical team to any further discomfort or aggravation after the initial injury, and thus no new examination or imaging was conducted across the course of the season itself,” Zach Osterman of the Indy Star wrote.
That’s an awful lot to digest after an incredible season. But it perhaps makes it look more impressive in some ways.
Football, and sports, bring out a lot from people that would otherwise not appear. Playing four months on a torn ACL is, certainly, one of those things. Indiana fans and otherwise appreciated his toughness.
Thinking back, the timeline seems to add up.
During Indiana’s spring game (1st photo), no knee brace on Rourke’s right leg. During the season opener vs. FIU (2nd photo), big, bulky knee brace that Rourke wore for the entire season.
Unbelievably tough. #iufb https://t.co/w4vyd9aDAo pic.twitter.com/RVEdIKTXpS
— Jared Kelly (@Jared_Kelly7) January 3, 2025
this guy came to the losingest program in the history of the sport and won 10 games / set the school record for touchdown passes on one leg and a busted thumb en route to the college football playoff.
“legend” is an understatement https://t.co/0gLu5VU644
— undaunted babar (@babaresq) January 3, 2025
Build the statue. https://t.co/F3LrycIjYp
— Martha the Mop Lady (@TheMopLady) January 3, 2025
Playing through an injury is nothing new to Kurtis Rourke, but this is incredible. Any NFL team that drafts him is getting a guy who plays for the love of the game. https://t.co/JwnpNUbtR3
— Josh Edwards (@EdwardsCBS) January 4, 2025
About Chris Novak
Chris Novak has been talking and writing about sports ever since he can remember. Previously, Novak wrote for and managed sites in the SB Nation network for nearly a decade from 2013-2022