Danny O'Rourke (born May 31, 1983) is a former American

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player.

Career

High School and College

O'Rourke played high school soccer at

Worthington Kilbourne High School Worthington Kilbourne High School (WKHS) is a public school located in Columbus, Ohio, United States, and is part of the Worthington City School District. Kilbourne was named after James Kilbourne, the founder of the city of Worthington. The s ...

Worthington, Ohio Worthington is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States, and is a northern suburb of Columbus, Ohio, Columbus. The population in the 2020 United States census, 2020 census was 14,786. The city was founded in 1803 by the Scioto Company led by ...

. He was captain during the 2000 season, during which they won the state championship. Named Ohio Capital Conference player of the year, All-Ohio Capital Conference First Team, All-District, and All-State. O'Rourke played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

for

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a state university system, system of Public university, public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. The system has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration o ...

from 2001 to 2004, starting every game he played in during his four years. Selected as All-Big 10 as a sophomore, junior, and senior, O'Rourke was named a first team

All-American The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed on outstanding athletes in the United States who are considered to be among the best athletes in their respective sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an Al ...

his senior season, also winning the

Hermann Trophy The Hermann Trophy is awarded annually by the Missouri Athletic Club to the United States's top men's and women's college soccer players. History In 1967, Bob Hermann, the president of the National Professional Soccer League (NPSL) and th ...

while leading Indiana to a second consecutive NCAA Championship over

UC Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an independent teachers college, UCSB joined ...

. O'Rourke finished his career at Indiana having played in 83 games, registering two goals and five assists. During his collegiate career, O'Rourke played for three teams in the amateur

Premier Development League USL League Two (USL2), formerly the Premier Development League (PDL), is a semi-professional soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States, forming part of the United States soccer league system. The league will featu ...

. In 2000, he spent time with the Dayton Gemini. In 2003, he played for the Columbus Shooting Stars and in 2002 and 2004 with the Chicago Fire Premier.

Professional

O'Rourke was drafted by the

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

with the fourth overall pick of the 2005 MLS SuperDraft. He began the year as a starter before losing his spot to Ricardo Clark. Along with the rest of his Earthquakes teammates, he moved to Houston for the 2006 season, but was traded to

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conferenc ...

for Adrian Serioux a week before the season started. O'Rourke was selected in the 2006 MLS Expansion Draft by

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

, but was almost immediately traded to the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew are an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team began play in 1996 as one of the 10 cha ...

along with William Hesmer for a partial allocation. In his first years playing for MLS, he was considered one of the bright young prospects at midfield. In 2008, he shifted to center back. Since 2009, O'Rourke has played a mix of midfield and defender positions. O'Rourke re-signed with Columbus for the 2013 season on December 17, 2012. O'Rourke signed with the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

on May 27, 2014.

Personal

Danny's father, Dan O'Rourke, played

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

Colorado State University Colorado State University (Colorado State or CSU) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Fort Collins, Colorado, United States. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University Syst ...

and professionally in the NFL for the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston, Texas, from its founding in 1960 Houston Oilers season, 1960 to 1996 Houston Oilers season, 1996. The Houston Oilers began play as a charter member of the Ame ...

Honors

Columbus Crew

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

MLS Cup (1):

2008 2008 was designated as: *International Year of Languages *International Year of Planet Earth *International Year of the Potato *International Year of Sanitation The Great Recession, a worldwide recession which began in 2007, continued throu ...

Supporter's Shield (2):

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Indiana University

* NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship (2):

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

Individual

: 2004 * NCAA Division I First-Team All-America: 2004

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orourke, Danny 1983 births Living people Soccer players from Columbus, Ohio American men's soccer players Men's association football defenders Dayton Gemini players Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer players Hermann Trophy men's winners All-American college men's soccer players Chicago Fire U-23 players Columbus Shooting Stars players San Jose Earthquakes draft picks San Jose Earthquakes players New York Red Bulls players Columbus Crew players Portland Timbers players Portland Timbers 2 players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players American soccer coaches Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer coaches