menu_open Columnists
We use cookies to provide some features and experiences in QOSHE

More information  .  Close

Rourke, Elgersma will mark significant milestone this summer

3 1
22.07.2025

For the first time ever this summer, National Football League training camps will feature two quarterbacks who were born and raised in Canada.

And while both San Francisco’s Kurtis Rourke and Green Bay’s Taylor Elgersma have a long road ahead of them to playing meaningful downs in the NFL, their arrival in the same season is significant nonetheless.

The breadth of Canadians in the NFL has risen rapidly over the past 25 years, to the point that a Canadian could be found playing at every offensive and defensive position during the 2024 NFL season, save for one: quarterback.

So last summer, TSN’s first NFL Team Canada depth chart came with a striking hole in it.

All of this heightens the significance of Rourke and Elgersma’s arrival this season and the opportunities that await them.

For context, only one quarterback born and raised in this country has ever thrown a pass in an NFL game. Ottawa’s Jesse Palmer attempted 120 passes in eight games with the New York Giants during the 2002 and 2003 seasons, including three starts. (Punter Jon Ryan threw a touchdown in a playoff game for the Seattle Seahawks but he wasn’t playing quarterback.)

Nathan Rourke, Kurtis’s older brother, impressed in........

© TSN