Daunte Culpepper, who at one point in his career looked like he'd play until he was 40 and be an instant Hall of Famer, announced his retirement today at age 31. Most depressingly, his retirement came via an email to NFL.com writer Adam Schefter. Why? We'll let Daunte explain.Adam,
Since I do not have a team where I can do a press conference, I chose to write what I would have said. You are the first to get this.
– Daunte
Since I do not have a team where I can do a press conference, I chose to write what I would have said. You are the first to get this.
– Daunte
Oh man, now that's rough.
Here's another rather depressing snippet.
The decision I made in 2006 to represent myself rather than hire an agent has been an invaluable experience. I now understand why so many people within 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, player’s rights are still supposed to be a 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.
Now, while I know other great players in sports history have burned out in the blink of an eye, I can't remember anyone recently who's done it quite like Culpepper. I mean, it was only four years ago this guy had a season for the ages, by throwing 39 TD passes and having an unreal 110.9 QB rating.
But we all know what happened after that incredible 2004 season. Randy Moss left town, Culpepper started sucking without Moss, fantasy owners everywhere went ballistic, and then Daunte horribly blew out his knee. What's interesting is that the Vikings were 2-5 when Culpepper suffered his knee injury in 2005, yet went 7-2 the rest of the way. That pretty much cemented it in everyone's minds that Culpepper simply couldn't survive without Moss.
Daunte tried to revive his career with Miami in 2006 and the Raiders in 2007, but wound up having to ride the pine for most of those two seasons. And let's be honest, when you're sitting on the bench in Miami and Oakland, your career is essentially over.
While I do think Culpepper benefitted greatly from having Moss in Minnesota, I think the real end to Culpepper's career was the knee injury. Had that not happnened, I'm sure he could have learned to play without Moss.
But unfortunately for Culpepper, he never really got that chance. Instead, he just becomes another example of how in almost the blink of an eye all the money, fame and notoriety of being a pro athlete can disappear.
Culpepper announces retirement [NFL.com]
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