Man Who QB'd For Vikings, Packers Returns To Coach MN H.S. Football
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- He played quarterback for both the Minnesota Vikings and the Green Bay Packers and, no, it's not Brett Favre. It's Todd Bouman and he's still in football -- as a Minnesota high school coach.
Basketball was Bouman's sport when people first realized his athletic talent. Bouman was a high flyer for Russell-Tyler-Ruthton High School.
"I tell people that. Basketball was my first love in high school," he said. "We were so successful in basketball early on and obviously I have older brothers and them being a big influence on me."
The small town boy made it to the big leagues and started a handful of games for the Vikings.
"It's something you grow up dreaming of. Everybody dreams of it and when the opportunity came, it was almost like it was surreal," he said. "It was almost like you were dreaming."
He then spent some time backing up Brett Favre in Green Bay.
"Once you get around him, he's just a laid back, the true Mississippi guy he is. That's who he is," he said.
Now, Bouman has returned to what he loves in a different way. He's a first-year high school football coach at Buffalo High School.
"When the job came open, it was a situation where we lived it before. There are great people here. Great community," he said.
After 13 years in the NFL, Bouman is back home. Football has remained a constant, however, because he loves it – and lives it.
"When you get out on the practice field and you actually get to just coach, you know, and you're not emailing and all that. It's like your safe haven. You get to go out here and coach the kids and see them get better each week and each day. I mean, that's what it's all about," Bouman said.
One more fact: Bouman was brought in just one season to Green Bay because a backup quarterback was injured. That player's name: Aaron Rodgers.
