The 31 year-old 3 time Pro Bowler, Daunte Culpepper has retired effective today.
After only 4 years removed from a 4,717 yards with 39 touchdowns
season, Culpepper wants to move on with his life. He feels not that his
best days are behind him but rather the NFL is not giving him a fair
chance.
"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.", Culpepper said in an
issued statement.
Culpepper who was one of the best QB's in the league when he was
healthy does not feel that it is worth his time to wait around for a
phone call from an NFL team.
"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."
The fact is teams are not willing to take a risk on a older QB who has
limited ability due to a major knee injury. Pro Bowler or not, cannon
for an arm or not, one of the most exciting QB's to play the game or
not, the truth is the NFL does not care who you were only what you can
do for me today.
As of today, it does not seem the NFL cares about what Culpepper has left in the tank, but that doesn't seem to bother him.
"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."
On any given day I might disagree, but there is more to life than the NFL.