Daunte Culpepper: Passing along a legacy of futility

Daunte Culpepper and the Detroit Lions were a good fit, which is to say both were bad off when they joined limited forces on Nov. 4.

Culpepper was frustrated and recently retired after two trying seasons in Miami and Oakland. The Lions were frustrated and had lost Jon Kitna for the season.

Two desperate parties decided to come together on a two-year deal.

Culpepper is a three-time Pro Bowl player, even if his last visit to Hawaii came at the end of the 2004 season, his last before a devastating knee injury changed the course of his career and the Vikings' future at quarterback.

As for the Lions, well, let's just say the bar isn't exactly high for quarterbacks in Detroit. The Lions have had two quarterbacks make a combined four Pro Bowls in their 75-year history.

Hall of Famer Bobby Layne made it from 1952 to 1954. Greg Landry made the last appearance in 1972 -- five years before Culpepper was born.

In the 26 seasons since 1972, the Lions have had 20 different quarterbacks throw at least 86 passes in a season. Culpepper -- who is 46-for-91 (50.5) for 566 yards, three touchdowns and six interceptions -- is the most recent.

Vikings quarterback Gus Frerotte is the last quarterback to lead the Lions to the playoffs. He started six of nine games and a playoff loss to Washington during the 1999 season.

"I enjoyed my time there," Frerotte said. "I liked our team."

Asked why he was in Detroit only one season and why the Lions haven't been able to find stability at quarterback in decades, Frerotte just shrugged.

"I have no idea," he said. "It was obviously a quick stop for me."

Even by Lions standards, the 2008 season has been disappointing.

Culpepper started five days after he signed with the 0-8 Lions. He's now 0-4 as a starter for the 0-12 Lions, who play host to Culpepper's first NFL team, the Vikings, on Sunday at Ford Field.

"I'm happy to be playing; I'm happy to be in the fight, but it's all about winning," Culpepper said. "I want to win some games. With that being said, I'm just working, man. Just got my head to the grinding board and working."

In October, Culpepper was coaching his 6-year-old son, Chay, in football. Chay's team was undefeated. Dad's team seems destined to become the NFL's first 0-16 team.

Not so, says dad.

"If you feel like the losing can't seem to stop, then you are in the wrong place," Culpepper said. "I feel like it can be stopped. I think it's all about us as players doing something about it to stop it. This is a great challenge, but I'm up to it. I think we can do it."

The Lions haven't had a winning season since 2000. They've won one playoff game since 1957, and that win came Jan. 5, 1992, or 191 months ago today.

To pinpoint the reason behind the losing trend, one doesn't have to stray too far from the quarterback position.

The Lions have tried everything and failed. They drafted Chuck Long 12th overall in 1986. They drafted Andre Ware seventh overall in 1990. They drafted Joey Harrington third overall in 2002. They signed Scott Mitchell as a free agent in 1994.

Nothing worked. And now it's Culpepper's turn.

Kitna likely has played his last down with the Lions. And coach Rod Marinelli almost certainly will be replaced at the end of the season. So Culpepper essentially embarks on a final month of live auditioning for a coach whose identity no one knows.

"What really jumps off the charts [about Culpepper] are two things to me," Marinelli said. "One is leadership. He has got a special ability to rally a bunch of guys. Then his talent is special. He has got a cannon and he still has got good feet."

Culpepper is trying to prove that his right knee, which suffered three torn ligaments during the seventh game of the Vikings' 2005 season, is sound. He has played only 15 games since that injury and has run the ball 36 times for 76 yards, a 2.1-yard average. In his last healthy full season, 2004, Culpepper made the Pro Bowl while running the ball 88 times for 406 yards (4.6).

Culpepper said he doesn't feel much different today than he did in 2004.

"I still feel I'm the same guy inside that has that burning desire to win and to make plays and do what I got to do to win," he said. "That's how I've always been since my first day in Minnesota and that's how I'm going to continue to be until my last day and even my last play. I'm going to work to be the best that I can be and to make this team the best that it can be for as long as I'm here."