The return of Daunte Culpepper

Well, it lasted all of six weeks . . . his retirement, that is:

The former Pro Bowl quarterback, who announced plans to quit football in early September after being frustrated over not finding work in the NFL, said Thursday he's considering a comeback. But he didn't reveal which teams may be interested in his services.

"A number of teams have contacted me since my retirement announcement and have provided some important information that has caused me to reconsider returning to the league," Culpepper, who serves as his own agent, wrote in an e-mail. "As much as I have enjoyed my brief break from playing, I know that I love the game and I have some unfinished business in the NFL."

One of those teams was the Kansas City Chiefs, who contacted Culpepper but wound up signing former Jacksonville backup Quinn Gray.

Culpepper was the Minnesota Vikings’ first-round draft choice in 1999, became their full-time starter a year later, and teamed with Randy Moss to form one of the NFL's top duos. But Culpepper suffered a major injury to his right knee in October 2005, ending his time in Minnesota. He failed to regain past form during brief stints with the Miami Dolphins and Oakland Raiders.

As I said at the time he announced his retirement:

Culpepper could have played several more years, certainly long enough to re-establish his reputation and be rewarded with a contract more to his financial taste. His negotiations on his own behalf were sometimes breathtakingly audacious, but rarely successful. There is a reason why most professional athletes use agents . . . and this is an illustration of what can happen when one choses not do do so. Specialists too often feel that their skills and abilities in their specialty also make them equally skilled in other, often unrelated areas (and the narrower the speciality, the more common this weakness appears to be). Culpepper was a top-notch NFL quarterback, but not a very good agent at all.

Sadly, he's still trying to cut out the middleman and act as his own agent. That's, to be polite, ill-advised.

I hope he does find a team in need of his services, and that he can regain his pre-injury form.