Culpepper Retires

[A.E]

After failing to reach the Pro Bowl status he achieved in Minnesota, quarterback Daunte Culpepper has decided to call it a career.

"Since I was not given a fair chance to come in and compete for a job, I would rather move on and win in other arenas of life," Culpepper told reporters today.

Culpepper, a 1999 1st round pick, saw immediate success in the NFL. With the help of a dynamic receiving corps, Culpepper lead the Vikings to the NFC Championship game in only his first season as Vikings' starting quarterback.

Culpepper was sidelined in 2005 with a severe knee injury and then released by the team prior to the 2006 season.

Culpepper struggled to recover fully from his knee injury and was in and out as Dolphins' starter in 2006. His 2007 campaign as an Oakland Raider was also a failure and lead to a quiet 2008 off-season. Though Daunte was offered a $1 million contract from Green Bay this off-season, he did not end up on an NFL roster.

Daunte's best season came in 2004, where his 4,717 yards lead the NFL and his 39 touchdowns are still a Vikings' record. Culpepper only threw 11 picks that season, lead the Vikings to the Playoffs for a 2nd time and was again, elected to the Pro Bowl. -AE

 

[jarrod2323]

for 2 years this guys was a nfl and fantasy stud.. but after that knee injury, he gained weight and never performed to the same level... it's a shame, as with the injuries right now, he could find a job

 

[A.E]

for 2 years this guys was a nfl and fantasy stud.. but after that knee injury, he gained weight and never performed to the same level... it's a shame, as with the injuries right now, he could find a job

He didn't necessarily make the wisest decisions throwing the football either. Remember Saban admitting that he benched Daunte more because of his head than his knee.

I think it actually hurt Daunte more to have a guy like Randy Moss, catching anything thrown his way, so early on in his career.

 

[Pugz]

He still should have gotten a shot to be a backup.
Sucks that he had to quit so soon.

 

[The Young One]

Fukk carl peterson we should have made a move for daunte

 

[A.E]

He still should have gotten a shot to be a backup.
Sucks that he had to quit so soon.

He didn't really want to be a back-up. Ted Thompson offered him a million to back-up Aaron Rodgers earlier in the off-season but he turned it down.

 

[Pugz]

He didn't really want to be a back-up. Ted Thompson offered him a million to back-up Aaron Rodgers earlier in the off-season but he turned it down.

Didn't he just come out and say that he would be a backup. And that the teams that think he wants to start are worng?

 

[A.E]

Didn't he just come out and say that he would be a backup. And that the teams that think he wants to start are worng?

He did JUST come out and say that he would take a backup job...but that's the problem. Being that he waited so long to consider that role acceptable, teams are now staying away from him.

You have to keep in mind that he hasn't been in any training camps the off-season and teams would rather spend less on another guy to play back-up, a guy who was in the program all off-season.

Culpepper is also more on the expensive side to play backup and he's also 31 years old. He hasn't aged like Brett Favre either. There's plenty of younger, cheaper quarterbacks out there to get...especially now that teams have made their cuts and assembled their practice rosters.

 

[JoshHoward5]

Daunte isn't that incredible talented, he has an injury problem, and now an attitude problem. To me this guy is almost untouchable.

All this retirement says to me is that he is one of those "I want it my way or I quit guys". He didn't get a job he wanted so he's making a big deal out of him quitting. So now there is some public interest in Daunte, because of all this, and maybe some teams will show some interest. I know that this "retirement" will last just about as long as Favre's

 

[RipCity32]

It's a shame he is done. He had some talent, but oh well.

 

[A.E]

As a Vikings' fan...I was never all that fond of Daunte. He was looked at as "the Golden Child" in Minnesota from 200-2004 but once Randy Moss was gone, we saw how good he really was.

Culpepper's cannon-for-an-arm combined with Randy's ability to get downfield and catch the deep ball was as good as it was ever going to get for Daunte in the NFL.

Other than that, the guy made terrible decisions on the field and terrible decisions off the field.