Daunte Culpepper retires from NFL
"Farewell NFL," he wrote.
With that, a career once filled with such promise came to a most unceremonious end.
Culpepper, who starred for the Minnesota Vikings before a major knee injury in 2005 curtailed his career, announced his retirement in an e-mail Thursday morning, saying he's simply grown tired of fighting for one more opportunity.
The 31-year-old was the Vikings' first-round draft choice in 1999, became their full-time starter a year later, and teamed with Randy Moss to pile up yards and touchdowns at an impressive rate.
But he hurt his right knee in October 2005, never played for the Vikings again, and never seemed to return to his past level, either.
"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. "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."
— Getting sacked seven times in his first home game, where fans booed him by halftime.
— Walking off the field during minicamp in June 2007 because the Dolphins wouldn't let him play, and flanked by a team security official.
Last season, the Oakland Raiders took a shot on Culpepper, and he made five starts there, albeit only getting five touchdown passes in those games. And over the past few months, he tried to get any opportunity around the league, even saying just last week that he'd be willing to be Aaron Rodgers' backup in Green Bay.
There were no takers, and Culpepper saw no reason to keep waiting.
"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.
In Minnesota, Culpepper's decision was met with disappointment, even though he hadn't played there for years.
"Very surprising. Surprising that he hasn't gotten a job, too. Sad," Vikings safety Darren Sharper said. "Last year I didn't think he played bad in Oakland. I've seen quarterbacks that are still playing in this league today play a lot worse. ... And they still have jobs. So I don't know the reason for it."
