A poor knee had left the Danish native unable to find football work in 2008. From AP-
Kicker Morten Andersen, the NFL’s career-leading scorer, is retiring because of knee problems.
The 48-year-old Dane, who scored 2,544 points during his 25-year career, played for the Atlanta Falcons the past two seasons but wasn’t able to get a contract this year. Andersen said Monday he has given up his search and his NFL career.
Morten Andersen cited old knees and lack of a contract Monday when announcing his retirement in his native Denmark.
He kicked for five NFL teams in 25 years, including 13 seasons for the New Orleans Saints, eight for the Falcons, two for the Kansas City Chiefs and one season each with the New York Giants and the Vikings.
A Copenhagen native, Andersen went to the United States in 1977 as an exchange student and played at Michigan State.
It happened during yesterday’s game against Green Bay.
Minnesota Vikings cornerback Charles Gordon was carted off the field in the second quarter against Green Bay after a gruesome ankle injury that occurred on a punt return.
Minnesota Vikings cornerback Charles Gordon was carted off the field in the second quarter against Green Bay after a gruesome ankle injury that occurred on a punt return.
Here’s a You Tube video of the play.
Fox refused to show the play again after a break. Huh? Football is a violent sport and honestly I’ve seen worse football injuries.
The evening news is more graphic than what happened yesterday. But Fox can’t upset those sensitive football viewers. What’s wrong with this picture?
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — Karl Kassulke, a former Pro Bowl safety with the Minnesota Vikings whose career ended when he was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident, has died from a heart attack, the team confirmed on Tuesday. He was 67.
Kassulke died in his Eagan home on Sunday. He spent all 10 years of his career with the Vikings from 1963-72. Considered one of the hardest-hitting defensive backs in franchise history, Kassulke started in the 1970 Super Bowl loss to Kansas City and was named to the Pro Bowl the following season.
“He would come up on you no matter who you were and clean your clock,” said former defensive end Jim Marshall, one of the famed Purple People Eaters. “He would hit anytime and anywhere. He was without fear as a player.”
But the popular player’s career was cut short just before training camp in 1973 when he was paralyzed in a motorcycle accident that left him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. His wife, Sue, was a nurse who helped him through his rehab, and he was married to her for 33 years.
Kassulke is survived by his wife, their son Chris, two older sons, Kurt and Kory, and three grandchildren.
I still remember Hilgenberg, Alan Page, Carl Eller and other members of the Purple People Eaters. There have to be many others besides myself who got enjoyment out of watching the Vikings play. RIP Wally.
MINNEAPOLIS — Former Minnesota Vikings linebacker Wally Hilgenberg died after a battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease Tuesday. He was 66.
Friend and former Vikings tight end Stu Voigt said Hilgenberg died peacefully, surrounded by his family, at his Lakeville, Minn., home.
“He’d say, ‘It’s not when you go, it’s where you go,’ ” Voigt told The Associated Press. “He handled these last six months with a lot of dignity.”
Hilgenberg played in college at Iowa, then spent 16 seasons in the NFL, including 12 with the Vikings from 1968 to 1979. Hilgenberg was a solid member of a feared defense that led the Vikings to four Super Bowl appearances.
Overshadowed by the Purple People Eaters playing in front of him, Hilgenberg started 116 games of the 157 he played for Minnesota, tied for 21st on the franchise’s career games played list.
Hilgenberg led the team in total tackles with 110 in 1971, and his 13 combined tackles at Chicago on Oct. 23, 1972, remains tied with Scott Studwell for the most by a Vikings player in a game. He ranks 12th on the team’s all-time tackles list with 739.
Voigt and Hilgenberg met when Voigt joined the Vikings in 1970. Hilgenberg was already with the team, and because of their positions on opposite sides of the ball, the two “literally ran into each other every day for years” during practice, Voigt said.
“We were teammates and friends from the very start,” Voigt said.
