CULPEPPER RETIRES

Free-agent quarterback Daunte Culpepper, who allowed us to post his open letter to the NFL community only six days ago regarding his effort to land with a team, has decided to retire. Culpepper's retirement letter, which he sent to us and other media outlets on Thursday morning, is right here. "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," Culpepper wrote. "I would rather shut the door to such 'opportunity' than continue to wait for one of my fellow quarterback's 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 Vikings and coach Dennis Green picked Culpepper with the eleventh overall selection in the 1999 draft, even though Randall Cunningham had posted one of the best single-season passing performances in league history the prior season. Whenn Cunningham was benched during Culpepper's rookie, the duties when to Jeff George, who led the Vikings to the playoffs with one of the most underrated single-season passing performances in league history. The next year, George signed with the Redskins and Green tried to get Dan Marino to put off retirement for a year and join the Vikings. When Marino declined, Culpepper got the job. Despite concerns about whether he was ready to play, Culpepper led the Vikings to a 7-0 record in 2000. A three-game losing streak to end the regular season forced the Vikings to go on the road for the NFC title game, where they were crushed by the Giants, 41-0. The next two years, Culpepper regressed from the 98.0 passer rating posted during his first full year as a starter, and the Vikings generally struggled. In 2003, the Vikings seemed to turn the corner, but still missed the playoffs. His best year came in 2004, when he churned out a 110.9 passer rating and led the Vikings to the divisional round of the playoffs. After that season, the Vikings traded receiver Randy Moss, putting the team squarely in Daunte's hands. In 2006, with former offensive coordinator Scott Linehan taking the same position in Miami, the Vikings limped to a 2-4 record, and Culpepper regressed again. On October 30, his career was forever changed when he was hit low while running for a first down. Three knee ligaments were torn, and his season and his tenure in Minnesota was over. After the final regular-season game, coach Mike Tice was fired. The ugliness of the Love Boat incident (which resulted in disorderly conduct charges against Culpepper and other players) combined with disagreements with the new coaching staff regarding his rehabilitation resulted in a trade to the Dolphins, who picked Culpepper over Drew Brees. Playing for a head coach whose heart wasn't in the pro game on a knee that likely wasn't ready to withstand the week-in, week-out grind of an NFL season, Culpepper played in the first four games of the season only during his lone year with the team. Then, the Dolphins held his rights deep into the summer, releasing him at a time when it was too late for him to get up to speed with a new team. He signed with the Raiders, and started six games for one of the more talent-challenged franchises in the league. He got only a few sniffs in free agency, Green Bay in April and Pittsburgh in August. Some will surely wonder whether Culpepper is serious about his decision. If, for example, the first two quarterbacks on a team's depth chart blow out their knees in September, would Culpepper refuse a chance to play?