Story originally printed in the La Crosse Tribune or online at www.lacrossetribune.com
Published - Saturday, June 16, 2007
Dave Myers column: Maybe Vikings were right about Culpepper and Moss
Over the past couple of years the people in the Minnesota Vikings’ front office have received a great deal of criticism for some of their personnel decisions. Among the most controversial: trading the two most dynamic players on the roster, Randy Moss and then Daunte Culpepper the following year. Well the time has come for the naysayers — myself included — to enjoy a nice big serving of crow.
The Culpepper move happened after he had just suffered a devastating knee injury and was insistent on the fact that his 10-year $100 million contract was woefully inadequate. As a matter of fact, his contract proved to be the only thing Culpepper was willing to discuss with new Vikings coach Brad Childress.
The hobbled QB rejected numerous overtures from Childress to discuss Minnesota’s new offense. Instead Culpepper apparently preferred to discuss the manner in which the team could make right the terrible injustice that was his $100 million deal.
Not only was Culpepper physically incapable of playing, his erratic behavior suggested that he wasn’t mentally ready to play either.
Somehow the front office folks in Winter Park convinced the Miami Dolphins that a second-round draft pick was a reasonable price to pay for a mentally and physically damaged QB. In return Culpepper started four games for Miami last year leading the Dolphins to a robust 1-3 record as he piled up two touchdown passes and three interceptions. And for this Montana-like performance Miami paid Culpepper $8 million.
In a move as surprising as the sun rising in the East, the Dolphins have traded for 37-year-old quarterback Trent Green to replace Culpepper. Miami is expected to grant the still-injured Culpepper his release any day now. Is it possible that Childress and Co. weren’t the clueless band of fools that everyone thought they were?
Fans and media alike were right to question the organization’s thinking on the Moss trade. For all of Moss’ faults — real and perceived — he was the most dangerous offensive player in the NFL and had been since the first moment he stepped on the field as a rookie in 1998. But the Vikings saw what would become clear to the rest of the NFL, that it wasn’t Moss’ allegedly flawed personality that was cause for concern, rather it was his deteriorating health.
In 2004, Moss’ final year with Minnesota, the mercurial wide receiver’s nagging injuries limited him to just 49 receptions down from the previous year’s 111. And despite the obvious decline in performance Minnesota was able to convince the Oakland Raiders to part with starting linebacker Napoleon Harris and first and seventh round draft picks to secure the services of the one-time phenom.
While I think Moss is still one of the most exciting players in the NFL, the explosiveness that he brought to the field is no longer on display every week the way it was years ago. Case in point, Moss had 14 receptions of 40 yards or more during his rookie season in Minnesota, in the past two seasons in Oakland Moss had a total of five plays over 40 yards including just one last year. For this the Raiders paid Moss $15.5 million.
As a result of the dramatic drop off Moss was available to any team in the NFL willing to offer Oakland a fourth round draft choice.
There is no doubt Minnesota’s offense has struggled since Moss and eventually Culpepper were shipped out of town, but because of the enormous salary cap savings the Vikings were able to bring in free agents such as pro-bowl guard Steve Hutchinson and running back Chester Taylor. The added flexibility also helped the team to extend the contracts of some of their best young players in pro-bowl defensive tackle Kevin Williams and Serena Williams’ boyfriend Bryant McKinnie, who plays left tackle for the Vikings in his spare time. By the way, Minnesota should look into securing the rights to any offspring this colossal coupling potentially produces.
But even if the Serena & Mount McKinnie union doesn’t bear fruit for the Vikings, their decision to part ways with Moss and Culpepper already has.
Incidentally, does anybody know what kind of wine goes best with crow?
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