Voigt said Hilgenberg made him and other members of the team better players, but that Hilgenberg’s strong faith and community involvement also made them better people.
“We were back in the era when athletes were role models,” Voigt said. “He was a role model for myself and a lot of other guys.”
Hilgenberg was active through his religious affiliations, in charity events and in his community. He was also an avid outdoorsman, Voigt said.
After the Vikings, Voigt and Hilgenberg remained friends and ran banking and real estate businesses together.
Voigt said the last few months were rough. Hilgenberg was in a wheelchair, crippled from the effects of Lou Gehrig’s disease, also called amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. ALS damages the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, eventually leading to death.
“It takes away your body,” Voigt said of the disease. “But I could tell the mind was there, and the twinkle in his eye. … He was really quite a guy.”
He is survived by his wife, four grown children, and several grandchildren. Funeral arrangements were pending.
In the NFL since 1999, Culpepper last played for the Oakland Raiders. From AP-
Daunte Culpepper, unable to land a starting or backup job this offseason, announced his retirement at the age of 31.
Culpepper had one-year offers from the Green Bay Packers and Pittsburgh Steelers this offseason for backup jobs, but didn’t find those offers suitable. Though his surgically reconstructed knee was healthy and his arm still strong during visits to those teams, Culpepper decided to end his career.
“After taking a long look at my career and my personal convictions, I have decided to begin early retirement from the NFL effective immediately,” Culpepper said in an e-mail.
“Since the beginning of training camp, I was told my opportunity would come when a quarterback gets hurt. I cannot remember the last time so many quarterbacks have been injured during the preseason,” Culpepper said. ” I have been strongly encouraged from family, friends and league personnel to continue to be patient and wait for an inevitable injury to one of the starting quarterbacks in the league.
The 11th pick in the 1999 draft, Culpepper played nine seasons for three teams — the Minnesota Vikings, Miami Dolphins and Oakland Raiders. His best days were in Minnesota where he established himself as one of the league’s top quarterbacks.
During his career, Culpepper completed 1,867 of 2,927 passes for 22,422 yards and 142 touchdowns. His career quarterback rating was a lofty 89.9. His best season was in 2004 when he threw for 4,717 yards and 39 touchdowns for the Vikings.
But he blew out his knee the next season, and his career wasn’t the same afterwards.
That didn’t prevent the Miami Dolphins from throwing away a 2nd round pick on Culpepper, when Drew Brees was available also. We all know what happened after that deal. Culpepper played just four games in a Dolphin uniform before being benched. He was released in early 2007.
Culpepper was a rarity in the NFL in that he represented himself rather than hire a agent. Good luck in retirement Daunte.
Former Dallas Cowboys offensive lineman Frank Cornishdied in his sleep Friday night. He was only 40.
Cornish, an offensive lineman, played for five NFL teams during a six-year career that started in 1990 when he was a sixth-round pick out of UCLA by the San Diego Chargers. He played with the Cowboys on Super Bowl-winning teams in 1992 and 1993, starting five games.
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“The Bruin family sends our deepest, heartfelt sympathy to the Cornish family,” said UCLA head coach Rick Neuheisel, a Bruin assistant for most of Cornish’s college career. “I was a coach when he was a player, and he was just a gifted guy. Frank was a great guy in the locker room and a huge personality and a fun guy to be around.”
Cornish’s father, Frank played in the NFL in the late ’60s and ’70s.
Frank Cornish IV is survived by his wife, Robin, three daughters and two sons.
White becomes the second member of the famed ‘Steel Curtain’ to die this year. Ernie Holmes was the other. I was a heavy football watcher in the 70′s and recall Dwight White very well. RIP.
PITTSBURGH — Dwight White, the Steel Curtain defensive end known as “Mad Dog” who helped lead the Pittsburgh Steelers to four Super Bowl titles in the 1970s, died Friday. He was 58.
The Steelers said White died at a Pittsburgh hospital. The cause was not disclosed. The team said White was released from the hospital after having back surgery, but then was readmitted with complications.
