Thomas Francis Rouen (born June 9, 1968) 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 wi ...

punter who was the long-time punter for the

Denver Broncos The Denver Broncos are a professional American football franchise based in Denver. The Broncos compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The team is headquar ...

of 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 ...

Early life

Rouen attended Heritage High School in

Littleton, Colorado Littleton is a home rule municipality city located in Arapahoe, Douglas, and Jefferson counties, Colorado, United States. Littleton is the county seat of Arapahoe County and is a part of the Denver–Aurora–Lakewood, CO Metropolitan Stati ...

, 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 The University of Colorado (CU) is a system of public universities in Colorado. It consists of four institutions: University of Colorado Boulder, University of Colorado Colorado Springs, University of Colorado Denver, and the University o ...

. He led the nation as a junior with a 45.9 yards per punt average, earning a spot on the

All-America The All-America designation is an annual honor bestowed upon an amateur sports person from the United States who is considered to be one of the best amateurs in their sport. Individuals receiving this distinction are typically added to an All-Am ...

team. Rouen's most famous punt came in the final minute of the

1991 Orange Bowl The 1991 Orange Bowl was the 57th edition of the college football bowl game, played at the Orange Bowl in Miami, Florida, on Tuesday, January 1. Part of the 1990–91 bowl game season, it matched the independent and fifth-ranked Notre ...

when

Raghib Ismail Raghib Ramadian "Rocket" Ismail (born November 18, 1969) is an American former American and Canadian football wide receiver and kick returner. He played college football at Notre Dame before moving on to both the Canadian Football League (CFL) ...

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 In professional sports, a free agent is a player who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present but who is a ...

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. He signed with the Ohio Glory of the

World League of American Football NFL Europe League (simply called NFL Europe and known in its final season as NFL Europa League) was a professional American football league that functioned as the developmental minor league of the National Football League (NFL). Originally ...

and made the All-World League team. He then joined the

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 Super Bowl XXXIII was an American football game played between the American Football Conference (AFC) champion Denver Broncos (who were also defending their Super Bowl XXXII championship) and the National Football Conference (NFC) champion Atlan ...

. He appeared in every game with the Broncos. '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; with

Britton Colquitt Britton Douglas Colquitt (born March 20, 1985) is an American football punter who is a free agent. He was originally signed by the Denver Broncos as an undrafted free agent in December 2009. He played college football at Tennessee. Britton is t ...

). He then had a

journeyman A journeyman, journeywoman, or journeyperson is a worker, skilled in a given building trade or craft, who has successfully completed an official apprenticeship qualification. Journeymen are considered competent and authorized to work in that fie ...

-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 The Carolina Panthers are a professional American football team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Panthers compete in the National Football League (NFL), as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) South division. ...

before the 2005 season, but they released him in favor of

Jason Baker Jason Michael Baker (born May 17, 1978) is a former American football punter. He was signed by the San Francisco 49ers as an undrafted free agent in 2001. He played college football at Iowa. He has also played for the Philadelphia Eagles, Kans ...

, and he was re-signed by Seattle, where he completed the 2005 season before being released. He 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.

Personal life

Rouen has been married to six-time Olympic gold medalist swimmer

Amy Van Dyken Amy Deloris Van Dyken-Rouen (born February 15, 1973) is an American former competitive swimmer, Olympic champion, former world record-holder, and national radio sports talk show co-host. She won six Olympic gold medals in her career, four of wh ...

since 2001. The couple splits their time between

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

and

Colorado Colorado (, other variants) is a state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It encompasses most of the Southern Rocky Mountains, as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the wes ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rouen, Tom 1968 births Living people All-American college football players American football punters Carolina Panthers players Colorado Buffaloes football players Colorado State Rams football players Denver Broncos players New York Giants players Ohio Glory players People from Hinsdale, Illinois Pittsburgh Steelers players San Francisco 49ers players Seattle Seahawks players