Jan. 21, 2009
ORLANDO, Fla. (UCFAthletics.com) - With 15 players suiting up for various teams in the National Football League, UCF led all other Conference USA schools in 2008. Today, we look at former quarterback Daunte Culpepper.
In 1999, Culpepper became UCF's highest drafted player when he was selected 11th overall by the Minnesota Vikings.
After learning the system his rookie year, Culpepper took over the reigns of the offense in 2000, and amassed nearly 4,000 yards through the air while collecting 33 touchdowns en route to the NFC Championship Game. Culpepper also found success out of the pocket, scrambling for 470 yards and seven touchdowns. The former Knight would earn his first Pro Bowl nod at the end of the season.
Culpepper's best statistical campaign came in 2004, when he passed for a league-leading 4,717 yards and totaled 41 scores. The 5,123 yards that Culpepper threw and ran for broke Dan Marino's NFL record for combined passing and rushing yards in a season. Culpepper would go on to earn his third Pro Bowl selection and finished second in the Most Valuable Player voting to Peyton Manning, who broke Dan Marino's NFL record for passing touchdowns in a season. Culpepper would go on to play for the Miami Dolphins and Oakland Raiders.
After announcing his retirement from football during the 2008 season, and returning to the Orlando area, Culpepper received a call from the Detroit Lions and returned to the league in November.
Culpepper's college career began with the former Vanguard (Ocala, Fla.) High School standout choosing to attend UCF over the likes of the University of Miami, and the University of Florida.
In his four-year career at UCF, Culpepper rewrote nearly all of the school's quarterback records and finished his career with 12,459 total yards and 108 career touchdowns. Culpepper turned down the NFL for one last season at UCF and helped lead the team to a 9-2 record. In his final season, the former Knight broke the NCAA single-season completion percentage competing 73.6% of his passes. The previous record was held by Steve Young of BYU (71.3%). The record-breaking season also helped Culpepper finish sixth overall in the Heisman Trophy balloting.
Tomorrow we look at former UCF safety Atari Bigby of the Green Bay Packers.