Daunte Culpepper Should Have Sucked It Up and Swallowed His Pride

At one time, Daunte Culpepper was the prototype of the NFL QB of the future. His size, strength, and speed, along with his quarterbacking abilities, made him one of the most gifted quarterbacks in the game.

He put up some great years with Minnesota and seemed to be the face of the franchise. However, when his knee completely blew out, his career as one of the top 10 QBs in football came to an end.

Though he attempted a comeback in both Miami and Oakland, neither stint fared well for him. He had offers this season to play with the Packers and the Eagles. However, Culpepper turned both teams down because he did not want to be a backup. This selfish nature cost him a chance to revitalize his career.

In the NFL, backup QBs are never guaranteed to ride the bench the whole season. Many QBs get their starting jobs by taking over for injured QBs. It's not even true that these backup QBs always lose their jobs the next year.

Here are some of the notable QBs who rose to prominence as backups taking over for injured players:

David Garrard starts for the Jaguars in Week Eight, taking over for an injured Byron Leftwich. Though he did not start the whole year, the next season he became the undisputed starter and led the Jaguars to a playoff victory.

Marc Bulger takes over for two injured QBs (Kurt Warner and Todd Martin). He has been one of the most productive QBs in the league for the past five years.

Tom Brady takes over for an injured Drew Bledsoe. 'Nuff said.

Kurt Warner takes over for Trent Green, who went down in the preseason. Warner goes on to be the Super Bowl MVP, throws for almost 100 TDs in his three seasons in St. Louis, and is still good enough to start. Not bad for a guy who was bagging groceries.

Doug Williams becomes the Redskins' starter after Schroeder goes down with an injury. He wins Super Bowl XXII and is named MVP, making him the first black QB to win an NFL title

Daunte Culpepper's situation reminded me mostly of Doug Williams's situation. Williams had played football for eight years before joining the Redskins. He was drafted 17th overall in the 1978 draft and also started in the USFL.

However, when the USFL folded, Williams found himself out of a job. Instead of quitting, Williams sucked up his pride and agreed to be a backup in Washington. When he got his opportunity, he took advantage of it.

Daunte Culpepper had a great chance to do what Williams did by accepting the deal to go to Green Bay. Aaron Rodgers has a history of injury problems. In his first NFL season, it will be difficult for him to stay healthy all 16 games.

Rodgers is also an unproven commodity. Who knows if he can play well enough for the Packers to be successful?

Daunte would have been the next in line if Rodgers couldn't play. He wouldn't have had to hope to play as a third string QB a la Mike Bulger. He would have easily been ahead of Matt Flynn and Brian Brohm.

Secondly, he wouldn't have to have been a superstar on the team to be successful. The team has a good running back and a solid defense. All they need is someone who can move the chains, get first downs, and someone with playoff experience. These are all things Culpepper has.

I hope that Culpepper doesn't influence kids who want to become players in any sport. Instead of sucking up his pride and grinding it out until he got another chance, he quit. I have never supported a quitter. Culpepper is only 31 years old and still has good years ahead of him. Instead he will be like us, watching football on Sunday wishing he could be out there.