Daunte Culpepper, Gus Frerotte and the Detroit Lions collided in dramatic fashion five years ago. The results were familiar, two Vikings victories, but it triggered an anti-Pepper movement with the Purple Faithful that was never fully eradicated.

On Sept. 21, 2003, Culpepper left in the middle of the second quarter of a game at Ford Field. Frerotte led the Vikings to a 23-13 victory. Among his accomplishments was throwing down a sideline for 72 yards to Randy Moss.

Two months later, the Vikings were in the Metrodome and trying to break a four-game losing streak. The home team won by a deceptive 24-7. The final 17 points came in the final three minutes, first with a tiebreaking Aaron Elling field goal, and then on interceptions for touchdowns by Corey Chavous and Brian Williams.

There were frequent boos for Culpepper and also a lusty "We want Gus" chant.

Five years later, the Dome crowd has its man Gus, and Culpepper is scrounging up a job as the backup to Dan Orlovsky with the winless Lions.

What most football fans in these parts choose to forget is that Culpepper followed the raucous 2003 with one of the greatest seasons for a quarterback in NFL history. In 2004, he completed 69.2 percent of his passes. He threw for 4,717 yards with 39 touchdowns and 11 interceptions. He ran for 406 yards and two more touchdowns.

Associated Press, Star Tribune
Former Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper was, said former teammate Cris Carter, the "least confident great athlete" Carter had been around.

Not everyone was convinced. You still could receive e-mails from Vikings fans questioning Daunte's instincts, his intelligence and giving all credit for his success to Randy Moss.

Those people have had the privilege for several years to thump their chests and say they were right all along.

Of course, the folks continuing to enjoy Culpepper's fall are sadists. They also are wrong in saying Daunte was never that good, since for that 2004 season, he was better than any Vikings quarterback in history -- Fran Tarkenton included.

What took Culpepper from greatness as a 27-year-old to finally finding employment this week as a 31-year-old backup with the woebegone Lions?

There are a few things that came together to put him in this position -- and most occurred during in 2005:

• Cris Carter, the great Vikings receiver and a man who roots for Culpepper, once said in a moment of candor that Daunte was the "least confident great athlete" he had been around.

Culpepper was tremendous in the exhibitions leading to the 2005 season. The schedule opened with a home game against Tampa Bay. The mediocre offensive line was now worse, with center Matt Birk gone for the year. Daunte also was missing Scott Linehan, the offensive coordinator in whom Culpepper had a great belief.

Monte Kiffin, the Bucs' crafty defensive coordinator, threw some of his best stuff at Culpepper and the quarterback had a clunker of game. There was an immediate slippage in confidence, and no Linehan around to help get it back.

• Culpepper was extremely proud of his good guy image. Then came the bye week in early October. The Love Boat scandal surfaced with Culpepper in the middle of it.

This left people making jokes and laughing at him, which was harder for Daunte to take than the boos.

• The Vikings were 2-4, Culpepper had only one solid game in those six, and then he blew out his right knee in a 38-13 loss to Carolina. So, there you had the elements for failure: Poor play behind a porous line. No coordinator in whom he believed. First an image and then a knee destroyed.

And there was one more: The fact he signed a contract after the 2002 season that sounded big -- $102 million -- but contained way too little guaranteed money started to drive Culpepper nuts after his giant 2004 season.

He demanded more money before showing up in 2005 training camp. He still wanted to talk money in January 2006, when he should have been talking rehabilitation and football with new coach Brad Childress.

Clearly, the mind of the self-anointed "Jedi Knight" had gone over to the dark side. Culpepper failed in Miami, failed in Oakland and failed as his own agent.

Detroit has him now. If the Lions consider him as a starter for the future, they should do themselves a favor and make this hire for 2009: Linehan as offensive coordinator.

Whatever happens, 'til then I'm with Cris Carter -- still rooting for Culpepper to find more rewards as a quarterback.

Patrick Reusse can be heard weekdays on AM-1500 KSTP at 6:45 and 7:45 a.m. and 4:40 p.m. • preusse@startribune.com