White is the second member of the original four-man Steel Curtain to die this year. Defensive tackle Ernie Holmes died Jan. 17 in a car accident in Texas.
White, a two-time Pro Bowl player, was chosen as one of the 33 members of the Steelers’ 75th anniversary all-time team last season.
White was best known for climbing out of a hospital bed to play in the Steelers’ first Super Bowl victory, 16-6 over the Minnesota Vikings in 1975. White lost 18 pounds after being diagnosed with pneumonia and a lung infection, yet played nearly the entire game.
White made three tackles for no yards as the Vikings ran seven of their first eight running plays his way and went on to finish with only 17 yards rushing on 21 attempts. White also accounted for the only points of the first half when he sacked Fran Tarkenton in the end zone for a safety.
White, a former player at East Texas State (now Texas A&M-Commerce), gained his nickname because of his intensity. He often said that playing on the defensive line was like having “a dog’s life.”
Steelers chairman Dan Rooney said that inner drive was the reason the 6-foot-4, 250-pounder could play so well only hours after being hospitalized.
“He played with a relentlessness that led us to four Super Bowl titles in the 1970s,” Rooney said in a statement. “Dwight refused to be denied, as was evidenced when he walked out of the hospital with pneumonia to play in Super Bowl IX and had an outstanding game. Dwight will be remembered by those who knew him even more for being a wonderful and caring person.”
Rooney’s son, Steelers president Art Rooney II, said the organization “lost an important member.”
“He always seemed to rise to the occasion when it counted most and added an element of toughness that was synonymous with our teams of the 1970s,” Rooney II said.
According to a Los Angeles Times survey in 2006, one-fifth of the former NFL players from the 1970s and 1980s who died through that year were former Steelers.
White was a fourth-round draft pick in 1971 after being a first-team All-Lone Star Conference player and team captain at East Texas State as a senior.
White made his first Pro Bowl in 1972, playing on a Steelers defensive line that also featured Hall of Famer Mean Joe Greene and defensive end L.C. Greenwood.
White repeated as a Pro Bowl selection in 1973 and his 46 sacks from 1971-80 are the seventh most in Steelers history. He had 33½ sacks from 1972-75, with three in the Steelers’ 21-17 victory over the Dallas Cowboys in the January 1976 Super Bowl.
White was chosen by The Associated Press as a first team All-AFC player in 1973.
White retired after the 1980 season — one of the first players from the Steelers’ Super Bowl teams to do so — and became a prominent stock broker in Pittsburgh and one of the most successful former Steelers in the business world.
Most recently, he was senior managing director of public finance for Mesirow Financial in Pittsburgh. Before that, he was a partner and principal operator of the Pittsburgh office of W.R. Lazard & Co., plus a company board member, and worked for investment firms Balche-Halsey and Daniels & Bell.
The gang at ESPN has ranked all 32 NFL teams. Here’s the top 10 (final 2007 rankings in parenthesis):
1 (1) Patriots 16-0-0 A healthy Tom Brady and a happy Randy Moss make the Patriots championship contenders this season and for years to come. (MS)
2 (2) Colts 13-3-0 They haven’t had a lot of offseason turnover and they already were very good. Continuity means a lot. (PY)
3 (6) Chargers 11-5-0 If the Chargers can get over their injury issues, they could be in the Super Bowl mix all the way to Tampa. (BW)
4 (3) Cowboys 13-3-0 Felix Jones should help the running game immediately. But who will emerge as the No. 2 receiver? Patrick Crayton wasn’t up to the task in late ’07. (MM)
5 (4) Jaguars 11-5-0 They sometimes get overshadowed by division rival Indianapolis, but the Jaguars have an elite roster and an elite coach in Jack Del Rio. (PY)
6 (9) Giants 10-6-0 Teams other than the Patriots aren’t supposed to repeat as Super Bowl champions. Will Michael Strahan retire? Can they compensate for free-agent losses at LB? (MM)
7 (8) Steelers 10-6-0 A very strong draft catapults the Steelers into Super Bowl contenders. RBs Willie Parker and Rashard Mendenhall should be one of the best 1-2 punches. (JW)
8 (7) Seahawks 10-6-0 New O-line coach Mike Solari stands out as the Seahawks’ top offseason acquisition, perhaps allowing them to keep their edge in the NFC West. (MS)
9 (13) Browns 10-6-0 The 2007 darlings face high expectations. The offense will score. Can the D, anchored by additions Shaun Rogers and Corey Williams, hold up its end? (JW)
10 (5) Packers 13-3-0 This is an unpredictable team in the wake of the retirement of Brett Favre. Who will step up and make the big plays this year? (JW)
Dropping the Packers, were 13-3 and lost in the NFC Championship game to #10 seems about right. After all, they lost one of the best quarterbacks in League history to retirement. But how do you justify dropping the team that beat them, along with the #4 ranked Cowboys and the #1 ranked Patriots on their way to winning the Super Bowl down to 6th place? Even if Strahan retires, they still have the most dominant defensive front in the League and Eli Manning should only get better.
