The CFL has had no shortage of future NFL stars come through its ranks over the years.
But even the most diehard fans of the league know that it’s still pretty rare to see a player slip through the cracks of all 32 NFL franchises, come play in Canada for a few seasons, and then go become a star-level talent back down south in America.
And while it’s a tough grind for anyone to accomplish, the challenge is heightened for CFL quarterbacks looking to make the jump to the NFL with so much competition in the game’s most valuable position.
But when former BC Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke threw a highlight-reel touchdown toss in his NFL preseason debut with Jacksonville last week, it led many to wonder if he’d be the first CFL-to-NFL QB success story in quite some time.
Rourke, a Victoria native and the CFL’s frontrunner for Most Outstanding Player before his injury woes last season, is the only active Canadian QB currently on an NFL roster.
Expected to be a backup this season for the Jaguars, it’d be a lot to say that Rourke will be able to be a star one day in the NFL after an impressive CFL showing.
But it’s not to say it’s never been done before. Here are five of the best to ever make the jump from Canadian to American pro football (though, unlike Rourke, they were all American themselves).
1. Warren Moon
CFL years: 1978-1983
NFL years: 1984-2000
Arguably the most impressive CFL career of all time despite it lasting six seasons, Warren Moon must’ve been the bane of many opposing defensive coordinators’ existence during his time in the league.
Playing all six of his years in Edmonton, Moon led his team to five straight Grey Cup victories from 1978-82, before finally losing the first playoff game of his career in the 1983 Division semifinals.
It would actually be the last game of his CFL career, with Moon later joining his former Edmonton head coach Hugh Campbell, who was running the Houston Oilers franchise.
Moon’s NFL career lasted all the way to 2000. He made nine Pro Bowls and was named the league’s Offensive Player of the Year in 1990 when he lead the league with 33 touchdown passes.
After leaving Houston, Moon also made stops in Minnesota, Seattle, and Kansas City, finishing his career with 291 touchdown passes and a 2006 induction to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
2. Doug Flutie
CFL years: 1990-1997
NFL years: 1986-1989, 1998-2005
Doug Flutie started his pro career with plenty of hype, winning the 1984 Heisman Trophy with Boston College and making the all-time highlight reels virtually forever for a miracle walk-off Hail Mary pass against the Miami Hurricanes during his senior season.
Flutie spent his first year as a pro with the New Jersey Generals of the USFL (who were in fact owned by Donald Trump at the time) before then spending his next five years with the Chicago Bears and New England Patriots but managed just 14 starts over five seasons as he was primarily a backup option.
In 1990, Flutie went north of the border and joined the BC Lions, one of three CFL teams he’d play for along with the Calgary Stampeders and Toronto Argonauts.
While Moon had the ability to win a Grey Cup nearly every season he played, it is Flutie who holds the league record for total Most Outstanding Player Awards, winning it six times in his eight years in the league. Flutie also picked up three Grey Cup wins: one with Calgary, two with Toronto, and three Grey Cup MVPs along the way.
Following his eight years in the CFL, Flutie made it back to the NFL, where he’d play 57 more career games for Buffalo, San Diego, and New England, including 42 more career starts.
He made the 1998 Pro Bowl as well as winning the Comeback Player of the Year award in his first year back in the league and finished his NFL career with 86 career passing touchdowns.
3. Jeff Garcia
CFL years: 1994-1998
NFL years: 1999-2009, 2011
Garcia spent five seasons in the CFL, but only three as a full-time starter.
His only Grey Cup win came in 1998 the year after Flutie departed for the NFL, with Garcia then following suit for the 1999 NFL season.
Garcia had a tall task in his first NFL season, immediately becoming a starter for the San Francisco 49ers following Hall of Fame QB Steve Young’s retirement the previous offseason.
In his time in San Francisco, Garcia made three Pro Bowls while forming a formidable connection with legendary receiver Terrell Owens.
After leaving San Francisco following the 2003 season, Garcia played for Cleveland, Detroit, Philadelphia, and Tampa Bay, making the Pro Bowl again in 2007 with the Buccaneers.
4. Joe Theismann
CFL years: 1971-1973
NFL years: 1974-1985
Unlike everyone else on this list, Joe Theismann was able to simply stick to one CFL and one NFL team.
Drafted by the Miami Dolphins (as well as the MLB’s Minnesota Twins) after a storied career at Notre Dame, Theismann opted to come play for the Toronto Argonauts after he couldn’t reach terms with the Dolphins.
Playing three seasons for the Argonauts Theismann made two All-Star teams in his three seasons before departing for Washington, who had traded for his rights from Miami.
He took some time to develop as an NFL starter, only becoming the team’s starter in his fifth year in the league.
But Theismann ended up becoming arguably the greatest QB in franchise history, setting team career passing yard and win records, while also winning both NFL MVP in 1983 as well as Super Bowl XVII over those same Dolphins that traded away his rights.
5. Joe Kapp
CFL years: 1959-1966
NFL years: 1967-1970
Joe Kapp walked so everyone else on the list could run. Though his pro career spanned only 11 seasons — relatively short for a much-heralded QB — he was one of the first success stories of a player going from the CFL to the NFL and finding success.
Kapp played eight seasons in the CFL in the 1950s and 1960s with the Calgary Stampeders and BC Lions before moving on to the Minnesota Vikings for two seasons and played his final year of pro football in 1970 with the Boston Patriots franchise that later changed their team name to New England.
Winning the Grey Cup in 1964 with the Lions, it wouldn’t be the biggest playoff game of Kapp’s career — not by a long shot. Kapp actually led the Vikings to Super Bowl IV, but they fell to Kansas City by a 23-7 score.
At the time, the AFL and NFL were separate leagues before merging the following season, so Kapp can call accurately himself an NFL champion, though he surely would’ve liked to have won the Super Bowl as well.
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