Nathan Rourke and the West Division stole the show at the CFL awards Thursday night.
The B.C. Lions quarterback earned the George Reed Trophy as the CFL’s outstanding player and was also named top Canadian at Club Regent Casino.
Rourke joins Brady Oliveira, Jon Cornish, Russ Jackson and Tony Gabriel as the only players to capture both honours in the same year.
“Those names are obviously legendary in the CFL and it’s so much cooler that they’re Canadian as well,” said Rourke. “Just to be able to kind of continue the legacy they started and continue on the great traditions of this league is an honour and privilege and something I don’t take lightly.”
Trey Vaval of the Winnipeg Blue Bombers also received two awards: top rookie and special-teams player.
The other individual winners were B.C.’s Mathieu Betts (defensive player) and Jermarcus Hardrick of the Saskatchewan Roughriders (outstanding lineman).
Voting was conducted by the Football Reporters of Canada and all nine CFL head coaches. Fifty-three ballots were cast.
Logan Ferland, a Canadian offensive lineman with the Saskatchewan Roughriders, also received the Jake Gaudaur Veterans’ Trophy (awarded to the CFL player who best demonstrates attributes of Canada’s veterans). Canadian Andrew Peirson of the B.C. Lions claimed the Tom Pate Memorial Award (given for outstanding sportsmanship and community contribution).
Rourke, of Victoria, established career-highs in passing yards (5,290), touchdowns (31), rushing yards (564, tops among quarterbacks) and rushing TDs (10) as the Lions led the CFL in offensive points (31.1 per game), net yards (430.2) and passing (325.4 per game). B.C. won its final six regular-season games to finish second in the West Division with an 11-7 record.
But after dispatching Calgary 33-30 in the Western semifinal, B.C.’s season ended with a 24-21 loss to Saskatchewan last week.
And the two awards didn’t remove the sting of that defeat from Rourke.
“No, you want to play in that game (the Grey Cup),” the quarterback said. “Not to sound ungrateful or anything but I’d trade these for it in a heartbeat.
“You receive these with grace knowing it’s a reflection of not just your performance but the rest of your team and we have a great one. Hoping we can keep building.”
Saskatchewan faces the Montreal Alouettes in the Grey Cup on Sunday.
