cnyphinfan
Starter
and I thought you guys would like to read it!
I never thought that I would see the day when a writer for Sports Illustrated, my favorite magazine, would put personal feelings above the facts. Your story is deficient in many respects, some more glaring than others. First of all, in your statement “he can't even show up for his own press conference (although I'll grant that the Dolphins' media-controlling head coach Nick Saban certainly orchestrated that move)â€Â, you dispute one of your own reasons for his immaturity in the same sentence! Nick Saban never has introductory press conferences with his newly acquired players and he alone decides when his players communicate with the press. So he is immature because he is following his coach’s direction? Second, you make it seem as if there is some long-term question regarding Culpepper’s ability to recover from his knee injury. And you base that fact because Al Davis did not want him in Oakland? I don’t remember Al Davis being a savvy NFL executive for quite some time…. However, I do believe that Saban has shown that ability, because he was scared enough from the team’s injury assessment of Drew Brees that they backed off of him, so it is ludicrous to believe that he did not do the same thing with Culpepper and decided that he was the option that was more worth the risk. There is always a risk when coming back from injury, but to base how serious the injury is on Oakland’s appraisal is foolish. Just to let you know, the media in Miami today reported that Culpepper worked with the team today and was participating in throwing drills. The third point that you try to make is the fact that Culpepper even if healthy may not succeed because he does not have Randy Moss or Scott Linehan. I thought as a journalist, that you had to look deeper than the surface to discover the truth. If you would have done so, you would have realized how many factors contributed to the team’s poor start and Culpepper’s poor showing statistically. For starters, name one Pro Bowler on that offense, other than Culpepper. It wasn’t that Daunte didn’t have Moss; it was that he didn’t have anyone. Starting running backs – Moe Williams, Mewelde Moore or Michael Bennett? Not exactly Hall of Famers to hand the ball off to. As for wide receivers, Daunte had to pick between Nate Burleson, Marcus Robinson, Travis Taylor and Koren Robinson. None of those wide receivers were ever more than No. 2’s in their career, and they were no threat on the field. Their biggest weapon was their tight end, Jermaine Wiggins. This is not even considering the fact that the defense was one of the worst in the league over the first six or seven games and that the Vikings routinely found themselves behind by large deficits early in games, which required more focus on the pass. And let’s not kid ourselves, the Vikings lost to Tampa Bay, Cincinnati, Atlanta and Chicago in those first six weeks, not exactly slouches. And aside from Daunte’s bad game in Cincinnati, where he found himself in a 34-0 deficit in the 2nd quarter and he threw five INTs, his numbers were not bad considering he was carrying the team all by himself. When he played more inferior teams like New Orleans and Green Bay, he played extremely well. He had less than stellar performances at Chicago and at home against Tampa Bay, but with those defenses, it is a little understandable considering the lack of talent around him. As far as Brad Johnson is concerned, there is not anyone who watched that team when he took over that believed that they were more explosive, but they did get back to the basics, and their defense vastly improved over the second half of the season. If anything, Culpepper is guilty of trying to do too much to help his team. In Miami, he gets everything that he did not have in Minnesota. He will benefit from a strong leader in Nick Saban, who knows what he wants from his players and puts them into a position to succeed. The Minnesota situation was in shambles, with the off-the-field issues and a new coach coming in. Just look at the state of that team now, the coach will not shut up about the trade, trying to discredit Daunte and make it seem like they were correct to give up a top 5 player when healthy at the most important position for a 2nd round pick, instead of focusing on his team, many of whom wanted Daunte to be their QB. In Miami, he also receives the weapons that were taken away from him in Minnesota. Chris Chambers, while not at the level of Moss, continues to improve and went to his first Pro Bowl and has put up strong numbers despite playing with sub par quarterbacks. When you add in Marty Booker, you have two WRs who are far superior as a unit to whoever trotted out there for Minnesota last year. Add Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams (pending resolution of the suspension issue), and you have two potential 1,000 yard running backs who will allow Miami to have balance. And just for good measure, let’s throw in Randy McMichael, who will put up significantly greater numbers with a QB that loves to throw to the tight end. When you look at the whole situation, you see that there will be no excuses for Daunte not to get back to his 2004 form; it will just be a matter of getting on the field and doing it. I look forward to reading this article again when he has successfully reclaimed is position as one of the league’s premier quarterbacks! It will be worth little more than it is now, because at least then it will provide a good laugh!
