College football star Kurtis Rourke played entire season with a torn ACL before entering NFL draft
Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke is set to undergo surgery after sensationally playing the entire season with a torn ACL.
The 24-year-old this week declared for the 2025 NFL draft and is ranked No 8 among the quarterback class by ESPN.
He recently led the Hoosiers to the College Football Playoff – and finished ninth in Heisman Trophy voting – despite damaging his cruciate knee ligament back in August.
According to the Cleveland Clinic, it typically takes six to nine months to recover from a torn ACL but athletes may require more time before they are ready to cope with the demands of elite sports.
But Rourke missed only one game in the 2024 season – and that was because he went in for surgery on his thumb.
The Canada-born quarterback wore a knee brace as he inspired Indiana to a school-record 11 wins, passing for 3,042 yards and 29 touchdowns.
Indiana quarterback Kurtis Rourke sensationally played the entire season with a torn ACL
The Canada-born player wore a knee brace as he inspired Indiana to a school-record 11 wins
Rourke’s agent made the startling revelation to ESPN on Friday and confirmed that the quarterback will have surgery next week to repair his knee ahead of the draft in April.
It is the second time the 24-year-old has torn the same ACL, having first suffered the injury in 2022.
Rourke spent three years as the starter at Ohio before moving to Indiana and leading the Hoosiers to the playoffs, where they were beaten by Notre Dame.
The Fighting Irish then upset the SEC Champion Georgia Bulldogs 23-10 to advance to the College Football Playoff Semifinals.
Notre Dame will now play No 6 Penn State in the Orange Bowl – with the winner of that game off to the College Football Playoff National Championship game.
