Culpepper now wants to play
Posted on October 23rd, 2008 – 2:23 PMBy Mark Craig
In what should come as no surprise, former Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper has emailed ESPN’s John Clayton to announce that his brief retirement is over. (Whether the rest of the league agrees with Daunte remains to be seen).
“A number of teams have contacted me since my retirement announcement and have provided some important information that has caused me to reconsider returning to the league,” Culpepper said in the e-mail. “As much as I have enjoyed my brief break from playing, I know that I love the game and I have some unfinished business in the NFL. It has never been because of a lack of passion for the game but rather the absence of a fair opportunity to complete and play that caused me to retire.
“Now that there are some real opportunities that match my desire to play, I will choose the one that is the best fit for both the team and me so that I can continue my NFL career. For the second half of this season, I hope to play a role in helping a team win some games. I want to thank all of those who encouraged me to ‘keep a light on’ for the right NFL opportunity that would eventually come back to me,” he said.
Culpepper announced his retirement earlier this season after turning down one-year offers from Green Bay and Pittsburgh because he thought they were below market value.
The timing of the email is a little odd. It comes after the Chiefs contacted Culpepper on Monday. K.C. went on to sign Quinn Gray after putting Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard on injured reserve.
76 Responses to "Culpepper now wants to play"
My vote is for the Bengals to be the team. It’s the one team where the starter is down, but the back up QB isn’t a solid vet or an obvious developmental guy, and also boasts 3 good weapons in the passing game
I guess he got sick of playing Madden all day, huh?
Great, the vikes, Cinn. and many others could use him
Ha, ha! Maybe he should consider becoming a stand-up comedian. He seems pretty good at making me laugh!
I thought this headline was a joke. Is he really serious?!? I suppose that any team that would pick him up deserves what it gets…might be fun to watch. From a distance, of course.
Stay retired Daunte, you big crybaby. Two words on what made your career in the NFL, Randy Moss. If you can play, NFL teams will find a way to utilize your talents. Quit already with stating the “absence of a fair opportunity to compete and play,” is why you are not in the league. The reason you’re not in the league is teams didn’t consider you worth the amount of money that you wanted to play.
Look for Culpepper and Moss to reunite with the Patriots.
Wait…I thought he didn’t want a job at the expense of an injured QB?
I can’t belive what an EGO MANIAC this guy is.
KC can have him. Him and Tony G. could make a good QB/TE pair…….
Hey Barry—-Obama how about losing the racist user name?!
we want don TEE we want don TEE Big LOL
Is anyone dumb enough to think those quotes were actually made by Culpepper? He ,who wants to be his own agent, must have hired a publist to string those words and sentences together. Good luck to him but please do not consider the Vikings; we can not afford another loser
Hire a fricken AGENT!!! All he’s done since firing his agent is he’s made an ass of himself!
Holy Crap BarryxxxxObama!!
Are you seriously that ignorant?
Get a screen name that doesn’t make you seem like a racist.
(I don’t care what race you actually are, the screen name makes you seem like an idiot….again key word here is “seem”)
I wish him well. But I sure don’t want him back on the Vikes. We already have two mediocre quarterbacks. Daunte’s had great ability once, but his time is over with.
The Vikes could use him, but I don’t think they have the coaching staff to deal with his tender psyche.
…”I got to feed my kids…”
He sure seems arrogant for a guy practically run out of the league. I wonder if he’s ever sat back and reflected about the actions he has taken in the last few years and the position he is in now, and their relation? He’s certainly had the time.
No better than a 3rd stringer… His best days were with the Vikes for sure.
I think he should give the Arena Football League a try first. It will improve his decision skills a lot more. Look what it did for Kurt Warner. Big Bo in Nodak.
Yea, several NFL teams contacted him and asked him to reconsider. And then he woke up.
Yeah, we hear you Daunte: NFL teams are seldom looking for quality QBs because they’re a dime a dozen, so it’s really tough to get “a fair opportunity to compete and play”. Here’s another news flash: you have to be on a roster to compete. I just have two more words for this guy: Latrellll Spreeeeewell!
