Two Oakville Players Make NFL Rosters for the 2026 Season

Two players who grew up in Oakville will be on NFL rosters this season. Buffalo Bills defensive end Michael Hoecht and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Kurtis Rourke both survived the league's final cuts, the point where every team files a 53 player roster before the season opens.

They are part of a group of 28 Canadians who made a final NFL roster this year, the latest step in a decade of Canadian players moving into the league.

Hoecht is coming back from a season ending injury in 2025. He spent four seasons with the Los Angeles Rams before Buffalo, and helped that team win a Super Bowl. His availability for the first game of the season is listed as questionable, though a long year gives him plenty of chances to get back on the field for a Bills defence that is counting on him.

Rourke earned the third quarterback job

Rourke, the brother of BC Lions quarterback Nathan Rourke, was a seventh round pick of the 49ers in 2025. He played his final college season at Indiana on a torn ACL, then needed surgery, and spent all of last year on San Francisco's injured list. He broke three ribs in a pre-season game this summer and still did enough in camp to convince head coach Kyle Shanahan to name him QB3, in a quarterback room with Brock Purdy and Mac Jones.

Both players start the season on teams with real expectations, which means Oakville has two names to follow from kickoff through January.