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Tecumseh native Josh Bourke walked away from professional football and never looked back.
On Friday, the 40-year-old Bourke will briefly step back into the limelight as the retired offensive tackle is inducted into the Canadian Football League hall of fame in Hamilton.
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“I consider myself very lucky,” said Bourke, who now lives in Macomb Township, Mich. and works as a sales manager for Cintas. “It was as perfect and as seamless a transition as I could have hoped.
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“You hear horror stories of guys retiring and not knowing what to do. In the CFL, we don’t make millions. Most guys have to work 25-30 years (after retiring) and struggle with that. For me, I always knew I wanted to play to a certain age, like 35, and I retired at 34. I was comfortable at 34 and happy moving to the next thing because I played so long, won a couple Grey Cups, had some individual honours and never felt I had any unfinished business.”
Nine of Bourke’s 10 seasons in the CFL were spent with the Montreal Alouettes and he returned to this city earlier this month to be honoured by the team ahead of his hall of fame induction.
“It was pretty awesome,” Bourke said. “They honoured me before game and my son (Oliver) and I opened the cage (to let players out). It just brought back a lot of memories of a lot of good years.”
Bourke played his high school football in Michigan at Orchard Lake St. Mary’s and went on to attend Grand Valley State University. He was named Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference offensive lineman of the year in 2005 and first-team All-GLIAC while earning a degree in marketing and management.
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Bourke, who played at six-foot-seven and 315 pounds, was a third-round pick by Montreal in 2004. He opted to return to school and then signed with the NFL’s Green Bay Packers in 2006 and spent a year with the team, but never appeared in a game.
“I always tell people that if you want to play in the best league in the world, that’s the NFL, but life doesn’t always lay out the way it plays out,” Bourke said. “I still got to play a sport I loved. Played with a lot of great teammates and great coaches and the experiences I had; those experiences are what I miss the most. It’s not the Grey Cups, the games or the practices, but the guys on the road. The interaction is what I miss the most and all those memories.”
Bourke has more than earned his place among the CFL’s all-time greats. He helped Montreal win back-to-back Grey Cup titles in 2009 and 2010 and was recognized as an Eastern All-star seven-straight seasons from 2008 to 2014 and was named the CFL’s offensive lineman of the year in 2011. He appeared in 151 career games, which included one season with the Toronto Argonauts before retiring.
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He’ll enter the hall with good friend John Bowman, who is Montreal’s all-time sack leader with 134 and was a constant battle for Bourke in practice, as well as former CFL commissioner Larry Smith, who was also Montreal’s team president during part of Bourke’s time with the club.
“It’s awesome, a tremendous honour and it’s very humbling to get that call,” Bourke said. “It’s one of those things I figured I would get in at some point, but I figured it would be later on.
“To get in early is amazing and to be mentioned with some of the best ever play is a tremendous accomplishment.”
Bourke will be inducted on Friday at Tim Hortons Field in Hamilton and receive his ring, have his bust unveiled and put on his hall of fame jacket. On Saturday, the class will be honoured at halftime of the annual Hall of Fame Game, which will be played between the Hamilton Tiger-Cats and Winnipeg Blue Bombers.
“All my friends and family are coming and it will be nice to share it with them,” Bourke said.
jpparker@postmedia.com
twitter.com/winstarparker
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