Brad Culpepper
Encyclopedia
John Broward "Brad" Culpepper (born May 8, 1969) is a former American college and professional football
player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League
(NFL) for nine seasons in the 1990s and early 2000s. Culpepper played college football
for the University of Florida
, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Minnesota Vikings
, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
and the Chicago Bears
of the NFL.
in 1969. He attended Leon High School
in Tallahassee, 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. 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. His uncle, Blair Culpepper, was a Gators fullback in 1957 and 1958, and became a bank president in Winter Park, Florida
. His grandfather, J. Broward Culpepper, was also a Florida graduate and served as the chancellor of the State University System of Florida
.
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. 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. He finished his college career with eighteen quarterback sack
s and 47.5 tackle
s for a loss. He was also named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll all four years, was a first-team Academic All-America
n, and received the Draddy Trophy
recognizing him as college football's most outstanding student-athlete. 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.
by the Minnesota Vikings, and he played for the Vikings from to , the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
from to , and the Chicago Bears
in . In his nine-year professional career, Culpepper played in 131 games, started eighty-three of them, and recorded thirty-four quarterback sack
s and one safety.
. Since his retirement, Culpepper 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.
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
player who was a defensive tackle in the National Football League
National Football League
The National Football League is the highest level of professional American football in the United States, and is considered the top professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing...
(NFL) for nine seasons in the 1990s and early 2000s. Culpepper played college football
College football
College football refers to American football played by teams of student athletes fielded by American universities, colleges, and military academies, or Canadian football played by teams of student athletes fielded by Canadian universities...
for the University of Florida
University of Florida
The University of Florida is an American public land-grant, sea-grant, and space-grant research university located on a campus in Gainesville, Florida. The university traces its historical origins to 1853, and has operated continuously on its present Gainesville campus since September 1906...
, and thereafter, he played professionally for the Minnesota Vikings
Minnesota Vikings
The Minnesota Vikings are a professional American football team based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. The Vikings joined the National Football League as an expansion team in 1960...
, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...
and the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
of the NFL.
Early life and family
Culpepper was born in Tallahassee, FloridaTallahassee, Florida
Tallahassee is the capital of the U.S. state of Florida. It is the county seat and only incorporated municipality in Leon County, and is the 128th largest city in the United States. Tallahassee became the capital of Florida, then the Florida Territory, in 1824. In 2010, the population recorded by...
in 1969. He attended Leon High School
Leon High School
Leon High School is a public high school in Tallahassee, Florida. For the 2007-2008 school year, the Florida Department of Education gave the school an "A" rating after its students scored well above the state average on standardized tests in reading and in math...
in Tallahassee, where he was a standout prep player for the Leon Lions high school football
High school football
High school football, in North America, refers to the game of football as it is played in the United States and Canada. It ranks among the most popular interscholastic sports in both of these nations....
team.
Culpepper was born into a family of University of Florida alumni. 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
Gator Bowl
The Gator Bowl is an annual college football bowl game played at EverBank Field in Jacksonville, Florida. Held continuously since 1946, it is the sixth oldest college bowl, as well as the first one ever televised nationally...
team, and became a prominent Tallahassee attorney. His uncle, Blair Culpepper, was a Gators fullback in 1957 and 1958, and became a bank president in Winter Park, Florida
Winter Park, Florida
Winter Park is a suburban city in Orange County, Florida, United States. The population was 24,090 at the 2000 census. According to the U.S. Census Bureau's 2006 estimates, the city had a population of 28,083. It is part of the Orlando–Kissimmee Metropolitan Statistical Area...
. His grandfather, J. Broward Culpepper, was also a Florida graduate and served as the chancellor of the State University System of Florida
State University System of Florida
The State University System of Florida is a system of eleven public universities in the U.S. state of Florida. As of 2011, over 320,000 students were enrolled in Florida's state universities...
.
College career
Culpepper received an athletic scholarshipAthletic scholarship
An athletic scholarship is a form of scholarship to attend a college or university awarded to an individual based predominantly on his or her ability to play in a sport...
to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville, Florida
Gainesville is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Alachua County, Florida, United States as well as the principal city of the Gainesville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area . The preliminary 2010 Census population count for Gainesville is 124,354. Gainesville is home to the sixth...
, where he played for coach Galen Hall
Galen Hall
Galen Samuel Hall is an American college and professional football coach and former player. He is a native of Pennsylvania, and an alumnus of Penn State University, where he played college football...
and coach Steve Spurrier
Steve Spurrier
Stephen Orr Spurrier is an American college football coach and player. Spurrier is the current head coach of the University of South Carolina's Gamecocks football team. He is also a former professional player and coach...
's Florida Gators football
Florida Gators football
The Florida Gators football team represents the University of Florida in the sport of American football. The Florida Gators compete in the Football Bowl Subdivision of the National Collegiate Athletics Association and the Eastern Division of the Southeastern Conference...
teams from 1988 to 1991. During his senior
Senior (education)
Senior is a term used in the United States to describe a student in the 4th year of study .-High school:...
season in 1991, Culpepper was a standout defensive tackle and team captain
Captain (sports)
In team sports, a captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field...
on the Gators' Southeastern Conference
Southeastern Conference
The Southeastern Conference is an American college athletic conference that operates in the southeastern part of the United States. It is headquartered in Birmingham, Alabama...