I like the Cowboys’ chances at #4, though, especially since that puts them as the favorite team to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. They’re a deeper team than the Giants, I think, and have really shored up their defensive backfield with the Pacman Jones trade and the drafting of Mike Jenkins and Orlando Scandrick. But the Giants deserve to be considered the team to beat.
EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. — The Minnesota Vikings want Kenechi Udeze to focus on his fight against leukemia and not worry about his financial situation.
The defensive end was placed on the reserve-non-football-illness list Friday, coach Brad Childress announced. That makes him ineligible to participate in the 2008 season, but guarantees him his $807,500 salary for the year. Udeze revealed two weeks ago that the cancer was in remission, and that his older brother has matching bone marrow for a pending transplant.
“He can focus on getting well. He’s done a great job with that so far. He’s been positive. He’s been upbeat,” said Childress, who praised owner Zygi Wilf for the decision.
Since the cause of Udeze’s illness is not football related, the Vikings were under no obilgation to pay his salary for 2008.
Udeze signed a five-year contract as a first-round draft pick out of Southern California in 2004 and will be a free agent next March. Once the season is over, Childress said the Vikings will revisit Udeze’s status.
A very nice humanitarian gesture by the Vikings ownership and management. As a fellow cancer survivor, I wish Udeze good luck in his battle against leukemia. My half sister Patty is also a leukemia survivor.
With the 2008 NFL Draft in the books, draft grades already turned in, and long months ahead before the first meaningful — or even meaningless — games, what’s an NFL fan to do? Start thinking about the 2009 draft, of course.
1. Atlanta Falcons — Fili Moala, DT, USC
Atlanta finally gets its playmaking interior defensive lineman. Moala has flown under the radar to this point but he should emerge from the shadow of 2008 No. 7 overall pick Sedrick Ellis and become one of the elite defenders in college football this fall.
2. Detroit Lions — Michael Johnson, DE, Georgia Tech
Coach Rod Marinelli’s defense is predicated on speed up front, and Johnson is blessed with plenty of that. Johnson was overlooked while playing in a rotation last season, but it won’t take long for the rangy edge-rusher to make his mark in 2008.
3. Kansas City Chiefs — Matt Stafford*, QB, Georgia
Another injury-plagued and disappointing season out of fragile QB Brodie Croyle will force the Chiefs to address the position with this high draft pick in 2009. If the supremely talented Stafford continues to progress as he did last fall, he could easily emerge as a top-five pick next April.
4. Miami Dolphins — Al Woods, DT, LSU
At 6-foot-4 and 320 pounds, Woods is a physically imposing defensive tackle with enough size and strength to anchor the middle of a 3-4 defense.
