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Childress Traumatized by TO


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Childress has compared Culpepper to TO...

 

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Childress compares Culpepper to T.O.

Jon KIrawczynski, Associated Press

Last update: March 20, 2006 – 5:17 PM

 

Vikings, Culpepper couldn’t work out problems

Minnesota Vikings coach Brad Childress says he saw a little of T.O. in Daunte Culpepper. That was enough for him.

"It just became a deal where I didn't feel like it was the team, I felt like it was 'me,"' Childress said Monday about Culpepper. "I went through a big 'me' situation last year with a guy who was all about 'me."'

 

While still the offensive coordinator at Philadelphia, Childress clashed with Terrell Owens during training camp, the precursor to the mercurial receiver's high-profile exile from the Eagles.

 

Shortly after replacing Mike Tice as the head coach in Minnesota, Childress again found himself not seeing eye-to-eye with one of the team's marquee players.

 

Culpepper refused to rehab his severely injured right knee in Minnesota, preferring to remain at home in Florida. He also asked for a raise and was hesitant to meet with Childress and the new coaching staff to start examining the team's new offense.

 

"I think we're just playing the ultimate team game and so everybody has to be on board," Childress said. "Specifically, the quarterback has to be on board because that's kind of the straw that stirs the drink, if you will. You have to feel that, it has to be ringing through. I didn't quite get it."

 

With neither side budging, the Vikings shipped Culpepper to Miami last week for a second-round pick, days after Culpepper requested to be traded or released.

 

"Quite frankly, I don't think he wanted to be here anymore," the coach said. "I think he's probably better served where he's at. I think that we'll go forward and keep our gaze forward as opposed to looking back."

 

Speaking at a Chamber of Commerce luncheon, Childress said he never got a good vibe from Culpepper, the unquestioned leader of the Vikings until last season's struggles on and off the field.

 

"Everything became about being a $10 million-a-year quarterback," Childress said.

 

Culpepper did not respond to an e-mail request for comment. Last week, he said he wanted to move forward with his new team.

 

"I wish the best for the Viking organization as they go forward under the new ownership group and coaching staff," he wrote in an e-mail to reporters last week.

 

Without Culpepper, the Vikings have turned to 37-year-old Brad Johnson as their starting quarterback. After Culpepper went down for the season against Carolina, Johnson helped the team to a 7-2 finish that was aided by an improved defense and soft schedule.

 

Childress said Monday he is off to a much better start with Johnson.

 

"I know where his heart is in no uncertain terms because he's told me that," Childress said. "He's looked me in the eye and told me that."

 

For now, Childress said, Johnson is the team's starting quarterback. But the Vikings could bring in a veteran free agent such as Aaron Brooks, Brian Griese or Joey Harrington.

 

And Childress didn't rule out trying to package the second-rounder the Vikings got from Miami to move up in the draft and take one of the marquee rookies — USC's Matt Leinart, Texas' Vince Young or Vanderbilt's Jay Cutler.

 

"If you have a little bit of ammo, if you see somebody that moves you, you'd be able to move up if that person was there," he said.

Edited by MikesVikes
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This story about a Viking coach and quarterback not getting along is a repeat of Tarkenton and Van Brocklin. Tarkenton was the quarterback of the Vikings and had had enough of Van Brocklin's drill seargant routine. Tarkenton declared that he was "retiring" from the team and he was traded to the Giants soon after. Van Brocklin was soon replaced by Bud Grant.

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I think this reflects poorly on Childress. He's a head coach, the unquestioned leader of the team. Him talking negatively about Daunte seems like sour grapes. Especially when you compare his comments with Daunte's parting words:

"I wish the best for the Viking organization as they go forward under the new ownership group and coaching staff".
Edited by Brentastic
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2 words overrated coach.

 

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I said that when they hired him. It seemed to me that Andy Reid ran the offense here in Philly and Childress was a glorified QB coach. I hope he finds success in Minnesota, but I do think he is a bit overrated.

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I said that when they hired him.  It seemed to me that Andy Reid ran the offense here in Philly and Childress was a glorified QB coach.  I hope he finds success in Minnesota, but I do think he is a bit overrated.

 

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That hire has Marty Morningweg written all over it.

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He's a head coach, the unquestioned leader of the team.  Him talking negatively about Daunte seems like sour grapes.

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I agree with this statement; there was no need to come out and say this. I think Childress is just trying blow some steam and get the reporters off his chest about last year and the past in general. This is a new team with new everything.

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Very intresting thought as well.

 

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Of course, that's ignoring the fact that prior to Owens/Culpepper having Childress issues, Owens had run-ins with apparent good guys Jeff Garcia, Steve Marriucci, and Ozzie Newsome.

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Childress is not Heads Coach material, the Vikes will see it soon enough.

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2 words overrated coach.

 

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I said that when they hired him.  It seemed to me that Andy Reid ran the offense here in Philly and Childress was a glorified QB coach.  I hope he finds success in Minnesota, but I do think he is a bit overrated.

