The NFL thought they hit the jackpot with Daunte Culpepper -- huge, strong-armed, and too powerful to bring down. Culpepper had a few good seasons, but was the beneficiary of a Vikings offense that had a great offensive line, a very good runner in Robert Smith, and Randy Moss as an unstoppable force in his early years along with the all-time great possession receiver Cris Carter.ÂÂÂ
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<div>Culpepper could stand back in the pocket for what seemed like 10 seconds and then wail the ball down the field to Moss, or take off and build power and make nice runs.</div>
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<div>But that didn't last very long. Smith retired prematurely, and Culpepper gained weight while simultaneously losing power. He was washed up early, as are so many black athletes.</div>
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<div>After Culpepper came big (and fat) with zero mobility -- Byron Leftwich -- and then big, fat and pathetic -- JaMarcus Russell. </div>
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<div>Now an aging and often inaccurate Donovan McNabb remains the only accomplished black QB, and a big "project," Josh Freeman, is the league's only young hope at the position. But you can bet the NFL and its media partners will keep trying. What's working against the affirmative action experiment at quarterback, however, is that black deficiencies can't be covered up as readily as at other positions. Fewer teams are likely to want to draft black QBs in the first or second round, but they'll continue to be drafted in later rounds and given opportunities when they present themselves. And of course the big college programs will continue to recruit and play them, which means there will be "prospects" every year for the NFL Draft.</div>