Culpepper writes as if he’s been victimized. C’mon. I don’t his physical ability, but I highly doubt his mental ability to play in the NFL. He becomes a deer in headlights when pass rushed, and then runs a bee line to the other side of the road. News flash. He can’t run anymore, so he’s going to have to become a pocket passer, something he has never done with consistency. If some team wants to risk millions to teach an old dog new tricks, then that team is just as stupid as Culpepper was to retire.
PS: Nut Job, hilarious!!!
Daunte probably ran short of cash. I would guess his millions of dollars in investments dwindled like everyone elses.
I say bring him back, but Daunte…First order of business is hire a freakin Agent, someone that can negotiate for you without getting personal. The Vikings sure could have used you in the past couple of years.
I thought he hand small hands and that’s why he couldn’t hold onto the ball, hmmmmmm, his fingers must have grown.
Hey lighten up on the guy and remember his best season was when Moss was hurt half the season. He might be fully recoverd from knee surgery and make fools of everyone.
This guy is crazy! Does he ever talk to people anymore besides email?
[…] http://www.startribune.com – […]
He just as stupid as he was ten years ago, or it could be dumb and dumber. The reason he wanted to be his own agent is he can’t read or think.
Wait, doesn’t he have to check with his agent first?
I give him credit, he’s still got an ego! Maybe…what he hasn’t been telling us is that he’s been totally rebuilt. The latest in orthotics/prothstetics technology. He can run faster than Tomlinson, throw farther than “Brett the Jet”!
Sorry…sort of drifted away there.
I was just thinking about the sales pitch he’d use when he’s “Daunte the agent”!
use when
Hey ummm, i think culpepper would be a good addition to the vikings.I think he would be the perfect mentor for jackson and would help him become an elite NFL QB.
If you think about it Jackson has bigger hands then Culpepper and has had a 35 Touchdown year.
Think about Chilly thats if you wanna remain coach atleast
Ive heard rumor that
JOHN DAVID BOOTY’S DEBUT MAY COME REAL SOON IF THE VIKINGS CANT WIN WITH FREROTTE, ACCORDING TO A RELIABLE SOURCE,CHILLY AND FRAZIER ARE GETTING READY TO GIVE ROBISON RAY EDWARDS JOB
Daunte wants to come back eh..? What a surprise that Legend in his own Mind decided to make (try) a comeback w/his tail between his legs.
culpepper needs two things… a good agent… and a good shrink in the pay of that good agent. until that happens, he can send all the email he wants, it goes in the spam bucket with v1@g8a and “quality replica watches.”
He is a big baby, but he still has talent and probably more than any of the current Vikes QB’s.
I’m also in favor of seeing what John David Booty and Robison can do.
I hear that Petters is looking for a backup guy.
Get real. . .culpepper sucks. Vikes are finshed until Childress is gone. Quit fooling yourself. This year is over. Zigy do something! Make childress fire the special teams coach right now! The “only” qb the vikes have is Ferotte so shut up about T.Joke or John Booty. Remember who drafted these loser.
Was anybody surpriesed about this. He saw all the QB’s get hurt now he wants back in. I hope beyond hope they don’t let that big baby back in. Mr. fumble.
You people are vicious. The funny thing about these comment boards is that it brings out the nasty, petty side of people. They call it “e-courage.” None of you would have the guts to say any of this in real life. Anyway, Daunte had a good run here. I wish him well and hope he catches on somewhere. It’s got to be hard to be so young and not be able to do what you were groomed to do from a very young age. Hopefully he will find more respect and encouragement than has been displayed here.
I’ve got it. Lets fire Chilly and he can become Dante’s agent. Then he can manipulate Ziggy into paying way too much for the washed up QB. Oh hold it Chilly can do that without being fired. Never mind!
I always felt Duante was a very effective QB as long as he was a threat to scramble and run.He would have several good games where he was a threat to run. Then he would get nailed by an opponent while running and get hurt. Without the run he lacked the weapons to be a good NFL QB.
i don’t care if culpepper plays again or not. if he does play just make it for a team other than the vikings. he has shown what he thinks of viking fans.
