James David Rouse (born December 18, 1966) is a former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

running back A running back (RB) is a member of the offensive backfield in gridiron football. The primary roles of a running back are to receive American football plays#Offensive terminology, handoffs from the quarterback to Rush (American football)#Offen ...

. He played collegiately for the

Arkansas Razorbacks The Arkansas Razorbacks, also known as the Hogs, are the intercollegiate athletics teams representing the University of Arkansas, located in Fayetteville. The University of Arkansas student body voted to change the name of the school mascot (ori ...

, and in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL) for the

Chicago Bears The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago. The Bears compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) North division. The Bears have won nine NF ...

High school and college

James Rouse was a high school star at Little Rock Parkview High School (now known as

Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School :'' For other places with this name, see Parkview School (disambiguation).'' Parkview Arts and Science Magnet High School is a magnet school in Little Rock, Arkansas, United States that concentrates heavily on science and the arts. It is Arkansas ...

), and later signed with the Arkansas Razorbacks under

coach Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Co ...

Ken Hatfield Kenneth Wahl Hatfield (born June 6, 1943) is a former American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at the United States Air Force Academy (1979–1983), the University of Arkansas (1984–1989), Clemson University (1 ...

. Rouse played four years for the Razorbacks (1985, 1987–1989), rushing for 2887 yards and 39

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

s, while sharing the backfield with Barry Foster. In the 1987 season Rouse ran for 1004 yards and seventeen touchdowns, giving the Razorbacks their first 1,000-yard rusher since

Ben Cowins Ben Cowins (born April 7, 1956) is a former college football running back who played for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks from 1975-1978. College career Cowins played alongside Ron Calcagni, Chicago Bears great Dan Hampton and record-set ...

in 1978."2007 Arkansas Razorbacks football media guide."
''www.hogwired.net.'' Retrieved June 22, 2013. Rouse was a key member on the Razorbacks' back-to-back

Cotton Bowl Classic The Cotton Bowl Classic (also known as the Cotton Bowl) is an American college football bowl game that has been held annually in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex since January 1, 1937. The game was originally played at its namesake stadium i ...

appearances following the

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

and

1989 File:1989 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The Cypress Street Viaduct, Cypress structure collapses as a result of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, killing motorists below; The proposal document for the World Wide Web is submitted; The Exxo ...

seasons. Rouse also played in the

Holiday Bowl The Holiday Bowl is a post-season NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision college football bowl game that has been played in San Diego since 1978. San Diego County Credit Union has been the game's title sponsor since 2017, and the bowl has b ...

as a

freshman A freshman, fresher, first year, or frosh, is a person in the first year at an educational institution, usually a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. Ara ...

and the

Liberty Bowl The Liberty Bowl is an annual American college football bowl game played in late December or early January since 1959. For its first five years, it was played at Philadelphia Municipal Stadium in Philadelphia before being held at Atlantic City ...

as a

redshirt Redshirt, Red Shirt, or Redshirts may refer to: Entertainment * ''Red Shirts'' (film), a 1952 film about Anita Garibaldi by Franco Rossi * Redshirt (stock character), originally derived from ''Star Trek'', a stock character who dies soon after b ...

sophomore In the United States, a sophomore ( or ) is a person in the second year at an educational institution; usually at a secondary school or at the college and university level, but also in other forms of post-secondary educational institutions. In ...

. In the four bowl games, Rouse rushed for a total of 281 yards on 57 carries (4.9 avg.) and one touchdown, including a 134-yard effort in the 1990 Cotton Bowl Classic. Rouse was named to Arkansas' All-Decade Team for the 1980s as a running back.

Professional career

Rouse was drafted in the 8th round of the

1990 NFL Draft The 1990 NFL draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 22–23, 1990, at the Marriott Marq ...

by the Chicago Bears, ahead of notable players such as Terry Allen and Marvcus Patton. In two years with the Bears, Rouse had only 130 yards rushing, but was a regular contributor in his short career. He played in all sixteen games as a

rookie A rookie is a person new to an occupation, profession, or hobby. In sports, a ''rookie'' is a professional athlete in their first season (or year). In contrast with a veteran who has experience and expertise, a rookie is usually inexperienced ...

and saw action in fourteen games in

1991 File:1991 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Boris Yeltsin, elected as Russia's first president, waves the new flag of Russia after the 1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt, orchestrated by Soviet hardliners; Mount Pinatubo erupts in the Phil ...

, including four starts at fullback in place of an injured

Brad Muster Bradley William Muster (born April 11, 1965) is a former American football fullback. He played college football at Stanford. He was selected in the 1st round (23rd overall) of the 1988 NFL Draft by the Chicago Bears. College career Muster atten ...

."1991 Chicago Bears – Year of Da Bears."
''www.bearshistory.com.'' Retrieved June 22, 2013.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rouse, James 1966 births Living people Players of American football from Little Rock, Arkansas American football running backs Arkansas Razorbacks football players Chicago Bears players