Arizona Football LB Rourke Freeburg opens up to Zona Zealots

With the Arizona Football team gearing up for 2021, I sat down one-on-one with Rourke Freeburg over a Zoom Call, and here is what he had to say.

Looking at the road that has led Arizona Football linebacker, Rourke Freeburg, to Tucson, first, let me take you back to 2016. Rourke was then just a Senior up the road at Desert Mountain High School in Scottsdale.

Two weeks before the first game of his High School Senior season in 2016, Rourke suffered a broken collarbone in practice, which led to him being sidelined for eight weeks.

Arizona Wildcats

There was a lot of hype for Freeburg coming into the year, especially as he just had a very productive junior year where he was named an All-Conference, All-Section, and All-State selection.

He was the two-time team captain, playing multiple positions including Quarterback, Running Back, Linebacker, and Safety, and was even a member of the All-State Academic Team, so the loss of Rourke was significant.

However, by the time he was recovered, it was already Week 7 of his Senior season, with most of the year gone.

He would finally start in Week 7, but as fate would have it, Rourke would reinjure himself in that game, injuring a nerve in his neck that sidelined him once again. Luckily for him, he only had to miss the following game, but after recovering from the nerve injury, he played in his final two games, playing at about 65-70 percent.

Unfortunately for Rourke, the injuries he suffered during his final season of high school ball meant there was little film for recruiters to view, but that didn’t stop his drive. He pained through adversity, it made him stronger and he accepted it as a growing experience.

After discussing his high school career, we moved on to the next phase and at that point, he enters the University of Arizona as a football team walk-on in 2017.

He redshirted in his freshman season, and in 2018 Freeburg became a stand-out player, mostly serving in a Special Teams and as a defensive reserve capacity, seeing action in six games.

In 2019, he was excellent once again on Special Teams, appearing in nine games, even seeing action as a Safety.

However, in 2020, Rourke would see his biggest impact yet. The redshirt junior started in all five games at linebacker, mostly being utilized as a hybrid nickel safety coming off the edge.

Playing in the place of the recently transferred Tony Fields II and Colin Schooler, Freeburg stepped up in a big way, finishing second on the team in total yardage tackles for loss, second only to Roy Lopez. As we’ve learned, Lopez is now headed to the NFL Draft.

How do you stay focused and on top of your game mentally as a Walk-On?

“Always betting on yourself, having confidence, controlling the things that you can control, and not getting caught up in college football politics. You can control attitude, effort, and energy. I show up every day ready to work my tail off and at the same time loving the game. My ultimate goal is to play professionally and get a paycheck to provide for my family”.

Do you think that Fields and Schooler departing was a blessing in disguise?

“I think so. I talked with a few of my buddies and my parents and I think it did open the door, it is the reality of the situation. Fortunately for Tony and Colin, they were able to receive other opportunities to go play elsewhere and it panned out for them. That forced Anthony Pandy to move to ILB. It opened the door for me to play on the edge, that hybrid nickel safety position, for sure it’s the reality of the situation, and people can say what they want but I worked hard to earn that spot”.

Take me through your off-season training regiment

“Right now it’s about just getting healthy, coming off the ASU game I had an ankle sprain, the first week was pretty tough, it’s been five weeks now and the ankle is a lot better, starting to move it around again a lot more now. I was working out 1 1/2 to 2 hours a day at my gym back home. Now that I am back at school I have classes that start in the morning and end at 12:00 to 1:00 pm and then working out between 2:00 to 5:00 pm”.

What would it mean for you to get the Scholarship?

“That’s a tough question. To answer that respectfully I feel like that it’s something that I have rightfully earned but at the same time those are decisions that are made above my pay grade and there are certain things that I can’t control. What I can control is showing up on time, working hard, doing my job, and doing it the best that I can. I am coming off of 2 full years playing on Special Teams and playing some Special Teams last year while starting in every game at LB. The Scholarship was never my goal, while that is something that I would love to have it was always get on the field, start, make plays and do a good enough job to get drafted or get on a practice squad continue to work hard and then make it at the next level”.

What do you want people reading this article to know about Rourke Freeburg?

“I am a charismatic guy, hard worker, I am passionate, and care about what I do. I feel like I am a true football player. There are hundreds of career fields that I can go into but when I wake up every day I think about how I can get to the NFL”.

On new Coaching Staff and Specifically Coach Chuck Cecil

“I met with Coach Fisch and Coach Brown yesterday for 20-25 minutes separately. Coach Brown and I looked at some film and going over schemes a bit but mostly just getting to know each other a little bit. Coach Brown’s knowledge for the game is at a high level and I look forward to learning from him.  Coach Fisch and I talked about my future with this program and he told me everything I get will be earned and it won’t be handed to me. If I did it last year I can show again that I can play at a high level. I trust Coach Fisch, excited to learn from the staff and ready to get this program turned around and back to wining the PAC12 South and a top 25 team again.”

“Coach Cecil is a guy that I can go to and talk about football or anything life-related. Our story as Walk-Ons and play style is similar but I have to say that Chuck was a harder hitter. He’s a guy that I look up to.”

Name 2 guys that you are closest with on the team

Bryce Wolma and Jaxen Turner.

3 Favorite Movies

Star Wars, Black Mass, and Anchor Man

On an interesting side note, Rourke’s father Ryan was selected in the 1992 MLB Draft by the Colorado Rockies.

For those that don’t know much about our beloved walk-on, I would suggest checking this video he made here…

The 2021 season is a promising one for Arizona Football and Rourke looks to be a critical element to the teams’ overall success moving forward. As always, Bear Down, Arizona!