An Open Letter from Daunte Culpepper

by frankrmineo on Aug 29, 2008 2:43 PM EDT Comment 10 comments

Profootballtalk.com is a website that I read everyday, multiple times per day. It is an interesting site that provides in depth coverage of every NFL team in a timely and fun manner.

I had to post this link from the site here today. It is an open letter from Daunte Culpepper. In the letter Culpepper clears up one thing that would be of interest to Steelers fans.

The larger issue that I wanted to bring up was do you think that Culpepper is being blackballed by the league since he has decided to not hire an agent? He represents himself which is something that very few other NFL players do. It is certainly a move that will save the player lots of money, but also may cost the player just as much money if he is not able to negotiate for the best deal. Agents may not appreciate a high profile player representing themselves as it could become a trend and effect agent's ability to earn money. It could be possible that agents are talking to the NFL teams and badmouthing Culpepper since he doesn't have an agent.

Representing yourself is something that I doubt would be possible for many players in the NFL or any sport really. It is a difficult task that is highly involved, time consuming, and could potentially jeopardize your ability to be financially stable in the future.

Anyways, I thought I would post something a little off-topic, but it still does relate to Steeler Nation.

Happy Friday-

frank

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Daunte

I don’t think they’re black balling him at all. The Steelers brought him in for a workout and he wanted to compete for a starting job. He doesn’t want to do anything but start and that may cost him sitting at the house until a team get decimated with injuries at QB. It happened last year in Carolina and it’ll happen somewhere this year.

His biggest problem isn’t being his own agent, it’s his inability to accept that he’s a borderline starting QB (I’m sure some wouldn’t even got that high) in the this league and miles upon miles from the MVP candidate that his was just three or four years ago.

Revenge of the Birds

by cgolden on Aug 29, 2008 2:53 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Did you read what he said in the article?

by frankrmineo on Aug 29, 2008 3:01 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I read it, and I don’t see anything other than his decision not to take an offer on the table that is keeping him from playing. If he wanted to play more than he wanted to make $5 mil this year, he should have accepted it and moved on. He isn’t the player that he was, nor is he the player that he thinks he is. His last probowl was 04. Thats 3 seasons ago, which is equivalent to an epoch in NFL years. Every year since then, his completion percentage and yards/game have gone down.

What does he really think he is worth? He’s an aging QB on the downside of his career. I don’t care if he reps himself, but I think there’s a reason that 99.95% of the rest of the NFL doesn’t. If he really is being blackballed, then that’s wrong and it should be stopped, but when I see a car stopped at a stop sign, the first thing I think isn’t that there is an unseen force holding it there. I think it’s just stopped.

Guns don't kill people. Lamar Woodley kills people.

by BostonWahoo on Aug 29, 2008 3:11 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I read it after you left this comment and I still believe the exact same thing

If he wants more than the vet minimum with guarantees, he better start learning how to pitch. He’s not going to get a guaranteed contract in the NFL any time soon and every day that passes makes it even less likely. He’s trying to change the culture of the NFL and the way that they do business. Can Daunte FREAKING Culpepper do that?

Also I don’t care that he says this:

For the sake of clarity, I never told anyone in Pittsburgh that I wanted to compete with Ben Rothlisberger for his job. This is an example of misrepresentation or misinformation.

Is big capitalized, block letters when three sentences after that he asks:

Why was I not given the chance to compete for a job?

The guy is a has-been and he’s the only one that hasn’t realized it.

Revenge of the Birds

by cgolden on Aug 29, 2008 3:19 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Hey, I agree with you, I just thought it was intersting to read a players point of view. It is rare that we actually get such an insight into a situation from the players point of view.

by frankrmineo on Aug 29, 2008 3:24 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

yea I wasn't trying to rail on you

It’s just aggravating to me that he thinks he’s still a good player in this league. The truth is if he had been willing to take the vet minimum and play for a team with serious QB questions, he’d probably play his way into a decent contract.

Revenge of the Birds

by cgolden on Aug 29, 2008 3:41 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

If he hadn’t gotten so upset about his contract in Minnesota, he’d probably have come back from his injury and still be there. He just sounds like someone who thinks the general “way of doing business” shouldn’t apply to him. For years in the NFL, veterans who had lost their starting job have taken what is offered, and if they perform well, they move on and get a better deal. His letter makes it sound like his 10 year, $102M deal was somehow unfair. What he apparently didn’t understand was that the incentive for the team to keep him had a lot to do with how early it was in that deal. Unless he had no signing bonus, which I have a hard time believing.

by WolfpackSteelersFan on Aug 29, 2008 4:02 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

Exactly

Hindsight is 20/20, but once it was obvious no team wants him right away as a starter, he should be happy to use any offer to raise his stock. He’s missed an opportunity to show his skills during the preseason. Maybe he’ll still end up ahead, but that seems unlikely to me.

by zacharai on Aug 29, 2008 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

article

makes it sound like we offered Culpepper, which would mean we offered him before Leftwich, but then Culpepper said no, so we took Leftwich, who WAS willing to play for the vet minimum. The Steelers have salary cap issues (we are very close to the limit) so we couldn’t afford much more than the vet minimum, as such, we probably didn’t see a big enough difference between Lefty & Culpepper for a BACKUP position, to bother paying more money for Culpepper. That said, I don’t think Culpepper feels like he got black-balled in Pittsburgh, I think he is just responding to the notion among fans.

by TheMostViolentTeam on Aug 29, 2008 3:36 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I didn’t mean blackballed in pittsburgh, more that is he being blackballed by the league as a whole, since he has chosen to go against the grain and not hire an agent.

by frankrmineo on Aug 29, 2008 3:57 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs