What is the recurring word that you constantly hear while following the NFL quarterbacks? ‘A player has been injured!’ Injury is the most common theme in the lives of the players and has the capability to ruin someone’s career! While some players are able to get themselves back on the field after a gap, others might not be that lucky. Culpepper had the share of both sides of the extremes. He lost his mojo after experiencing a devastating knee injury.
In the 1999 NFL Draft, the UCF quarterbacks were taken by the Vikings with the eleventh pick. Culpepper, during his time as a Viking, made a record-breaking career by overthrowing the great Randy Moss.
Byron Leftwich
Don’t you remember Leftwich for the famous playing-with-a-broken-bone incident? Mostly known for making a mark at Marshall, the world remembers Leftwich today for brave-heartedly finishing a drive while their shin bone had been cracked! In his bid against Akron, he made sure that the people did not forget him too soon. However, if you are an ardent follower of the NFL, you would, of course, know that injuries are an inherent part of the players’ lives in the NFL quarterbacks.
Jacksonville took him as a seventh overall in the 2003 NFL Draft. Though he was a part of Jacksonville for the entire four seasons, his luck had been hard on him, and he could never play a full season due to several injuries. When he left the Jags, Leftwich had been summoned by various teams. One among these was Pittsburgh, for whom, in 2009, he had even won a Super Bowl ring as a backup.
Never Realy Said Goodbye
Leftwich did not leave football entirely and became a coach afterward. He built up his career in Arizona as a quarterback coach intern. His luck shone within a span of one year; Leftwich was offered the position of a full-time coach.
As a successful coach, his testing time came when, on 10th April 2018, Josh Rosen was drafted by the Cardinals as the tenth overall. It rests upon Rosen’s career now, which will determine whether Leftwich will be considered for the head coaching position.
He Almost Crumbled
His career had such an uplift at this time that he became a cover athlete for Madden 2002. But as the saying goes, Madden cover invariably comes with a Madden curse, and Culpepper’s performance had a severe downfall during the 2002 season. Once more, during the 2005 season, he failed to make a mark with his performance when his knee had to bear the brunt of one of the worst injuries in the history of the NFL! Due to a tackle by Chris Gamble, Culpepper’s knee bone almost crumbled to dust, and this naturally forced QB to miss out on the rest of the season. However, after this destructive injury, he has struggled to maintain his form and could never perform in more than six matches in a season.
Not only did he have to face numerous injuries, but there was also much opposition from the authorities side as well for Culpepper. As a last resort, he tried to claw back into the game by signing with the Sacramento Mountain Lions of UFL. Though he tried his best, this could not give him his prior place, and no NFL team offered to take him again. Culpepper’s life after retirement was not easy either. He lost one of his grand mansions, located in South Florida, in a foreclosure agreement and also had to do away with his eponymous restaurant in Florida.
Rex Grossman
In Super Bowl XLI, the world got divided. In their opinion, the Chicago Bears were defeated by the Indianapolis Colts. While half of the people went crazy over Peyton Manning having his first Super Bowl victory, the other half (mostly Chicago fans) hated the match because of the rain, turning it into a sloppy one! Most of the people detested Bear’s QB Rex Grossman’s performance, so much so that they threw an interception that ultimately sealed the game.
Though he played for nearly six seasons for the Bears, Grossman has only near about sixteen full games to his credit. Many people referred to him as Rex Glassman since he had severe durability issues. He could not hold himself together when the Bears took the decision to move on from their 1st round project. After the Texans signed him, Grossman moved to Washington.