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 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

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 scho ...

Worthington, Ohio Worthington is a city in Franklin County, Ohio, United States, and is a northern suburb of Columbus. The population in the 2020 Census was 14,786. The city was founded in 1803 by the Scioto Company led by James Kilbourne, who was later elected to ...

. 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 is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and the Philippines. The United Ki ...

for

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. *Indiana Universi ...

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 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, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the U ...

. 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 developmental soccer league sponsored by United Soccer Leagues in the United States and Canada, forming part of the United States soccer league syst ...

. 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 soccer team based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete as a member club of the Western Conference of Major League Soccer (MLS). Originally as the San Jose Clash, the franchise ...

with the fourth overall pick of the

2005 MLS SuperDraft The 2005 MLS SuperDraft, held in Baltimore, Maryland on January 14, 2005, was the sixth incarnation of the annual Major League Soccer SuperDraft. Expansion club Real Salt Lake had the first pick as the result of a coin toss (fellow newcomers C.D. ...

. He began the year as a starter before losing his spot to

Ricardo Clark Ricardo Anthony Clark (born February 10, 1983) is an American retired soccer player who played as a midfielder. He appeared for MetroStars, San Jose Earthquakes, Houston Dynamo and Columbus Crew SC in the United States, Eintracht Frankfurt in ...

. 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 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. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

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 (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

, but was almost immediately traded to the

Columbus Crew The Columbus Crew, formerly known as Columbus Crew SC, is an American professional soccer club based in Columbus, Ohio. The Crew competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference and began play in 1996 as one ...

along with

William Hesmer William Hesmer (born November 23, 1981 in Wilson, North Carolina) is a retired American soccer player who played as a goalkeeper. Career College Hesmer played college soccer at Wake Forest University from 2000 to 2003, establishing himself as ...

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 men's soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The Timbers have played their home games at ...

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, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly ...

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. It is the flagship university of the Colorado State University System. Colorado S ...

and professionally in the NFL for the

Houston Oilers The Houston Oilers were a professional American football team that played in Houston from its founding in 1960 to 1996 before relocating to Memphis, and later Nashville, Tennessee becoming the Tennessee Titans. The Oilers began play in 1960 a ...

Honors

Columbus Crew

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

MLS Cup (1):

2008 File:2008 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Lehman Brothers went bankrupt following the Subprime mortgage crisis; Cyclone Nargis killed more than 138,000 in Myanmar; A scene from the opening ceremony of the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing; ...

Supporter's Shield (2):

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; Protests ...

Indiana University

NCAA Men's Division I Soccer Championship The NCAA Division I men's soccer tournament, sometimes known as the College Cup, is an American intercollegiate soccer tournament conducted by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), and determines the Division I men's national champi ...

(2):

2003 File:2003 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The crew of STS-107 perished when the Space Shuttle Columbia disintegrated during reentry into Earth's atmosphere; SARS became an epidemic in China, and was a precursor to SARS-CoV-2; A ...

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 ...

Individual

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

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Orourke, Danny 1983 births Living people Sportspeople from Columbus, Ohio Soccer players from Columbus, Ohio American soccer players Association football defenders Dayton Gemini players Indiana Hoosiers men's soccer players Hermann Trophy men's winners All-American men's college 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