Beyond the Fantasy of Football:
The Daunte Culpepper Experience
Posted: 12/12/2007
For us, fantasy football coaches everywhere, the game of football means
something a little different. For some of us, it is the feeling of being
a NFL owner or coach, if only in fantasy. For others it’s the competition
amongst friends and for others still, perhaps just a way to further immerse
ourselves into the game that we love.
Most of us can remember when we first found fantasy football and, no doubt, most of us can’t see ourselves without it, whether in-season or in the off-season. In fact, for us hard core fantasy fans, the off-season is just an extension, a gateway if you will, of the regular season that allows us to bide our time until kick-off of the next season. In the time following the Super Bowl, many things can occupy our time. There is analysis of the current year’s rookies-to-be, the NFL draft, fantasy rookie drafts, OTAs, mini-camps, training camps, pre-season and, finally, kick-off in early September. It is, after all, the circle of football (queue the Lion King music).
For those coaches that have migrated to a dynasty format, we know there is no going back. We know that there is no level of competition, complexity or format that can match the dynasty experience. The ability to draft, trade or otherwise acquire a player and own them for as long as you see fit simply adds another level to the experience. But beyond the assembly of your team, there is an attachment each of us can sometimes have to a player(s) that transcends the game and perhaps even embodies the game itself.
For me, it is/was Daunte Culpepper.
I first drafted C-Pep in 1999 in the 9th round as part of a 3-keeper format. He, along with Edgerrin James (from the same draft), eventually, helped secure my first championship within that format. But along the way, I grew very attached to Pep. His enthusiasm, never-say-die attitude, intensity … and his character as a player, quickly embodied fantasy football for me. When he would get his signature “roll” on, I was right there with him. It wasn’t long before I was wearing his jersey, ordering signature memorabilia and drafting him in other leagues.
In my first dynasty league, I was crushed when, in the early third round, a coach took Pep one selection before I was to select him. From that moment, unknown to the coach that owned him, a plan was on to return him to his rightful team … at any cost. Where once there was pure objectivity in player selection, there existed now a subjective, almost obsessive, attachment to a single player. Luckily, this attachment was to a player that could take over a game … especially in that I also had taken Randy Moss in the 2nd round of that same draft.
When Moss was traded to Oakland, I grieved. Not so much because of the situation that Randy found himself in, but because much of Culpepper’s performance was seemingly tied to the “freak”. When the love boat scandal surfaced, I was infuriated with the Viking’s organization and fans for their lack of support to what should have been largely a non-event. When Pep shredded his knee and was subsequently traded to Miami, my disgust of the Vikings ownership, coaching staff and fan base rose accordingly. When Miami treated him with such disrespect, I privately wished for them not to win a single game in the following year (granted?).
Culpepper returned to Miami in a Raider uniform in week 4. That particular week, there was no question as to who my signal caller would be … after all, it was a matter of principle. What followed was an inspired performance in which Pep through for 2 TDs and ran for 3 more. With each run into the corner of the end zone, his eyes burned with satisfaction, his roll was on and he made sure that no question remained as to the status of that once shredded knee. And each time, I rose from my couch, actual tears welling in my eyes. After all, I had waited a long time for such a return of, this, the embodiment of the game that I love so much.
Sadly, this week I dropped my beloved Daunte, replaced with one Kyle Orton, to whom I have no attachment, no emotional connection with nor any real expectation of. “How has it come to this?” I have asked multiple times. This AM when scanning the transactions of our league’s weekly waiver wire process, I could only stare, dumbfounded, at the screen exclaiming “Dropped Daunte Culpepper, Added Kyle Orton”. Did I actually do it? Could I take it back?
With that single transaction, somehow, a small part of my fantasy soul was dropped as well. My team lost character, definition, identity. A part of me, for a moment, lost all desire to play fantasy football again, it just doesn’t seem right somehow. Daunte transcended the game for me. To the question of “why” or “how” I really don’t have an answer, it just is. And make no mistake about this fact: Regardless of his role, team or position on the depth chart, I will remain, in my estimation at least, his biggest fan.
It does not escape my eyes when watching Pep take his drop that he is moving at half speed, but I still see that same fire and determination in his eyes, that rocket arm and that desire to be young again. I see that need to prove his doubters grossly wrong and to show the world that the Daunte Culpepper of old is only waiting for the next opportunity.
Perhaps he will be given that opportunity next year. But if, when, he does, it most likely won’t be with me as his “coach”. Regardless of his status in our league if that time does indeed come, I will be right there with him, off my couch … getting my roll on, tears welling in my eyes.
Goodbye Daunte … hello Kyle Orton.