His original retirement started with a concussion. The healing shows that the small working portion of brain has viewed what is left in his savings account. This man truly does not know if he is coming or going!
We’re “vicious”. Lets all bow our heads and reflect for a moment….OK carry on!
Hey CS - Just keeping it real! His brain is and has always been his own worst enemy. Take the brain of Tom Brady and the body of Culpepper before his knee injury and you have the ultimate quarterback!
Actually the timing of this is perfect. The Vikings are heading into a bye week and Culpepper announces his comeback. Call it what you want but Chilly realizes that his biggest mistake was trading Culpepper and drafting Jackson. Chilly also knows if he can’t spark something, he will be gone at the end of the year.
HE WILL NEVER PLAY BECAUSE OF HIS KNEE INJURY. HE IS NOT 100% HEALTHY ON HIS KNEE,IT WILL NEVER SAME AS BEFORE HE GOT HURT. WE DONT NEED HIM ANYMORE AND WE NEED MORE YOUNG MEN PLAYING BETTER THAN THAT IDIOT WORTHLESS GUY. THAT IS TOO BAD FOR HIM . VIKES DESERVED GOOD PLAYER WITH GOOD SHAPE .
I DISAGREE WITH ALOT OF THE COMMENTS HERE. I ALWAYS FELT CULPEPPER ALWAYS GAVE 100% DURING GAMES. I FELT THE OFFENSIVE LINE DETERIORATED THE LAST COUPLE YEARS HE WAS QUARTERBACK AND HE OFTEN WAS RUNNING FOR HIS LIFE AND STILL OFTEN MADE SOME AMAZING PLAYS. THE DETERIORATION OF T HE TEAM UNDER RED MCCOMBS WAS A BIG PART OF THE FAILURE OF DANTE AND ALSO THE VIKINGS OVER THE PAST FEW YEARS.
Daunte is no Donovan McNabb…we all know this. Childress likes to “build his guys” (we can see how well that worked-out with T. Tapeh…home-grown son, oops we fired him last week). Daunte’s not against playing in MN, and now that Bernard’s shown he wants to be an All-Star, maybe it’s time to give Daunte another chance. Let’s face it…he didn’t have Mr. Hurchinson AND Birk to guard “his back” at the same time last tenure. By the way, does anyone recall that there’s a RB named PETERSON on the team??? Daunte doesn’t have to be the ball-carrier anymore!? It’s only another week or two before Gus gets hit so hard (no ill-wishes here, Mr. Frerotte) he doesn’t know who is… It’s time for QB #3… Daunte for $1.1M anyone???
The vikings should bring D.C. back. It would probably take him about three weeks to be brought up to speed Bernard Berrian out wide and Adrian behind him he would be ready to take us home for the playoff stretch…and beleive me the MINNESOTA VIKINGS are going to be in the thick of the NFC NORTH race!!!
what about the sheriff… Culpepper is argueably the dumbest quarterback to ever step foot on a field.
HE is DUMB AS ROCKS… sorry rocks
well that would be ok to give him a try
CULPEPPER LLEVO A LOS VIKINGOS EN SUS MEJORES AÑOS. YO CREO QUE ESTE HOMBRE MERECE UNA OPORTUNIDAD. Y ES MAS FUERTE QUE LOS MARISCALES QUE TIENEN LOS VIKINGOS.
