Aaron Roosevelt Rouse (born January 8, 1984) is an American politician and former football player. A member of the Democratic Party, Rouse represents the 7th district in the Senate of Virginia. He previously served on the Virginia Beach City Council. Rouse formerly played in the National Football League (NFL) and United Football League (UFL). Rouse played college football for the Virginia Tech Hokies before he was drafted by the Green Bay Packers in the third round of the 2007 NFL Draft. Rouse was also a member of the New York Giants and Arizona Cardinals of the NFL and the Omaha Nighthawks and Virginia Destroyers of the UFL. From 2019 to 2022, Rouse represented an at-large seat on the Virginia Beach city council, having been elected in 2018. He won a special election to fill the open seat for Virginia's 7th Senate district in January 2023. Early years Rouse attended First Colonial High School in Virginia where he excelled at many positions, including outside linebacker and wide receiver. He was named first-team Group AAA by The Associated Press and second-team by the state coaches as a linebacker. In his senior year, he was named Defensive Player of the Year in the Virginia Beach District, yet lost the state award to Kai Parham, who also played in the Beach District. He also lettered in basketball. College career Rouse redshirted his freshman year. At the backup 'Field' outside linebacker position, he finished the season with 46 total tackles (19 solo tackles) with three tackles for losses, one forced fumble and two pass deflections. He was selected to the Freshman All-American team by Rivals.com while appearing in 13 games and starting only one. During his sophomore season, Rouse remained at his backup position at outside linebacker. He finished the season with 37 total tackles (16 solo tackles) with 2.5 tackles for losses and one forced fumble. At the end of the season, Rouse switched from weak outside linebacker to the defensive backfield at safety. Rouse had an outstanding junior season in 2005 opening at the 'Rover' safety position, collecting 77 total tackles and five interceptions, which prompted him to be named a First-team All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection and one of the top safeties in the country. He was the leader of the Virginia Tech defense and elected to stay in college for his senior season. He had a reputation of hard hits, sometimes resulting