5. Cincinnati Bengals — Sen’Derrick Marks*, DT, Auburn
The Bengals got shut out in their pursuit of an elite defensive tackle in this year’s draft, but 2009 will be more kind. Marks is an undersized playmaker with the first-step quickness to disrupt as a 3-technique tackle, which is exactly what Marvin Lewis’ defense needs along its front.
6. Oakland Raiders — Andre Smith*, OT, Alabama
Smith stepped in immediately as the Tide’s starting left tackle and continues to improve with more coaching and game experience. The Raiders could enlist a player with his kind of skills to take care of their most recent first-round investments in QB JaMarcus Russell and RB Darren McFadden.
7. Chicago Bears — Tim Tebow*, QB, Florida
It’s almost certain that the Bears will need a quarterback come next offseason. Unfortunately, next year’s crop of signal-callers does not look promising at this point. Bears fans won’t be thrilled if the team uses a high pick on another Gators quarterback following the failed Rex Grossman experiment, but Tebow’s unique blend of skills and rare intangibles might be too good to pass up. Should Tebow elect to leave school early, however, his uncommon skill set could make him the most difficult prospect at any position to grade.
8. San Francisco 49ers — Michael Oher, OT, Mississippi
Oher, who possesses the size and athletic ability to develop into an upper-echelon starting tackle in the NFL, would make an ideal bookend opposite 2007 first-rounder Joe Staley.
9. St. Louis Rams — Rey Maualuga, ILB, USC
Maualuga is the top senior prospect on my 2009 draft board at this insanely early point in the process, although he wouldn’t be the first senior off the board. I’ve never seen a defensive player take over a game the way Maualuga did versus Illinois in the Rose Bowl, and his recognition skills are clearly catching up with his rare physical tools.
10. New York Jets — Knowshon Moreno*, RB, Georgia
Moreno burst onto the scene as a redshirt freshman in 2007 and he should build on that momentum as a first-year starter behind a more mature offensive line during the upcoming season. The Jets were not able to land McFadden in this year’s draft but Moreno would be worth the wait if he’s available in 2009.
11. Tennessee Titans — Michael Crabtree*, WR, Texas Tech
Do not pigeonhole Crabtree; he’s not just a product of coach Mike Leach’s pass-crazy offense. The tall, long-armed receiver could be the go-to-target QB Vince Young so desperately needs.
12. Houston Texans — Malcolm Jenkins, CB, Ohio State
Jenkins made a wise decision to return as a senior. He needs to improve his footwork and overall man-to-man cover skills to prove to scouts he’s capable of playing corner in any scheme at the next level. Regardless, the Texans could use his ball-hawking skills in their secondary, no matter whether it’s at cornerback or safety.
13. Denver Broncos — James Laurinaitis, ILB, Ohio State
Laurinaitis surprised many NFL scouts when he elected to return to Columbus for his senior season. Assuming he continues to make progress in 2008, there’s no reason to believe he will fall out of the top 20 picks in next year’s draft. The instinctive, high-motor inside linebacker would be a nice addition to a Denver defense in search of more stout defenders up the middle.
14. Baltimore Ravens — Vontae Davis, CB, Illinois
The Ravens need an upgrade at corner and a young playmaker like Davis, who possesses rare athleticism for his size, would be an ideal fit.
15. Philadelphia Eagles (from CAR) — Darrius Heyward-Bey, WR, Maryland
The Eagles failed to land a go-to-receiver in the 2008 draft (no, DeSean Jackson does not qualify). Instead of going the free-agent route to land a weapon for veteran QB Donovan McNabb, they might as well use one of two first-round picks in ’09 on a future primary target for future QB Kevin Kolb.
16. Arizona Cardinals — LeSean McCoy*, RB, Pittsburgh
After Arizona failed to find a complement for Edgerrin James in this year’s draft, the Cardinals’ need at running back will be far more pressing in the spring of ’09. McCoy is a supremely talented sophomore who is draft eligible after spending a year in prep school, and he is reportedly already eyeing the 2009 draft.
