Brad Culpepper

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Brad Culpepper
No. 77, 73, 76
Position: Defensive tackle
Personal information
Date of birth: (1969-05-08) May 8, 1969 (age 54)
Place of birth: Tallahassee, Florida
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Career information
High school: Tallahassee (FL) Leon
College: Florida
NFL draft: 1992 / Round: 10 / Pick: 264
Career history
Career highlights and awards
Career NFL statistics
Games played: 131
Games started: 83
Tackles: 316
Quarterback sacks: 34.0
Forced fumbles: 6
Player stats at NFL.com
Player stats at PFR

John Broward Culpepper (born May 8, 1969), nicknamed Brad Culpepper, is a former American college and professional football player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for nine seasons during the 1990s and early 2000s. Culpepper played college football for the University of Florida, and was recognized as an All-American. Selected late in the tenth round of the 1992 NFL Draft, he became a consistent starter for the Minnesota Vikings, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Chicago Bears of the NFL.

Early life and family

Culpepper was born in Tallahassee, Florida in 1969.[1] He attended Leon High School in Tallahassee,[2] where he was a standout prep player for the Leon Lions high school football team.

Culpepper was born into a family of University of Florida alumni.[3] His father, Bruce Culpepper, was a center for the Florida Gators football team from 1960 to 1962 and co-captain of the Gators' 1962 Gator Bowl team, and became a prominent Tallahassee attorney.[3] His uncle, Blair Culpepper, was a Gators fullback in 1957 and 1958, and became a bank president in Winter Park, Florida.[3] His grandfather, J. Broward Culpepper, was also a Florida graduate and served as the chancellor of the State University System of Florida.[4]

Culpepper met Monica Frakes in 1990, when he was a sophomore at the University of Florida.[5] The couple married weeks after Culpepper was drafted into the NFL in 1992.[6] Together they have three children.[7]

College career

Culpepper accepted an athletic scholarship to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida, where he played for coach Galen Hall and coach Steve Spurrier's Florida Gators football teams from 1988 to 1991.[8] During his senior season in 1991, Culpepper was a standout defensive tackle and team captain on the Gators' Southeastern Conference (SEC) championship team, a first-team All-SEC selection and a consensus first-team All-American.[8][9] He finished his college career with eighteen quarterback sacks and 47.5 tackles for a loss.[8] He was also named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll all four years, was a first-team Academic All-American, and received the Draddy Trophy recognizing him as college football's most outstanding student-athlete.[8][10] While Culpepper was a Florida undergraduate, he was also an active member of Sigma Chi Fraternity (Gamma Theta Chapter).

Culpepper graduated from Florida with his bachelor's degree in history after his junior year, and enrolled in a master's degree program in exercise and sports sciences during his senior football season. After finishing his professional playing career, Culpepper returned to graduate school and law school full-time, and earned his master's degree and law degree from Florida in 2001. He was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2001.[11][12] The sports editors of The Gainesville Sun ranked him as the No. 47 all-time greatest player of the first 100 seasons of the Florida Gators football team in 2006.[13]

Professional career

Culpepper was a tenth round selection (264th overall pick) in the 1992 NFL Draft by the Minnesota Vikings,[14] and he played for the Vikings from 1992 to 1993,[15] the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1994 to 1999,[16] and the Chicago Bears in 2000.[17] In his nine-year professional career, Culpepper played in 131 games, started eighty-three of them,[1] and recorded thirty-four quarterback sacks and one safety.[18]

Life after football

Culpepper is now a trial lawyer for the Culpepper Kurland law firm in Tampa, Florida.[19] Since his retirement, he has spoken out about his concerns regarding the increasing size of NFL players; he believes that the increasing number of 300-pound players is "unnatural and unsafe" and has led to many serious health problems. During his football career, Culpepper inflated his weight to 280 pounds; after he retired from professional football, he lost almost 100 pounds.[20]

Culpepper's wife Monica was selected as a participant for the 24th season of the CBS reality television show Survivor,[7] and she and Brad participated together in the 27th season of the show.[21] Culpepper came in 15th place while Monica was the season's runner up.

On May 6, 2015, it was revealed that Culpepper was one of 16 men eligible to be voted onto Survivor's 31st season, Survivor: Cambodia. Also from Blood vs. Water were fellow newcomers Ciera Eastin and Vytas Baskauskas. The results revealed, on May 20, that Culpepper was the only one of the three to not make it into the season.[22]

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Pro-Football-Reference.com, Players, Brad Culpepper. Retrieved July 2, 2010.
  2. ↑ databaseFootball.com, Players, Brad Culpepper. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 Jack Hairston, Tales from the Gator Swamp, Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois, pp. 29–31 (2002).
  4. ↑ University of Florida, George A. Smathers Libraries, Guide to the J. Broward Culpepper Papers. Retrieved April 27, 2011.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 8.3 2011 Florida Gators Football Media Guide, University Athletic Association, Gainesville, Florida, pp. 88, 93, 97, 98, 100, 124, 153, 180 (2011). Retrieved August 28, 2011.
  9. ↑ 2012 NCAA Football Records Book, Award Winners, National Collegiate Athletic Association, Indianapolis, Indiana, pp. 9 & 14 (2012). Retrieved September 14, 2012.
  10. ↑ "Another day, another honor for Culpepper," The Gainesville Sun, p. 7C (December 12, 1991). Retrieved January 17, 2013.
  11. ↑ F Club, Hall of Fame, Gator Greats. Retrieved December 13, 2014.
  12. ↑ "Nine Former Gators Enshrined into the Hall of Fame," GatorZone.com (April 6, 2001). Retrieved July 21, 2011.
  13. ↑ Robbie Andreu & Pat Dooley, "No. 47 Brad Culpepper," The Gainesville Sun (July 18, 2006). Retrieved April 4, 2013.
  14. ↑ Pro Football Hall of Fame, Draft History, 1992 National Football League Draft. Retrieved June 2, 2010.
  15. ↑ Minnesota Vikings, History, Alumni. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  16. ↑ Tampa Bay Buccaneers, History, All-Time Roster. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  17. ↑ Chicago Bears, History, All-Time Jersey Numbers. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  18. ↑ National Football League, Historical Players, Brad Culpepper. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  19. ↑ Culpepper Kurland, PLLC, Attorneys, Brad Culpepper. Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  20. ↑ Mike Bianchi, "Tell it like it is: These guys are too fat," Orlando Sentinel (August 5, 2003). Retrieved May 13, 2010.
  21. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  22. ↑ Survivor: Cambodia—Second Chance cast (and logo) revealed Entertainment Weekly, Retrieved May 21, 2015

Bibliography

  • Carlson, Norm, University of Florida Football Vault: The History of the Florida Gators, Whitman Publishing, LLC, Atlanta, Georgia (2007). ISBN 0-7948-2298-3.
  • Golenbock, Peter, Go Gators! An Oral History of Florida's Pursuit of Gridiron Glory, Legends Publishing, LLC, St. Petersburg, Florida (2002). ISBN 0-9650782-1-3.
  • Hairston, Jack, Tales from the Gator Swamp: A Collection of the Greatest Gator Stories Ever Told, Sports Publishing, LLC, Champaign, Illinois (2002). ISBN 1-58261-514-4.
  • McCarthy, Kevin M., Fightin' Gators: A History of University of Florida Football, Arcadia Publishing, Mount Pleasant, South Carolina (2000). ISBN 978-0-7385-0559-6.
  • Nash, Noel, ed., The Gainesville Sun Presents The Greatest Moments in Florida Gators Football, Sports Publishing, Inc., Champaign, Illinois (1998). ISBN 1-57167-196-X.
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