 

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I agree if that is how he felt.  So he will ship off everyone he sees like that.

 

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Childress is not Heads Coach material, the Vikes will see it soon enough.

 

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An agreement :D

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Childress is not Heads Coach material, the Vikes will see it soon enough.

 

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I was happy when Green Bay "missed their shot" at Childress...

 

 

...of course, that was when I thought Jim Bates was the lock for the HC position. :D

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I'm willing to see what Childress has to offer as a Head Coach before passing judgement. Granted, Vikes fans will probably be quick to judge after a couple of games, but with all the years of Red, D.Green & Tice, I would think this HC hire as a positive move.

 

I do not think PHI offense has been great over the years, but who's to not say it was Andy making most of the bad decisions vs the OC.

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2 words overrated coach.

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Childress is not Heads Coach material, the Vikes will see it soon enough.

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:D Like anybody will have any clue as to whether he's a good Head Coach or not until after the first season is played out (or at least after the first snap for cryin out loud).

 

The guy came into a situation where the inmates were clearly running the asylum. He had to clean house and has done so effectively (most likely that is the first and most important trait the Wylf was looking for in a new coach). Culpepper was not just a part of the problem of the Vikings recent failures, he was the leader of the problems.

 

However Childress fails or succeeds from here on out, I will not second guess his getting rid of Culpepper.

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:D  Like anybody will have any clue as to whether he's a good Head Coach or not until after the first season is played out (or at least after the first snap for cryin out loud). 

 

The guy came into a situation where the inmates were clearly running the asylum.  He had to clean house and has done so effectively (most likely that is the first and most important trait the Wylf was looking for in a new coach).  Culpepper was not just a part of the problem of the Vikings recent failures, he was the leader of the problems. 

 

However Childress fails or succeeds from here on out, I will not second guess his getting rid of Culpepper.

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Good call, Savage. I think its odd that in most other posts, people are quick to call out TO(especially) and Daunte for being selfish a-holes. Yet, in here, people are questioning Childress because he stated that he thinks the WHOLE TEAM needs to be on the same page. Could it be that folks have just gotten used to picking on the Vikings? :D

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I was happy when Green Bay "missed their shot" at Childress...

...of course, that was when I thought Jim Bates was the lock for the HC position.  :D

 

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Me too. Where is Bates now?

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:D  Like anybody will have any clue as to whether he's a good Head Coach or not until after the first season is played out (or at least after the first snap for cryin out loud). 

 

The guy came into a situation where the inmates were clearly running the asylum.  He had to clean house and has done so effectively (most likely that is the first and most important trait the Wylf was looking for in a new coach).  Culpepper was not just a part of the problem of the Vikings recent failures, he was the leader of the problems. 

 

However Childress fails or succeeds from here on out, I will not second guess his getting rid of Culpepper.

 

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I never thought I'd read a string here that chastized a coach for getting rid of a "me" player. While Childress has a lot to prove before anyone annoints him the 2nd-coming of Woody Hayes, what he has done thus far is let the team know it is HIS team, and any malcontents can go play elsewhere.

 

Everyone agreed the Vikes needed to clean house. Problem #1 (Tice): gone. Problem #2 (Pepper): gone. Mini-Problem #3 (Bennett, who clearly had no supporters once Denny Green left): gone.

 

I'd say Viking management and coaching staff are doing a great job of starting over. It may be a season or two before these moves pay dividends....I hope the Viking faithful can endure a 6-10 season before these moves pay off. The guy deserves a chance to build a winner.

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I think this reflects poorly on Childress.  He's a head coach, the unquestioned leader of the team.  Him talking negatively about Daunte seems like sour grapes.  Especially when you compare his comments with Daunte's parting words:

 

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Here's an article I found today basically saying what I was saying about Childress - that he's a bad leader.

 

By Jeremy Green

Scouts Inc.

Archive

 

This offseason, the Vikings have an excellent new owner in Zygi Wilf, who has been busy making over the organization. First, he retained vice president Rob Brzezinski. Then, he hired a solid X's and O's head coach in Brad Childress, who is very detail-oriented. Finally, he brought in a young VP of personnel in Fran Foley, giving the Vikings a trio of executives who, for the first time in a long time, appear to have this franchise on the same page.

 

I say "appear" because the Vikings seemed confused in their handling of Daunte Culpepper's contract situation this offseason (Culpepper has since been traded to Miami). On one hand, we have Wilf being quoted as saying Culpepper never asked for more money. On the other hand, we have new coach Childress talking about Culpepper wanting to be "a $10 million-a-year quarterback." It seems the coach and owner were not on the same page on this one.

 

So why shouldn't we believe the hype now when talk centers around the Vikings being a potential playoff team in 2006? Aside from the fact they traded away a three-time Pro Bowl quarterback, the biggest reason is that their new head coach is showing his inexperience and is coaching with training wheels on.

 

Childress might have the football knowledge to be a good head coaching candidate, but he must not have been taking notes during all those Andy Reid press conferences, because it doesn't appear he knows how to manage a football team.

