When he steps under center for the Minnesota Vikings this Sunday, 37-year old Gus Frerotte will be starting for his seventh team in 11 seasons. He is the ultimate journeyman, which might sound like an insult until you consider that when Frerotte was selected with the 197th pick in the 7th round of the 1994 NFL Draft, it was far from certain that he'd see any playing time in the league, let alone last for 15 years.

In honor of Frerotte's newest starting gig in Minnesota (which is actually not that new, as Frerotte started two games for the Vikes back n 2003), Shutdown Corner presents eight semi-interesting facts about Gustave Joseph Frerotte.

1) Frerotte was taken 194 spots after Heath Shuler in the 1994 Draft. The two waged an unlikely quarterback battle in Washington later that year, with Frerotte eventually taking the job over from Shuler in early 1995. Shuler was out of football by 1998 and is now a Democratic Congressman from North Carolina.

2) In addition to Shuler, there were four other quarterbacks taken ahead of Frerotte in that draft: Trent Dilfer, Perry Klein, Doug Nussmeier and Jim Miller. Dilfer, of course, won a Super Bowl with the Baltimore Ravens. Klein and Nussmeier combined for 83 pass attempts during their respective careers. Jim Miller started for the Bears for a spell and actually led Chicago to a 13-3 record in 2001. (We know, we were surprised too.) All of those QBs are now out of the league.

3) Frerotte started 15 games for Miami in 2005. He's only started 23 others since 1998.

4) Tarvaris Jackson was in 4th-grade when Gus Frerotte was drafted. And Brad Childress had just completed a run on a popular television sitcom.

5) Frerotte is perhaps most famous for injuring himself while celebrating a rushing touchdown by head-butting a lightly-padded concrete wall during a Sunday night game in 1997. He knocked himself out of the game as a result.

6) Gus Frerotte tells untruths to the press. (Maybe after he retires Frerotte can follow Shuler into politics.)

7) Since we're on the topic of untruths, I once sat next to a woman on an airplane who claimed to be Gus Frerotte's wife's best friend. (That's actually true.) I believed her because, really, why would anybody lie about that?

8) As seen above, Frerotte inspired the best t-shirt in the short-lived history of the Mottram/Steinberg Blog Show collabo. Vikings fans, don't act like you don't want one. I'm sure the burgundy and gold can be changed to purple and white.

Photo courtesy Mr. Irrelevant