Tom Rouen

Last updated

Tom Rouen
No. 5, 16, 10, 14
Position Punter
Personal information
Born (1968-06-09) June 9, 1968 (age 57)
Hinsdale, Illinois, U.S.
Height6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Weight225 lb (102 kg)
Career information
High school Heritage (Littleton, Colorado)
College Colorado
NFL draft 1991: undrafted
Career history
* Offseason and/or practice squad member only
Awards and highlights
Career NFL statistics
Punts 810
Punting yards35,189
Punting avg43.4
Stats at Pro Football Reference

Thomas Francis Rouen (born June 9, 1968) is an American former professional football player who was a punter in the National Football League (NFL), primarily with the Denver Broncos. [1] He played college football for the Colorado Buffaloes, earning consensus All-American honors in 1989.

Contents

Early life

Rouen attended Heritage High School in Littleton, Colorado, where he lettered in football and baseball. He was also listed on the depth chart as a tight end.

College career

Rouen started his career at Colorado State University in 1987 before transferring to the University of Colorado Boulder. He led the nation as a junior with a 45.9 yards per punt average, earning a spot on the All-America team. Rouen's most famous punt came in the final minute of the 1991 Orange Bowl when Raghib Ismail returned the punt 91 yards for a touchdown. The return was called back on a clipping penalty and Colorado won the game 10-9 and a share of the 1990 National Championship.

Professional career

Rouen was an undrafted free agent with the New York Giants in 1991 but was waived before the preseason. The following year, he signed with the Los Angeles Rams but again was waived before the preseason.

Rouen signed with the Ohio Glory of the World League of American Football and made the All-World League team. He then joined the Denver Broncos before the start of the 1993 NFL season and played for the Broncos for eight seasons, in the process winning Super Bowl XXXII and Super Bowl XXXIII. He appeared in every game with the Broncos. As of 2017's NFL off-season, Tom Rouen held at least 3 Broncos franchise records, including: career punts (641), punt yards (28,146), and punts in a playoff game (nine on December 31, 2000, against the Baltimore Ravens).

Rouen then had a journeyman-like 2002 season—he was waived by the Broncos, was signed and subsequently waived by the New York Giants, and was picked up by the Pittsburgh Steelers all within the course of six weeks. He finished the season with Pittsburgh before signing with the Seattle Seahawks before the 2003 NFL season. He was placed on injured reserve midway through the 2004 campaign and was later waived by Seattle. He was signed by the Carolina Panthers before the 2005 season, but they released him in favor of Jason Baker, and he was re-signed by Seattle, where he completed the 2005 season before being released.

Rouen was later signed by the 49ers to compete with Andy Lee for the starting punter job but later cut from the team and did not play in 2006.

NFL career statistics

Legend
Won the Super Bowl
Led the league
BoldCareer High

Regular season

YearTeamGPPunting
PuntsYdsAvgLngBlk
1993 DEN 16673,01745.0621
1994 DEN 16763,25842.9590
1995 DEN 16522,19242.2611
1996 DEN 16652,71441.8570
1997 DEN 16602,59843.3570
1998 DEN 16663,09746.9761
1999 DEN 16843,90846.5650
2000 DEN 16612,45540.2621
2001 DEN 16813,66845.3641
2002 DEN 8291,23942.7632
NYG 2833341.6550
PIT 2731645.1550
2003 SEA 16672,76241.2612
2004 SEA 4261,09342.0600
2005 SEA 12612,53941.6620
Career 18881035,18943.4769

Postseason

YearTeamGPPunting
PuntsYdsAvgLngBlk
1993 DEN 1413533.8450
1996 DEN 1521342.6520
1997 DEN 41761936.4531
1998 DEN 31044944.9591
2000 DEN 1934638.4620
2002 PIT 21240333.6400
2003 SEA 1622537.5450
2004 SEA 0Did not play due to injury
2005 SEA 31568245.5570
Career 16783,07239.4622

Personal life

Rouen has been married to six-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer Amy Van Dyken since 2001. [2] The couple splits their time between Arizona and Colorado.

References

  1. "Tom Rouen NFL & AFL Football Statistics". Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved November 21, 2010.
  2. "Amy Van Dyken on accident, new life". The Arizona Republic. September 15, 2014.