Boise State Roster Countdown 2022: Day 87, Kurt Rafdal

Today’s number of days until the season begins doesn’t have any crazy or funny associations I can think of, unless we want to go down a DEEP nerd rabbit hole to 1:20 in this video. Well, too late. Guess we already did! 87. The number is 87 days until the season begins! which means we are profiling the current wearer of #87 —TE Kurt Rafdal

#87, Kurt Rafdal, 6y Senior, Tight End

Stats

Height: 6’ 7”

Weight: 245 lbs.

High School: Carmel High School, Carmel, Indiana

How’d he get to the Blue™?

By way of a transfer from the University of Nebraska. Kurt was a grad transfer after 4 years with the Cornhuskers. He came to Boise State with a career total of 6 receptions for 77 yards and no touchdowns. Before his time in Lincoln, however, Rafdal came out of Carmel High School in Indiana as a 3 star prospect, with a ranking as the 17th best HS tight end in the country. He helped his team to a 6A state championship in 2016 and had 8 catches in the title game played in the Colts’ stadium. He is returning to the Broncos on a sixth year of eligibility, due to COVID.

Look-a-like

It doesn’t take a lot to see the similarities between him and Robert Pattinson. Which is honestly a lot cooler now than when he was making those terrible vampire movies back when Kurt was in elementary school! Because, since then, he’s sort of pulled a DiCaprio or a Depp and elevated himself from “teen heartthrob” to an actual, legit actor. He was an excellent bad guy in The King, a great co-star in the still-not-sure-how-I-feel-about-it movie Tenet, but most recently, gave a heck of a new take of a grunge/emo Batman in a movie that was called...oh what was it again? Ah! That’s right. The Batman. This of course leads nicely into...

Nickname

“Vengeance”

Career Highlights

Rafdal pulled down 8 receptions for 95 yards and one touchdown last year in his first season with the Broncos. It may not seem like a ton, but that was two more receptions, 20 more yards, and 100% more touchdowns than he had at Nebraska. Despite tight ends being asked to block a lot in the Broncos scheme, all 6’7” of him screams “red zone target”, so maybe he can have an equivalent bump in his bonus COVID season.

2022 Prospectus

Boise State is returning a lot of talent to the TE room in 2022. Rafdal will have to stand out from a group of talented members in a room that includes Tyneil Hopper and likely-TE-reception-leader, Riley Smith. His competition has been reduced a little bit, however, with Austin Bolt making a full-time switch to wide receiver.

Is he on Twitter?

Indeed.

Completely made up fact

Rafdal’s childhood dream, after seeing Seabiscuit, was to be a jockey rather than a jock and to ride a horse rather than wear one. This dream was crushed when he was cursed with the genes of a Greek god and was many inches too tall to be a competitive equine speedster.