Good night, sweet Daunte: Culpepper retires
Posted on September 4th, 2008 – 11:19 AMBy Michael Rand
And thus completes one of the swiftest and at the same time longest falls from grace in sports history: Daunte Culpepper has retired. Yes, it was just four years ago that he was a near-MVP, with 39 TD passes and a sick 110.9 QB rating. Yes, he’s just 31. And yes, he’s still blaming other people for his downfall. From the AP:
Daunte Culpepper, who starred for the Minnesota Vikings before suffering a major knee injury in 2005, never returning to his past Pro Bowl form, retired from the NFL on Thursday.
Culpepper completed 64 percent of his passes in a nine-year career, with 142 touchdowns. He tried to resuscitate his career with the Miami Dolphins in 2006 and the Oakland Raiders last season, struggling in both of those stops, and wasn’t in training camp with any teams this year.
“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 said.
You see the nearly immobile QB close to being sacked in the end zone by his former team (picture), but we’ll always remember the double-threat second-year player who ran for three touchdowns in the second half of his first start to beat the Bears. We were there. Times were good. Then they weren’t.
49 Responses to "Good night, sweet Daunte: Culpepper retires"
Wait, can you really retire if nobody wants you?
I never warmed up to Culpepper here. I was of the ilk that thought Brad Johnson’s first time around would have served the Vikings well. But the whole Denny/Red regime was more at fault for that. Pepp did have some skills and was fun to watch. I guess Childress was right on that front…?
I nearly came to blows with friends by sticking up for Daunte. One time, at a bar, a friend of a friend actually went home because he was so mad that I liked Culpepper. Some Minnesotans’ irrational hatred of him; that’s what I’ll remember most.
Oh and since this is somewhat vikings related.
I HAS FIRSTIES! FIRE CHILDRESSSS!!!!1!1
Would the guy have called it a “fair chance” if some team had hired him as the Statue of Liberty instead of simply running that play ? Jees. He was good, probably very good (but not that good w/o the Freak) but this is an awesomely violent sport where many careers end too soon. Move on Daunte, but where I have no clue..
Be grateful that you had Culpepper. You could have drafted Cade McNown or Rex Grossman or Kyle Orton or…..
Some Minnesotans’ irrational hatred of him; that’s what I’ll remember most.
This shouldn’t be forgotten. Folks hated Daunte with just as much passion when he was good as when he was bad. 39 touchdowns wasn’t about to make Joe Purple forget that he fumbled a lot.
PUT IN GUS!
Remember when the 1999 QB Class was going to go down as the best ever? 9 years later only McNabb is still in the league and he was the only QB to get booed at the draft.
Note to self: Drafting QB’s in the 1st round works 1.5 out of 5 or 30% of the time.
Not to pull a P3, questioning the proprietor’s artistic choices, but why not use the SI cover featuring Daunte and the “greatest ever” headline? I always loved that one.
Forget about his playing days, can we agree that he may be the dumbest former Viking ever?
Forget about his playing days, can we agree that he may be the dumbest former Viking ever?
I never understood the “big dumb” moniker and I found the state’s irrational hatred of Daunte to be slightly racist. But I’m just a Leftist Wingnut so I think everyone is being oppressed in some way or another. Everyone lest P3, that is.
He represents himself, the Love Boat, wearing that idiotic coat with the “dollars” printed on it after signing his contract, the fumbles, int’s, his comments concerning his ability, turning down offers. Maybe it’s just me, but good riddence.
FUMBLEROOSKI!
That said, my favorite Daunte moment was in one of his first games where he leveled a defensive back at full-speed rather than run out of bounds.
Then again, that moment probably directly led to this moment.
dumbest vikings ever, good category. keith millard, fred smoot, hershel walker, bryant mckinnie …. the list could go on
If Mike Tice had not been let go, would Culpepper have left the Vikings that offseason? Would he still be the starting QB for the Vikings to this day?
Why is Koren Robinson not considered for Dumbest Viking Ever?
Signed,
Concerned citizens of St. Peter
Re Picture:
See this is why we had a terrible pass defense last year, you will not be successful in this league if you crawl towards the QB.
One player should stop this list from moving on.
Demetrius Underwood
jama has a very good point, but when I hear that name, I immediately am reminded of Denny Greens comments about that “free” pick, so Denny and Demetrius are tied….agreed?
Jama: but he said he was “going to war”. I mean, he wore fatigues and everything…
“Our quarterback can beat up your linemen.”
I miss that. I liked Daunte’s raw power, although I was always surprised when people called him ‘great’. And with all of that ‘raw power’, he still underthrew Moss 90% of the time.
+1 newbie. This year the Vikings d-line is working on “waddling”.
Why is Donald Igwebuike not considered for Dumbest Viking Ever?
