Age: 29
2nd
season in pro football, 1st in AAFC & with Dons
College: Boston
College
Height: 5’11” Weight: 175
Prelude:
“Chuckin’
Charlie” O’Rourke starred at Boston College, where he passed for 1108 yards and
14 touchdowns and led the 1940 team to an undefeated record and victory in the
Sugar Bowl. He was chosen by the Chicago Bears in the fifth round of the 1941
NFL draft and joined the club in ’42, backing up QB Sid Luckman and throwing
for 951 yards and 11 TDs. O’Rourke then entered the US Navy for the remainder
of World War II and signed with the Dons of the new AAFC in 1946.
1946 Season Summary
Appeared in
all 14 games
[Bracketed
numbers indicate league rank in Top 20]
Passing
Attempts – 182
[4]
Completions –
105 [2]
Yards – 1250
[5]
Completion
percentage – 57.7 [1]
Yards per
attempt – 6.9 [4]
TD passes – 12
[5]
Most TD
passes, game – 3 vs. Miami 9/20, vs. Buffalo 12/1
Interceptions
– 14 [2, tied with four others]
Passer rating
– 68.7 [3]
Rushing
Attempts – 47
Yards – 50
Yards per
attempt – 1.1
TDs – 1
Kickoff
Returns
Returns – 1
Yards – 28
TDs – 0
Punting
Punts – 8 [17,
tied with Fred Evans]
Yards – 312 [17]
Average – 39.0
Punts blocked
– 0
Scoring
TDs – 1
Points – 6
Dons went 7-5-2
to finish third in the AAFC Western Division.
Aftermath:
O’Rourke
found himself in competition with QB Glenn Dobbs, who was obtained from
Brooklyn a week into the 1947 season, but proved the better fit in the
T-formation offense and passed for a career-high 1449 yards with 13 touchdowns.
With the shift to a spread formation geared to Dobbs in 1948, O’Rouke was sold
to the Baltimore Colts where he acted as a player/coach backing up QB Y.A.
Tittle for the last two seasons of his career, ending with the dissolution of
the AAFC in ’49. Overall in the AAFC, O’Rourke passed for 3088 yards and 28
touchdowns. Of that, 2699 passing yards and 25 TDs came with the Dons.
--
Highlighted Years features players who were consensus
first-team All-League* selections or league* or conference** leaders in the
following statistical categories:
Rushing:
Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Passing:
Yards, Completion Pct., Yards per Attempt, TDs, Rating
Receiving:
Catches, Yards, TDs (min. 10)
Scoring: TDs,
Points, Field Goals (min. 5)
All-Purpose:
Total Yards
Defense:
Interceptions, Sacks
Kickoff
Returns: Average
Punt Returns:
Average
Punting:
Average
*Leagues
include NFL (1920 to date), AFL (1926), AFL (1936-37), AAFC (1946-49), AFL
(1960-69), WFL (1974-75), USFL (1983-85)
**NFC/AFC
since 1970