(SEC) championship team, a first-team All-SEC selection and a consensus first-team All-American. He finished his college career with eighteen quarterback sack
Quarterback sack
In American football and Canadian football, a sack occurs when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before he can throw a forward pass, or when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in the "pocket" and the intent of what he was going to do is unclear...
s and 47.5 tackle
Tackle (football move)
Most forms of football have a move known as a tackle. The primary purposes of tackling is to disposses an opponent of the ball, to stop the player from gaining ground towards goal or to stop them from carrying out what they intend....
s for a loss. He was also named to the SEC Academic Honor Roll all four years, was a first-team Academic All-America
Academic All-America
Academic All-America program is a student-athlete recognition program...
n, and received the Draddy Trophy
Draddy Trophy
The William V. Campbell trophy, formerly the Vincent dePaul Draddy Trophy, is a trophy awarded by the National Football Foundation that is given to the American college football player with the best combination of academics, community service, and on-field performance...
recognizing him as college football's most outstanding student-athlete. While Culpepper was a Florida undergraduate, he was also an active member of Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi
Sigma Chi is the largest and one of the oldest college Greek-letter secret and social fraternities in North America with 244 active chapters and more than . Sigma Chi was founded on June 28, 1855 at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio when members split from Delta Kappa Epsilon...
Fraternity
Fraternities and sororities
Fraternities and sororities are fraternal social organizations for undergraduate students. In Latin, the term refers mainly to such organizations at colleges and universities in the United States, although it is also applied to analogous European groups also known as corporations...
(Gamma Theta Chapter).
Culpepper graduated from Florida with his bachelor's degree
Bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree is usually an academic degree awarded for an undergraduate course or major that generally lasts for three or four years, but can range anywhere from two to six years depending on the region of the world...
in history
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
after his junior
Junior (education)
"Junior" is a term used in the United States to describe a student in their 3rd year of study . A Junior is considered an upperclassman...
year, and enrolled in a master's degree
Master's degree
A master's is an academic degree granted to individuals who have undergone study demonstrating a mastery or high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice...
program in exercise and sports sciences during his senior football season. After finishing his professional playing career, Culpepper returned to graduate school
Graduate school
A graduate school is a school that awards advanced academic degrees with the general requirement that students must have earned a previous undergraduate degree...
and law school
Law school
A law school is an institution specializing in legal education.- Law degrees :- Canada :...
full-time, and earned his master's degree and law degree
Law degree
A Law degree is an academic degree conferred for studies in law. Such degrees are generally preparation for legal careers; but while their curricula may be reviewed by legal authority, they do not themselves confer a license...
from Florida in 2001. He was inducted into the University of Florida Athletic Hall of Fame as a "Gator Great" in 2001.
Professional career
Culpepper was a tenth round selection (264th overall pick) in the 1992 NFL Draft1992 NFL Draft
The 1992 NFL Draft was the procedure by which National Football League teams selected amateur college football players. It is officially known as the NFL Annual Player Selection Meeting. The draft was held April 26–27, 1992. The league also held a supplemental draft after the regular draft...
by the Minnesota Vikings, and he played for the Vikings from to , the Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers are a professional American football franchise based in Tampa, Florida, U.S. They are currently members of the Southern Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League – they are the only team in the division not to come from the old NFC West...
from to , and the Chicago Bears
Chicago Bears
The Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
in . In his nine-year professional career, Culpepper played in 131 games, started eighty-three of them, and recorded thirty-four quarterback sack
Quarterback sack
In American football and Canadian football, a sack occurs when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage before he can throw a forward pass, or when the quarterback is tackled behind the line of scrimmage in the "pocket" and the intent of what he was going to do is unclear...
s and one safety.
Life after football
Culpepper is now a trial lawyer for the Culpepper Kurland law firm in Tampa, FloridaTampa, Florida
Tampa is a city in the U.S. state of Florida. It serves as the county seat for Hillsborough County. Tampa is located on the west coast of Florida. The population of Tampa in 2010 was 335,709....
. Since his retirement, Culpepper 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.
See also
- 1991 College Football All-America Team1991 College Football All-America TeamThe 1991 College Football All-America Team is composed of the following All-American Teams: Associated Press, United Press International, Newspaper Enterprise Association, Football Writers Association of America, American Football Coaches Association, Walter Camp Foundation, Scripps-Howard, The...
- Florida GatorsFlorida GatorsThe Florida Gators are the intercollegiate sports teams that represent the University of Florida located in Gainesville, Florida. The "Lady Gators" is an alternative nickname sometimes used by the Gators women's teams...
- Florida Gators football, 1990–1999
- History of the Tampa Bay BuccaneersHistory of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers-John McKay and early frustration :The Buccaneers joined the NFL as members of the AFC West in 1976. The following year, they were moved to the NFC Central, while the other 1976 expansion team, the Seattle Seahawks, switched conferences with Tampa Bay and joined the AFC West...
- List of Chicago Bears players
- List of Florida Gators football players
- List of Levin College of Law graduates
- List of Sigma Chi members
- List of University of Florida alumni