THOR try that in english next time maybe? id say it might be ok to give DC a look at just to see how he has come along
Hey,Thor….This is America,why don’t you try that in English……or ,maybe Norwegian or Swedish…..something a little more appropriate for the area/region!!!!!!!Daunte was an immovable object who was not used properly as a MN Viking.He should have rolled right w/ a flowing pattern of recvrs following in parallel to the right 1 short(8-10yds) 1 deeper at 20-25yds w/ a running back in slot running against grain as another option…..They should have started every game w/ doing this and then to the left side until the banging Culpepper put on the opponents defense sucked their secondary up and out of their deep cover 2 defense…..As lomg as Culpepper got by the 300lb def. linemen who was going to stop him….Oh yea I forgot a slimey cheap shot artist of a D-back hitting him from the side at knee level while Culpepper has 2 other guys draped on his back as he gained 15xtra yards after making a 1st down against north carolina panthers!!!!!!Go back and watch the tape on that play and while you are at it watch the hit on Adrian Peterson’s knee against Greenbay last year that cost him 3 games and the hit by #98 by fat INDY def lineman this year as CHEAP HITS ARE IN…..This guy was an exceptional athlete and was forced to sit in the pocket and get sacked as his O-line was not the best and Robt Smith retired the team was in decline and he was not being used correctly…..Cheap hits are not only “in” they are applauded and replayed w/ little concern from Mr Dudley Dew Right chief purveyor of fines etc see $10,000 or $15,000 fine given to Randy Moss as a Viking for “a fake moon” at LAMBEAU!!!!!!!How pathetic is that,the legs of an athlete are “FAIR GAME” for cheap and career ending hits w/o fine and “A FAKE MOON” by Randy Moss is “atrocious and unacceptable behavior”….and THAT deserves a FINE!!!!!Come on now Mr. Commisioner….Your athletes legs should be as precious as your “aura of Lambeau”
Having JDB start in place of Gus would be the worst thing for this team. I look forward to JDB being a great QB for us someday, but that day is not this year. He needs to sit and learn for a few years. Pre-season was terible for him. TJoke would even be a safer play this year. Gus, although not elite in any stretch of the imagination, has poise and presence. His leadership in the huddle can get us at least 9-7 this year - but that’s probably all. Next year, we need a reliable QB to give JDB a few extra years before starting him.
i’m not convinced culpepper is done for yet. (ability-wise) hate all you want, but if he plays at even a third of what he’s shown he’s capable, that makes him a better option than anything we’ve got right now.
BIMBO:
ESPN reported on Brady’s knee last night and played the hit over and over and over. That looked pretty avoidable also.
DC certainly has a unique spin on his trials and travails as an NFL QB. Granted he’s been injury prone, but the idea that he wasn’t given an opportunity to compete is about the lamest excuse I’ve heard. Look DC has his supporters out there, and that’s really sweet and I’m sure he appreciates it, but honestly the guy was basically kind of a unique scrub from the get go. His biggest problem is his inability to read and react effectively. When you’re as big a kid as he is, and have always had the ability to run when in trouble, it seems reasonable to assume that other skills are going to get short shrift. Contrary to what some people say about him DC is not ’stupid’. More likely that he just never developed the instincts of a top tier passer.
If I were a team that needed a QB, I’d go out and get 40 yr. old Jeff George, before even thinking of Daunte…
It’s actually too bad for Daunte to get the false hope that he was a top NFL QB….If JG would have played for the Vikes during those years, him, Cris and Randy would have put up record shattering numbers….don’t think Denny really liked JG audibling to a pass on every play though…
I think that Daunte would be a great addition to the Vikings roster. We need a vet QB that can somewhat move. Obviously Gus can’t. Don’t get me wrong, I think gus is a great QB; But how many years does he have left? Considering all of the punishment he’s taken this year.
He was a great QB when he could throw it up and Randy Moss came down with it. However, once he had to go through his reads, he got flustered and couldn’t do the job due to panic in the pocket. He can go anywhere else but the Vikings. PLEASE!
Daunte has some skills, but take away his ability to run away from trouble and he becomes a liability to any offense. In this day and pressure happy age, a non-mobile quarterback who feels the need to wait for receivers to come completely open is going to be killed. I did like Daunte up until he started acting as his own agent. Man can’t get out of the way of his own mouth.
Look back to Daunte’s best season. Moss was injured most of the season and Carter had retired already. He used the guys around him exceptionally well. Wiggins, Robinson, and Burleson were huge for him. Look at the stats:
Player Rec Yds Yds/Rec Long TD
Jermaine Wiggins 71 705 9.9 39 4
Nate Burleson 68 1006 14.8 68 9
Randy Moss 49 767 15.7 82 13
Marcus Robinson 47 657 14.0 50 8
He’s still got the skills and he should be healthy by now. Someone should give him a shot. I do agree about the agent comments. I understand fighting against an unfair system, but a smart man would work the system to their advantage. Stupid move on his part by shunning an agent when hiring one would have assured him a roster spot or even a starting role somewhere. Look at all the miserable QBs that started this year.
