Retirement Indignation

Daunte Culpepper was a phenomenon. He possessed immense talent. He was physically impressive. His aerials were spectacular. His agility was superb. Culpepper’s excellence was preordained. Unfortunately, his knee collapsed. His career crumbled.

On Thursday, Culpepper retired. “After taking a long look at my career and my personal convictions, I have decided to begin early retirement from the NFL effective immediately. 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. 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,” Culpepper continued. “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.”

Prior to his injury, Culpepper started 80 contests. He completed 1,678 of 2,607 passes. He amassed 20,162 yards with 135 touchdowns and 86 interceptions. Post injury, Culpepper started only 10 contests. He completed only 189 of 320 passes. He amassed only 2,260 yards with seven touchdowns and eight interceptions.

Despite his ineptitude, Culpepper remains resentful. “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,” said Culpepper. “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. I now understand why so many people with the NFL community are uncomfortable with a player really learning the business.”

Last offseason, Culpepper was practical. He was reduced and scarred. Yet, his skills were sufficient. Culpepper could have shut up. He could have prolonged his career. Instead, he extracted Gandhi. He screamed slavery. Culpepper’s ego trumped employment.