During one of my daily perusals of ESPN.com, I came across a familiar, but nearly forgotten name – Todd Bouman. Last week the 37-year-old auditioned for a job with the Pittsburgh Steelers, hoping to replace injured back-up Charlie Batch. Since Bouman and I attended St. Cloud State in late 1990s, I’ve always maintained a casual interest in his career. What a long, strange trip it’s been…

Bouman, a native of Ruthton - a tiny southwestern Minnesota town of less than 300 – starred at St. Cloud State before signing with the Vikings as an undrafted fee agent in 1997. Always patient, he would spend the next five years working his way up the depth chart; from the practice squad to 3rd stringer and eventually to Daunte Culpepper’s understudy.

In 2001, at age 29, Bouman finally saw his first NFL action, relieving Culpepper in a Week 7 blowout loss at Tampa. He completed 1 of 2 passes for 4 yards in mop-up duty. The hometown hero would get his big break five weeks later when Culpepper suffered a season ending injury at Pittsburgh. Bouman led late rally, going 11-15 for 200 yards in the 21-16 loss.

The following week Bouman made the first and best start of his career. In a 42-24 victory over Tennessee, the local boy went 21-31 for 348 yards with 4 TDs and an interception. He was named NFC Offensive Player of the Week for the effort. After a mediocre performance in a 27-24 loss to previously winless Detroit, Bouman suffered an early injury against Jacksonville and was shelved for the season. The Vikings lost to the Jaguars 33-3 in what would be Dennis Green’s final home game.

In 2002, with a new coach and a healthy Culpepper, Bouman appeared in just 1 game – a week 10 loss to the Giants – and threw only 6 passes. He was traded to New Orleans for a 6th round pick in March.

Bouman spent the next three seasons with the Saints. In 2003, he appeared in 3 games – all mop up duty – and completed 7 of 13 passes for 81 yards and 1 TD. That was followed by a 2004 season in which he didn’t throw a pass. The former SCSU star saw his most extensive NFL action in 2005, throwing a career high 122 passes in 5 games. Bouman struggled however, tossing 7 interceptions and just 2 TDs. He was released following the season.

At that point, Bouman’s adventure really began. He remained a free agent until November before signing with Green Bay for final 6 games of 2006 season. After spending a month with Jacksonville during the 2007 season, Bouman was resigned by the Jaguars in the spring of 2008 before being released on the final cut down. The Ravens would rescue the journeyman signal caller just 3 days later. He spent the 2008 season in Baltimore as a back-up.

History repeated itself this year; Bouman went to camp with Jacksonville and was cut in September. Although he hasn’t thrown an NFL pass in 4 years, Bouman’s recent workout with the Steelers proved you can never count out a determined St. Cloud State graduate.