 

Childress was Culpepper's coach for roughly two months. But Cardinals QB coach Mike Kruczek (Culpepper's coach at Central Florida), Cardinals head coach Dennis Green (who drafted Culpepper) and former Vikings coach Mike Tice, who spent a lot more time with Culpepper than Childress did, have never had anything negative to say about the player. On the contrary, they consistently have talked about how great he was on the field, in the locker room and as a person off the field.

 

Entering last season, Culpepper ranked third all-time in passer rating (93.2), trailing only Steve Young (96.8) and Kurt Warner (95.7). Over the first five seasons of his career, he had the second-highest completion percentage in NFL history, behind only Warner. In 2004, he set the record for most yards from scrimmage by a quarterback (5,123), breaking a 20-year old record set by Hall of Famer Dan Marino.

 

So what is the real story here? Do Childress and Culpepper have some past history that might have predicted that they wouldn't get along?

 

After the 2003 season, when Culpepper was named the NFC starter in the Pro Bowl, the Eagles' coaching staff, with Childress having moved up to offensive coordinator, led the NFC squad. After a season in which Culpepper had thrown for 3,479 yards, 25 TDs, had a passer rating of 96.4 and a 65 percent completion rate, he played exactly five minutes in the Pro Bowl game. The fact that a player chosen by the fans, players and coaches to represent the NFC played only three series and only one quarter goes against the entire spirit of the game. It's possible that the 2003 Pro Bowl was the start of the problems for Culpepper and Childress.

 

Sources close to the situation have said that Culpepper requested a playbook from Childress this offseason and never received one. What kind of message does that send?

 

Whatever their past history, it's clear there was a rift between Culpepper and Childress.

 

Now, Childress can't seem to bash him enough. Over the past week, Childress has basically assassinated Culpepper's character in the media. He talked about Culpepper's contract demands, about Culpepper being a "me" guy and even compared him to former Eagles WR Terrell Owens.

 

All of Childress' comments came after Culpepper had been traded, and the AP quoted Culpepper as saying, "I wish the best for the Viking organization as they go forward under the new ownership group and coaching staff." I would hate to have seen Childress' response had Culpepper blasted the organization.

 

I'm not a head coach. I've never coached a day in my life. But I have been around the NFL my entire life and have been around some great coaches. I've been to hundreds of press conferences, and I've seen how different coaches handle different situations. There is a certain way you deal with touchy situations, and Childress is about to learn that lesson the hard way.

 

Childress never has been a head coach, either, and he was not even the primary play-caller in Philadelphia. Taking cheap shots at a player who had been the face of the Vikings for six years doesn't strike me as something an experienced head coach would do. Childress easily could have echoed Culpepper's positive comments, saying something like, "Daunte was a great quarterback for the Vikings, but we have opted to go in another direction. We feel like we received excellent value for him, and we hope to take that second-round pick and get ourselves an excellent football player. We wish Daunte all the best in Miami."

 

Instead he took two opportunities to rip the former Pro Bowl and franchise Vikings QB.

 

If Childress' goal were to get off to a rocky start with his new players, then mission accomplished. Culpepper always has been well-respected by the players in Minnesota and throughout the NFL. I can't imagine the Vikings players don't see what's going on or that it doesn't affect them to see their new head coach tear down a player many of them respected.

 

Childress might turn out to be a great head coach, but he might want to remember that in the coaching profession, you don't comment on other teams' players, and Culpepper is no longer his player. It's time for the Vikings' first-time head coach to grow up, take off the training wheels and get on the high road. Childress needs to become a leader within his organization, something he appears to have lost sight of in the Culpepper saga.

 

Jeremy Green has been an NFL scout for 10 years. Most recently, he was director of pro personnel for the Cleveland Browns.

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Good article. However, it is still just one side of a story that we may never know the whole truth about. As far a C-Pep not asking for a raise, it was reported many times that he did indeed ask for a raise. I saw an interview with C-Pep and he talked about the promise made to him the previous year and he felt the Vikings did owe him a raise (even thought he had a horrible 2005 and the Vikings had given him a raise coming off his fantastic 2004 season).

 

I will not defend Childress at this point as I have not seen him coach, but the man did coach a team that went to 4 straight NFC champ games and 1 Superbowl. I would think he had something to do with the Eagles success.

 

As far as Daunte, it is amazing how now that he is a Dolphin, people are forgetting all of the issues that he was criticized for over the last few years. 2 years ago, as the teams leader he couldn't lead Randy Moss and it was the opinion of many that Daunte gave the ultimatum of trade Randy or trade me. The Vikings went with Daunte and were rewarded with a horrible performance in 2005 that mercifully ended in the decimation of his knee. Then he refuses to rehab in Minnesota, asks for a raise, asks for a raise again, send some emails to the media, and demands to be traded. Great leadership there! Not to mention his leadership on the "love boat".

 

A new coach comes in and is now vilified for trying to clean house? Give the guy a break and at least let him coach a couple of games!

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