Lions QB Nathan Rourke named CFL Most Outstanding Player, Top Canadian

Nathan Rourke of the BC Lions is an outstanding CFL player.

Rourke received the George Reed Trophy for the first time on Thursday at the CFL’s awards banquet.

Voting was conducted by Canadian football reporters and head coaches from all nine CFLs.

Bo Levi Mitchell of the Hamilton Tiger Cats was also a finalist for the award for the second year in a row. He led the CFL in pass attempts (626), completions (428), yards (5,296) and touchdowns (career-best 36), and was the only quarterback to start all 18 regular-season games as the Tickets (11-7) finished first in the East Division.

Earlier in the night, Rourke claimed the CFL’s top Canadian award. This is the second time Rourke has won the award, doing so again in 2022.

Montreal Alouettes defensive lineman Isaac Adeyemi-Bergland was also a finalist. The six-foot-one, 250-pound Ademi-Berglund, of Dartmouth, N.S., recorded a career-best 11 sacks with 29 tackles (one for a loss), two fumble recoveries and one special teams tackle.

The Victoria native set career highs in passing yards (5,290), touchdowns (31), rushing yards (564, tops among quarterbacks) and TDs (10), as the Lions led the CFL in offensive points (31.1 per game), net yards and passing (430 per game). BC finished the regular season with six straight wins to finish second in the West Division with an 11-7 record.