Signed,
Concerned citizens of Tampa & Nigeria
I’ll go on record. I sorta liked the guy. OK he may have been dumber than a 6th grader (but who knows), but can anyone rememmber a qb that big who could run that fast if he needed to. I think he may only have been second in the 40 behind Moss. And yeah, I know w/o Moss he might have been far less the qb (but who wouldn’t be), if Moss was “The Freak’ surely Culpepper was The Freak11..too bad he blew out his knee. Can You imagine the Vikes with him now ?
Having Culpepper now … would make … me feel … better … about the Vikes … this … season.
I hate agreeing with P3 in any way at all. It is hurts my heart. I’m getting dizzy.
Now that he is retired, how long before he goes into the Viking ring of honor?
Check the homepage…
ACCESS VIKINGS has a show. How do you speak in all-caps?
Well, I hope that at least the closed captioning is littered with misspellings, excessive punctuation, and the caps-lock on
Can You imagine the Vikes with him now ?
Yep. leading the league in turnovers.
@jama - I say we bring C-Pepp back to the opener against Green Bay and retire his jersey there.
@ newbie: what is all this “we” talk, are you part of the Vikings? NO… go back to AV.
I was one that thought the Vikings should have kept Johnson, the first time around, he could manage a game and hold on to the ball. Plus he could recieve his own passes. My hatred for Duante flared after Johnson won the Super Bowl with Tampa, knowing that Culpepper was the reason Johnson left. I’m not sayin the Vikes would have one a Super Bowl with Johnson I just think they would have had a better chance than with Culpepper. Did I mention Johnson can throw TD passses to himself, who else can do that??
My guess is Daunte comes out of retirement by week 3. He will either sign with the Pack after a A-Rodg injury or the Rams after a Bulger injury and another Trent Green concusion.
Why is Randy Moss not considered for Dumbest Viking Ever?
Signed,
Minneapolis Police Department
muxhut, that’s alright. Sometimes it hurts my head agreeing with myself…
jama - What about the Vikings after a Jackson injury. Either was my guess is he will be released by week 5.
Culpepper + Childress= Call the Riot police
This is all a brilliant p.r. move by his agent to remind teams that Culpepper still exists, and as luck would have it, does not have a current employer.
Unfortunately for Daunte, he apparently makes a better agent than QB…
I hate the double-standard of the media, Favre retires and they talk about it all day everyday. Now Culpepper retires and guess who is on the Home Page for the WWL? That’s right Favre. Pepp gets relegated to a little headline.
I think we all know the obvious difference between Daunte Culpepper and Brett Favre… even though we have come this far as a society, the media still has a bias against the Vikings!!!1!1!
He used to fumble, a lot.
Meh. Count me among the Culpepper bashers, but I was never convinced that he was a good QB. I always felt that his size and ability to run the ball may have stunted his growth as a passer. He generally made bad decisions when he was under pressure. Whereas before the injury he tuck and run for some yards, after the injury he’d either just look panicky and throw it out on a prayer (please catch it Randy!), or freeze and take the sack. A good example of a guy with alot of tools (size, strong arm, runner) who lacked the ability to wield them effectively.
Calling Daunte dumb is not a racist statement…it is a factual statement. A. He never learned from his mistakes. B. He could not read defenses. C. Most damning…he wasn’t smart enough to rehab his knee at Viking headquarters where the purple braintrust could mmonitor his progress. At the same time that he was recovering from the knee, he started making demands and earned a reputation as a trouble maker. Sad to say, but Daunte never came close to reaching his potential…lots of reasons, but race was not one of them!
didn’t culpepper turn down a 1-year deal to play for the Packers this year for $1 million? if so, well … guess all of the nfl teams can see what the rest of us can: a total lack of intelligence. enjoy all the bugs in your tent in florida, daunte.
I have a vivid memory of a Vikings-Lions game, where one of the Lions D-Linemen burst through and had a free, albeit diving, shot at Culpepper. (I think that it was either Robert Porcher or Shaun Rogers) The lineman dove with all his might and…bounced off. Culpepper stayed standing. I don’t even remember if he completed the pass because I was too awestruck by a D-Lineman bouncing off of a Quarterback.
AZAce - I agree with all of your points. Don’t know if you were referring to my comment playing the race card, I was clearly not. I am upset that because Culpepper played for the Vikings at one point, ESPN ignores him, but if he had played for the beloved Packers he’d be on the front page.
going out to play touch football in the street (the REAL American pastime) so I don’t have much time here, but I wanted to quickly respond to you, newbie…
Culpepper didn’t make ESPN’s big time coverage because a) he sucks compared to Favre (who didn’t) and b) the Vikings are to the Pack as the Saints are to the Twins…i.e. historically, they’ve genearlly sucked too..TaTa
Newbie…I was referring to lattewarrior’s comments that played on the race issue.
Further proof that everything the Vikings touch turns to shit!
