Former Minnesota Vikings quarterback typed up his own retirement announcement and withdrew from his NFL career on Thursday, mere hours before the new season kicked off with a Thursday night game. As has been typical of his career since just before leaving Minnesota, Culpepper blamed everyone but himself.
“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,” Culpepper said. ” … 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.”
There were juicy backup jobs Culpepper could have had in either Green Bay or Pittsburgh, had he been willing to accept league minimum and a backup role; but because he chose to act as his own agent, he had no one to advise him to take the spot and rebuild his career.
Instead, Culpepper’s days in the NFL end at the age of 31, with him never really proving himself following the career split with the Vikings and Randy Moss. Time for the disposable diapers to be put in storage at NFLPA HQ.
