Bernard O'Rourke

{{Short description|American football player and coach (1886–1941)}} {{for|the Irish politician|Bernard Brian O'Rourke}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2024}} {{Infobox gridiron football person |name=Bernard O'Rourke |image= |image_size= |alt= |caption= |position1=[[Guard (American football)|Guard]] |birth_date=March 1886 |birth_place=[[Syracuse, New York]], U.S. |death_date={{Death date and age|1941|6|12|1886|3}} |death_place=[[Norristown, Pennsylvania]], U.S. |number= |College=[[Cornell University]] |high_school= |playing_years1=1908 |playing_team1=[[Cornell Big Red football|Cornell]] |career_highlights= * Consensus [[College Football All-America Team|All-American]] ([[1908 College Football All-America Team|1908]]) * Second-team All-American ([[1907 College Football All-America Team|1907]]) }} '''Bernard John O'Rourke''' (March 1886 – June 12, 1941) was an American [[American football|football]] player and coach. He played [[college football]] at [[Cornell University]] and was a consensus first-team selection to the [[1908 College Football All-America Team]].

O'Rourke was born in 1886 and raised in [[Syracuse, New York]]. He attended [[Cornell University]] from 1907 to 1909 and played on the [[Cornell Big Red football]] team. He was selected as a consensus first-team [[Guard (American football)|guard]] on the [[1908 College Football All-America Team]].<ref name=AW>{{cite web|title=2014 NCAA Football Records: Consensus All-America Selections|publisher=National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA)|year=2014|accessdate=August 16, 2014|page=4|url=http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2014/Awards.pdf|archive-date=November 26, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126094941/http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2014/awards.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> While attending Cornell, he was a member of and Dunstan,<ref>1908 Cornellian (Cornell yearbook), page 343, listing Bernard John O'Rourke.</ref> [[Aleph Samach]],<ref>1909 Cornellian (Cornell yearbook), page 361, listing Bernard John O'Rourke.</ref> and Rod and Bob.<ref>1910 Cornellian (Cornell yearbook), page 367, listing Bernard John O'Rourke.</ref>

After graduating from Cornell, he coached the Cornell football team for three years and also coached the football team at [[Johns Hopkins University]].<ref name=NYT/>

After [[World War I]], O'Rourke moved to [[Norristown, Pennsylvania]], where he lived for the rest of his life and was married to Medora Altemus. He operated a contracting firm with his brother and, in 1935, became the [[Works Progress Administration]] administrator for [[Montgomery County, Pennsylvania]]. He also worked as superintendent of the Montgomery County highways and as postmaster of Norristown. He died in Norristown in June 1941, aged 55.<ref name=NYT>{{cite news|title=Bernard J. O'Rourke, Ex-Cornell Athlete: Once Was Football Coach There -- Postmaster at Norristown, Pa.|newspaper=The New York Times|date=June 1941|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1941/06/14/archives/bernard-j-orourke-excornell-athlete-once-was-football-coach-there.html}}</ref>

==References== {{Reflist|30em}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:ORourke, Bernard}} [[Category:1886 births]] [[Category:1941 deaths]] [[Category:American football guards]] [[Category:Cornell Big Red football players]] [[Category:Cornell Big Red football coaches]] [[Category:Johns Hopkins Blue Jays football coaches]] [[Category:All-American college football players]] [[Category:Players of American football from Syracuse, New York]] [[Category:20th-century American sportsmen]]