Daunte Culpepper announced his retirement today at the age of 31 after 9 seasons in the NFL.Culpepper was a star QB with the Minnesota Vikings just a few years ago but struggled to regain his form after blowing out his knee in 2005. Culpepper threw for 22,422 yards and 142 touchdowns, while completing 63.8% of his passes. His career quarterback rating of 89.9 is the 8th best of all-time. He also ran for 2,536 yards in his career and scored 33 touchdowns. His best season was in 2004, when he threw for a remarkable 4,717 yards and 39 touchdowns. Culpepper also made 3 Pro Bowls and was a 2 time All-Pro selection.
Here is what Culpepper had to say about his retirement, via ESPN:
"After taking a long look at my career and my personal convictions, I have decided to begin early retirement from the NFL effective immediately,'' Culpepper said in an e-mail.
"Since the beginning of training camp, I was told my opportunity would come when a quarterback gets hurt. I cannot remember the last time so many quarterbacks have been injured during the preseason," Culpepper said. " I have been strongly encouraged from family, friends and league personnel to continue to be patient and wait for an inevitable injury to one of the starting quarterbacks in the league."
"I would rather shut the door to such 'opportunity' than continue to wait for one of my fellow quarterbacks to suffer a serious injury. 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."
"When free agency began this year, I had a new sense of excitement about continuing to rebuild my career in the same way that I had rebuilt my knee after my catastrophic injury in 2005,'' Culpepper said Thursday. "Unfortunately, what I found out was that the league did not share any of the optimism about me as an unrestricted free agent that I expected. In fact, there was an overwhelming sense that there was no room for me among this year's group of quarterbacks, whether in a starting, competing or a backup role.
"No matter what I did or said, there seemed to be a unified message from teams that I was not welcome to compete for one of the many jobs that were available at the quarterback position. It seems that the stance I took in both Minnesota and Miami regarding my rights as a person and player has followed me into free agency.''
"The decision I made in 2006 to represent myself rather than hire an agent has been an invaluable experience,'' Culpepper said. "I now understand why so many people with the NFL community are uncomfortable with a player really learning the business. The NFL has become more about power, money and control than passion, competition and the love of the game. Regardless of this shift, players' rights are still supposed to be part of this league. Since I will not be given the opportunity to honor the memory of Gene Upshaw by wearing a patch on my uniform this year, I will instead spend some of my energy applying what he taught me about standing up for what is right and not sitting down for what is clearly wrong.''
After Culpepper's great 2004 season, I would have told you the only way he would be out of the league by 2008 would be if that league was in a Madden video game where he is forced to retire from a career ending injury. Although I saw like most people that Culpepper was not the same QB that he used to be, it still seems very strange to see him retiring while older QBs like Brett Favre and Kurt Warner are still playing.
This premature end to Culpepper's career is just another sign that you truly never know what each player's career will become despite how much they look like they may be destined for the Hall of Fame. From Bo Jackson, to Don Mattingly, to Doc Gooden, to Anfernee Hardaway, and now to Daunte Culpepper, who becomes the latest superstar to have his career end without it's potential being fully realized.
As a fan, I actually feel somewhat cheated when a great player is not able to complete his career in the way we all hoped for. Despite the fact that it looked very unlikely Culpepper would ever return to a high level of play, he still came back to play, and just that fact alone left us wondering if he could ever get back on top. As long as he was out there playing, there was always a chance he could turn his career around and avoid joining the ranks of other past superstars who weren't able to complete the great careers that seemed right in their grasp.
While Culpepper's retirement is certainly nothing to be surprised about, to me it is of importance not so much because of the player he was but because it represents all the other star players who's career's met a similar fate. So with his retirement, we not only remember Daunte Culpepper's career but also the careers of Bo Jackson, Sterling Sharpe, Don Mattingly, and all the other greats who we won't be able to remember for making the Hall of Fame, but instead for their flashes of brilliance that make them legends in our minds forever.
...and in Culpepper's case also for the diamond pepper chain around his neck, his funny short arm throwing motion, and his "Culpepper Roll" TD celebration, as seen above and of course....Culpepper to Moss:
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