Ick's Corner

Daunte  Culpepper is calling it quites after 9 season in the NFL? Unable to land a starting job or backup job with anyone, this seemed like Culpeppers best option?

“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.”

Culpepper was offered a 1 year, $1 Million dollar deal to be Aaron Rodgers back up and turned it down.

Culpepper also worked out with the Steelers, competing with Byron Leftwich to be Big Ben’s back up.

Incase your were sacked one to many times, let me expain a few things to you here.. First of all if the Packers were not going to let a future Hall Of Famer like Favre who had been in their system for 15 years, and led the Packers to the NFC championship game last year compete for the starting time. What in the hell makes you think you will walk into camp and compete for the starting job in Green Bay?

Secondly, Big Ben is the starter in Pittsburgh. Once again you are not going to walk into camp and compete for the starting job there. This is a year where there were very few starting jobs available. Culpepper has not been the same since he had major knee surgery in 2005. My number one question when discussing Culpepper and his career is this. Would Culpepper have the stats in yards, and touchdowns had he not had Randy Moss on the receiving end of his passes for most of his career? I think not. Just my opinion though. I fully understand that in Culpeppers mind, he is a starting quarterback in this league, how do I know that.. well because he told me so. He made the comment a few weeks ago, “If there are any teams out there that need a pro-bowl quarterback to help them win, let me know”.

Culpepper is one of the few players who hasn’t had an agent. He represents himself.

“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.”

Seems like a temper tantrum to me. Once again just my opinion you think this is bad, you should read his retirement email to the commissioners office. That’s right, I said retirement email. See below

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. 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 back-up 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.

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 that my opportunity would come when a quarterback gets hurt. I cannot remember the last time so many QB’s 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. 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. 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. I want to thank my family and my fans for their unwavering belief in me as a person and a player. I embraced both the peaks and the valleys of the game and my career. I am a better person today as a direct result of the experience of playing in the NFL. I can now focus on the enjoyment of watching some of the greatest athletes in the world play the game I love without the distraction of waiting for those elusive return phone calls. Thankfully,
Daunte Culpepper

*shakes head*