I never thought that I would see the day when a writer for Sports Illustrated, my favorite magazine, would put personal feelings above the facts. Your story is deficient in many respects, some more glaring than others. First of all, in your statement “he can't even show up for his own press conference (although I'll grant that the Dolphins' media-controlling head coach Nick Saban certainly orchestrated that move)â€Â, you dispute one of your own reasons for his immaturity in the same sentence! Nick Saban never has introductory press conferences with his newly acquired players and he alone decides when his players communicate with the press. So he is immature because he is following his coach’s direction? Second, you make it seem as if there is some long-term question regarding Culpepper’s ability to recover from his knee injury. And you base that fact because Al Davis did not want him in Oakland? I don’t remember Al Davis being a savvy NFL executive for quite some time…. However, I do believe that Saban has shown that ability, because he was scared enough from the team’s injury assessment of Drew Brees that they backed off of him, so it is ludicrous to believe that he did not do the same thing with Culpepper and decided that he was the option that was more worth the risk. There is always a risk when coming back from injury, but to base how serious the injury is on Oakland’s appraisal is foolish. Just to let you know, the media in Miami today reported that Culpepper worked with the team today and was participating in throwing drills. The third point that you try to make is the fact that Culpepper even if healthy may not succeed because he does not have Randy Moss or Scott Linehan. I thought as a journalist, that you had to look deeper than the surface to discover the truth. If you would have done so, you would have realized how many factors contributed to the team’s poor start and Culpepper’s poor showing statistically. For starters, name one Pro Bowler on that offense, other than Culpepper. It wasn’t that Daunte didn’t have Moss; it was that he didn’t have anyone. Starting running backs – Moe Williams, Mewelde Moore or Michael Bennett? Not exactly Hall of Famers to hand the ball off to. As for wide receivers, Daunte had to pick between Nate Burleson, Marcus Robinson, Travis Taylor and Koren Robinson. None of those wide receivers were ever more than No. 2’s in their career, and they were no threat on the field. Their biggest weapon was their tight end, Jermaine Wiggins. This is not even considering the fact that the defense was one of the worst in the league over the first six or seven games and that the Vikings routinely found themselves behind by large deficits early in games, which required more focus on the pass. And let’s not kid ourselves, the Vikings lost to Tampa Bay, Cincinnati, Atlanta and Chicago in those first six weeks, not exactly slouches. And aside from Daunte’s bad game in Cincinnati, where he found himself in a 34-0 deficit in the 2nd quarter and he threw five INTs, his numbers were not bad considering he was carrying the team all by himself. When he played more inferior teams like New Orleans and Green Bay, he played extremely well. He had less than stellar performances at Chicago and at home against Tampa Bay, but with those defenses, it is a little understandable considering the lack of talent around him. As far as Brad Johnson is concerned, there is not anyone who watched that team when he took over that believed that they were more explosive, but they did get back to the basics, and their defense vastly improved over the second half of the season. If anything, Culpepper is guilty of trying to do too much to help his team. In Miami, he gets everything that he did not have in Minnesota. He will benefit from a strong leader in Nick Saban, who knows what he wants from his players and puts them into a position to succeed. The Minnesota situation was in shambles, with the off-the-field issues and a new coach coming in. Just look at the state of that team now, the coach will not shut up about the trade, trying to discredit Daunte and make it seem like they were correct to give up a top 5 player when healthy at the most important position for a 2nd round pick, instead of focusing on his team, many of whom wanted Daunte to be their QB. In Miami, he also receives the weapons that were taken away from him in Minnesota. Chris Chambers, while not at the level of Moss, continues to improve and went to his first Pro Bowl and has put up strong numbers despite playing with sub par quarterbacks. When you add in Marty Booker, you have two WRs who are far superior as a unit to whoever trotted out there for Minnesota last year. Add Ronnie Brown and Ricky Williams (pending resolution of the suspension issue), and you have two potential 1,000 yard running backs who will allow Miami to have balance. And just for good measure, let’s throw in Randy McMichael, who will put up significantly greater numbers with a QB that loves to throw to the tight end. When you look at the whole situation, you see that there will be no excuses for Daunte not to get back to his 2004 form; it will just be a matter of getting on the field and doing it. I look forward to reading this article again when he has successfully reclaimed is position as one of the league’s premier quarterbacks! It will be worth little more than it is now, because at least then it will provide a good laugh!
