The bond between football teammates is an unbreakable one, but at least for the next few months, current loyalties will take priority between A.J. Ouellette and Nathan Rourke.
The current Saskatchewan Roughriders running back and B.C. Lions quarterback once shared a backfield at Ohio University, forming one of the Mid-American Conference’s most dynamic one-two punches. On Saturday, they’ll be on opposite sides of a critical West Division clash.
“We were real close in college. I don’t talk to him anymore,” Ouellette smirked when asked by the Regina media this week. “Not because he’s not a good person, just because he plays for B.C. I’ll talk to him in the offseason. Football season is football season.”
Ouellette was already an established starter and a team captain for the Bobcats when Rourke arrived on campus in 2017, fresh off a stint at Fort Scott Community College. It was the Covington, Oh. native’s job to show the young Canadian around Athens as a recruit and he immediately pegged the type of person he was.
“Can I throw him under the bus here?” Ouellette asked gleefully, not waiting for an answer. “Freaking nerd — not in a bad way.”
“I hosted him for his official visit, and I showed him around the weight room, the rec center at OU, and I asked him, ‘Do you want to see anything else, maybe the dorms?’ ‘Can you just take me back to the hotel? I’ve got an exam tomorrow.’”
While helping Rourke find the right college fit might have worked against his self-interest this week, Ouellette’s recruiting was mutually beneficial in the short term.
Over his final two seasons at Ohio, the future East Division all-star ran 405 times for 2,302 yards and 19 touchdowns, while catching 31 passes for 309 yards and another three majors. His pointdexter of a quarterback threw for 4,637 yards, 40 touchdowns, and just 15 interceptions over the same span, adding 271 carries for 1,772 yards and an impressive 36 scores.
“That was fun. Both excited in the huddle, going crazy,” Ouellette recalled of that time. “One of my favourite pictures from college is he’s running the ball down the sideline off of an inside zone play, and we’re like, 40 yards downfield. I was untouched, he was untouched; he just had the ball. I’m lead blocking for him, and we’re both in stride.”
Ahead of this week’s game, that image is now tinged with regret.
“Looking back now, I probably should have just hit him out of bounds,” he joked.
Ouellette departed Athens following the 2018 season, making his way across the northern border to join the Toronto Argonauts mid-way through the next campaign. Rourke posted another strong season for the Bobcats as a senior before being drafted by the Lions in 2020.
The pair have crossed paths several times in the CFL, though no meeting has been quite so important as this latest one. The Riders can claim the season series with a victory and are expected to lean heavily on their running back, after Ouellette racked up 139 yards in their first matchup against B.C.
Rourke was unable to play in that game due to injury but has been on a tear since returning, leading the Lions to back-to-back wins. In addition to his passing exploits, he’s thrown it back to his college days by putting more emphasis on his legs. He now sits just six spots back of Ouellette on the CFL rushing charts, boasting 163 yards to his ex-teammate’s 356.
“Crazy athlete, always working on making people miss. I don’t know so much anymore, because he’s gotten a lot better in the pocket, but in college, he was always working on open field running,” Ouellette said, tempering his compliment with one last jab. “I always say he’s so unathletic that the DBs and linebackers don’t know how to tackle him, so they’re just missing.”
The Riders star better hope that his defence isn’t equally confused when they kickoff in Vancouver on Saturday, July 19 at 7:00 p.m. EDT.
The post ‘Freaking nerd’: Riders’ RB A.J. Ouellette pokes fun at college teammate, current B.C. Lions’ QB Nathan Rourke appeared first on 3DownNation.
