Blast(s) From The Past

This week, news reports have been circulating that Daunte Culpepper, former quarterback for the Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins, and (most recently) Oakland Raiders, has been working out for the Detroit Lions, and Detroit coach Rod Marinelli is considering Pep to replace the struggling Dan Orlovsky.  Gus Frerotte is the starting QB for the Vikings.

In other news, Scott Linehan (former Vikings and Dolphins offensive coordinator and Rams head coach) sits unemployed.  Brad Childress is (still) the Head Coach of the Vikings.

To me, those two paragraphs above make about as much sense as the phrase "jumbo shrimp".  The Vikings desperately need some consistent offense, right?  Well, here's the simple solution...bring back both Linehan (Head Coach) and the Pepper (QB).  Now, before you start calling me crazy, just hear me out:

Daunte Culpepper made his entrance into the NFL in 2000 and, thanks largely to a supporting cast of Cris Carter, Randy Moss, Robert Smith, etc. lead the Vikings to the NFC championship game.  In 2001 Pep was dogged by injuries, leading to the failed Spergon Wynn experiment.  In 2002, Daunte had arguably his worst season as a pro, as he absolutely could not hold on to the ball and set new records for fumbling that will likely never be broken in the history of the NFL.  However, 2002 also marked the first year that the Vikings employed Scott Linehan as offensive coordinator.  After just one rough season under Linehan, the pair clicked in a big way in 2003-2004, when Culpepper was arguably the best QB in the NFC, setting team records (eclipsing even Fran Tarkenton in most categories) at an astounding pace.

In 2005, though, both player and coach went their separate ways.  Linehan could not be "afforded" by Red McCombs' razor-thin budget (unless you were a used car you didn't get much attention from 'ole "Purple Pride") and went to Miami, where he turned an abysmal offensive unit to a respectable group under QB Gus Frerotte (I bet you've heard of him!).  He then gained a Head Coach position with the Rams, where he was penalized by previous coach Mike Martz, whose unadaptable offense and stubbornness ran St. Louis into the ground.

Culpepper's 2005 got off to a shaky start without Linehan calling the plays in, then Pep torn pretty much everything there is to tear in one of his knees.  He feuded with new Head Coach Childress over his rehab location (Pep wanted Florida, Chilly wanted Winter Park), bounced from unemployed to Miami to unemployed to Oakland to unemployed to retired to his current undecided status.  All reports on him say that his knee is finally healed and, while he has nowhere near the mobility he once showed, he still has a great arm and is an inspired leader.

Thus, what I propose is to reunite Linehan and Culpepper here in Minnesota ASAP.  One seems to need the other (especially Pep needing Linehan) to achieve success, and both are currently looking for employment.  Sure, I may be a bit biased due to the fact that Pep was my all-time favorite Vikings player, but I think he would bring some excitement to the team that we haven't seen since, well, since he left, to be honest.  I always admired Daunte for his leadership skills, as he never blamed another teammate or sulked when things were going poorly.  In fact, when he got in trouble (especially with his fumbles) is when he tried to do too much for the offense, a problem he wouldn't have here in MN, what with AP in the backfield.

Does the idea sound crazy?  Yes.  However, remember one thing...in 2004, the Vikings had arguably one star player in Randy Moss and still made the playoffs (and won a game) with the likes of Ontarrio Smith, Michael Bennett, Marcus Robinson, Kelly Campbell, and Nate Burleson.  In 2008, the Vikings have Adrian Peterson and a similar cast of average players that just need the right coach and the right QB to pull the trigger.  Childress and Frerotte are not who I want behind that gun.