17. Buffalo Bills — Travis Beckum, TE, Wisconsin
Beckum could emerge as a top-20 pick if he can add 10-15 pounds to his frame while maintaining his big-play ability as a receiver during his senior season.
18. Philadelphia Eagles — Phil Loadholt, OT, Oklahoma
After failing to land one of the record-setting seven offensive tackles selected in the first round of this year’s draft, coach Andy Reid will be craving a big fella like Loadholt in 2009.
19. Washington Redskins — Greg Hardy*, DE, Mississippi
Hardy is flying under the radar right now despite notching 10 solo sacks the past two seasons, and the Redskins will be looking for a young pass-rushing threat after failing to land one during the latest draft.
20. Minnesota Vikings — Percy Harvin*, WR/RS, Florida
Staying healthy for a full season would all but guarantee Harvin a spot in the first round of the NFL draft, either next year or in 2010.
21. Tampa Bay Buccaneers — Ciron Black, OT, LSU
The Bucs will be looking to enlist the services of a talented left tackle prospect such as Black, who displays quick feet for a 6-5, 315-pounder.
22. Green Bay Packers — Max Unger, OT, Oregon
Unger, who projects as a first-day pick in next year’s draft, is the type of versatile lineman the Packers typically covet.
23. Cleveland Browns — Ricky Sapp, DE/OLB, Clemson
Sapp is an up-and-coming talent with outstanding speed and pass-rushing potential. He should fit perfectly as a rush linebacker in a 3-4 scheme like the one employed in Cleveland.
24. Seattle Seahawks — Duke Robinson, G, Oklahoma
The Seahawks are still looking for a long-term solution at left guard, so why not use this pick on the player who is at this point the top prospect at that position.
25. Pittsburgh Steelers — Tyson Jackson, DE, LSU
Jackson is among the elite senior defensive prospects right now but that might not hold up for 12 full months, as he’s simply not a great fit for every team’s defensive scheme. At 6-5 and 290, Jackson is best suited to play defensive end in a three-man front like the one employed in Pittsburgh.
26. New Orleans Saints — Gerald McRath, OLB, Southern Miss
The Saints will be looking for an injection of youth and athleticism at linebacker and the speedy, undersized McRath falls in line with that objective.
27. New York Giants — Brandon Spikes, ILB, Florida
The Giants could use a quick and powerful tackling machine like Spikes after failing to address that need early in the 2008 draft.
28. Jacksonville Jaguars — William Moore, S, Missouri
Moore emerged as a playmaking machine in 2007, when he notched 114 tackles and eight interceptions. At 6-1 and 215 pounds he could be the versatile strong safety Jacksonville needs opposite FS Reggie Nelson.
29. Indianapolis Colts — Vance Walker, DT/DE, Georgia Tech
Walker has the right blend of tools to provide depth along the interior of Indianapolis’ quick-but-undersized defensive line.
30. San Diego Chargers — Auston English, DE/OLB, Oklahoma
English is an instinctive, high-motor player with very good speed and fluid hips for a young defensive end. He already has experience dropping into coverage on zone-blitz looks within Oklahoma’s complex defensive scheme.
31. Dallas Cowboys — Demetrius Byrd, WR, LSU
Wide receiver is the one area Dallas did not address during an otherwise promising 2008 draft. Byrd has a lot to prove as a senior but he certainly has the blend of size and deep speed it takes to emerge as a first-round draft pick.
32. New England Patriots — Brian Cushing, OLB, USC
The Patriots continue a recent trend of drafting linebackers by using this selection on the versatile Cushing. The 6-5, 248-pounder has experience on the strong side and as a rush linebacker, which will be attractive to a New England coaching staff that likes versatility in its linebackers.
This, of course, is a silly exercise, in that we don’t know how the 2008 NFL season is going to turn out, which means we don’t know what order teams will pick, and that college players rise and fall dramatically over the course of a year. Brian Brohm, for example, went from a probably first overall selection to a mid-2nd rounder. But, hey, it’s entertaining if nothing else.