I also agree with the cheap shot comments. This league is screwed up when the commissioner talks a HUGE game about accountability, then hands out bigger fines for arguing with officials than injuring someone with a dirty hit. Al Harris’ hit on AP was filthy and blatant. Chris Gamble’s hit on Culpepper was blatantly dirty. Daunte had a defender on him from the left and behind, and Gamble closed in from the right, then dove into his knees.
If he is healthy, bring him back to Minnesota!!! Donte can put it where our receivers can run em down, he knows how to pull the ball down and get out of dodge. And most important he will chew you out if you drop the ball Mr. Shianco!!! Bring him back and send T-Jack in the game to run our version of the Ronnie Brown option co-staring AP and Chester. No mure Gus! No more turnovers! The Def plays lights out. We’re wasting it.
Daunte always had his supporters and detractors. What amazes me about many of the comments here and everywhere else on almost every Viking player blog/post/etc., is how quickly people forget how proud they were of their #11 jerseys and — for the most part — their QB before Gamble’s cheap-shot put Culpepper’s career on the skids.
Daunte’s not the first and won’t be the last player (Viking or otherwise) that suffers because of fickle fans.
But if you liked him when he did wear purple, man-up to it now.
Daunte would be far from the best solution to the Vikings’ QB situation but he surely won’t do any worse than John David Booty or Tavaris Jackson. In fact, he just might be able to teach Tavaris a thing or two and be there to step in for Gus when #74 misses his block one too many times.
Mostly, the Vikings need an offense that works in reality rather than in the Xs and Os Childress and Bevel draw on the whiteboard. They need a head coach who actually develops a two-minute offense. And they need a defense that consistently makes stops when it matters.
If they had those three things — even with the stupid special teams plays and picks — there wouldn’t have been a 10-point swing Chicago’s way in 3:10 (22 seconds of the 2nd Qtr. and 2:48 of the 3rd Qtr) of last week’s game.
I agree with what most are saying. No one who makes it in the NFL can say they’ve never been given a fair opportunity to play. He has the talent but he worries more about what is said about him rather than how he plays. So he lost his main weapon in Moss, who cares Duante…move on. You are the one who caused this problem and you have to fix it by playing to your ability, stop whining and produce! Nothing more.
I am not even saying that MN should bring him back. I just think he deserves a shot somewhere. You can’t deny his career stats and he is now reportedly healthy, so mobility isn’t a concern. He actually played pretty darn well on an awful Raiders team that had no offensive line, but they didn’t draft Russell to sit on the bench.
Daunte had his fair share of bad plays and stretches where he threw a lot on ints, but then again, what QB doesn’t?
I still don’t see him coming back to MN as Childress would never do that and Daunte wouldn’t accept the no audible rule. The Patriots makes sense. So does Cinci. Seattle would need to get healthy at WR for this move to work. SF and Detroit are long shots. Dallas would be a good fit since Johnson requires a stylistic about face in their offensive scheme.
Daunte HAS to be better than Gus or T.J.
He will be a solid backup. Nothing wrong with that. If he is really serious, he’ll strengthen that knee, work on his mobility, and work like hell to learn how to read defenses. If not, he won’t last long.
ENOUGH!!! NO ONE ON THIS BLOG KNOWS PEP SO BACK OFF!! WORRY ABOUT CHILLIIE SCREWING US FOR THREE YEARS!! WITH A TEAM WORTHY OF OF A SUPER BOWL!!AND MESSING IT UP WITH NO FRILLS NO THRILLS!! SO WORRY ABOUT MINNIE NO PLACE FOOTBALL!! AND THE BEST OF LUCK IN FUTURE!!I KNOW WHAT YOUR ABOUT ! AND THATS WINNING !!!!”FIRE CHILLIE HIRE WILLIE” I’LL BRING BACK WINNING SMASH MOUTH FOOTBALL !I’M WILLIE AND I APPROVED THIS MESSAGE!!!!!!!!!!!!!
