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Editor’s note: This is the first in a series of profiles for the 42nd Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame Class of 2024, which will inducted on Oct. 5 at the Ciociaro Club at 5:30 p.m.
A year later and Tecumseh native Josh Bourke will now take his rightful place.
The 41-year-old Bourke was selected for induction into the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame for 2023, but had to defer. On Oct. 5, the former Canadian Football League standout offensive lineman will officially enter the hall with this year’s class.
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“I was supposed to go in last year, but Grand Valley (State University) put me in their hall of fame and it was the same weekend,” Bourke said. “I ended up going to that because they couldn’t push it back and (the WECSHF) said I could do it a year later, which is pretty awesome. I’m very fortunate.”
There were plenty of accolades for Bourke to savour in 2023 as he was also inducted into the CFL hall of fame.
“Getting the call to the CFL hall of fame was the last step and it came shortly after Grand Valley put me there,” Bourke said. “Now, the Windsor/Essex County Sports Hall of Fame was the final one and kind of the cherry on top.”
Bourke never considered playing football until he attended Orchard Lake St. Mary’s high school in Michigan.
“I’m the type of guy that’s never forgotten where I came from,” Bourke said. “I grew up playing soccer, baseball and other youth sports. I’ve still got buddies from playing hockey in Belle River and (baseball) with the Tecumseh Thunder. It was that competitiveness from those sports that I carried over to football. ”
Bourke, who played at six-foot-seven and 315-pound, 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 at Grand Valley State.
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A third-round pick by the Montreal Alouettes in 2004, he signed with the NFL’s Green Bay Packers in 2006, but never played a game.
He joined Montreal the following year and played nine of his 10 seasons with the Alouettes. Bourke 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 while also being 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.
“Everyone asks me if I miss playing football and I say, ‘Absolutely not’ because I did everting I wanted in my career,” Bourke said. “I played on championship teams at every level from high school to the CFL. I played with a lot of great players and I have great memories and did everything I can dream of.”
Now living in Macomb Township, Mich., Bourke said he’s honoured to have been recognized so often the past two seasons.
“Sometimes, I take a minute to think about those great times, and there were tons, and it means a lot to be selected to any hall of fame,” Bourke said. “At this point, I think everything about me has been said and I just want to say, ‘Thanks.’”
Tickets for the event are available at Nantais Athletic Inc., Riverside Physiotherapy Clinic and online at www.wecshof.com
jpparker@postmedia.com
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