Star quarterback reveals significant injury

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.

[Tom Pelissero; Indy Star]