Good story....

[CyberBull]

.....made even better by DC making sure to hang on to his jewelry this time.  ;D

Culpepper crashes cafeteria

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The Minnesota quarterback chows down with Sterling Park 4th-graders.

By Jemele Hill

Sentinel Staff Writer

April 21, 2005

CASSELBERRY -- If you're a professional athlete who's suffered through a tumultuous offseason, follow Daunte Culpepper's recipe for escaping the offseason blues.

Breadsticks, tomato soup, two chocolate chip cookies and two chocolate milks. And fourth-graders. Lots of them.

Culpepper spent Wednesday lunching with fourth-graders at Casselberry's Sterling Park Elementary.

He was there to meet Tyler Barwick, who won a lunch with the Minnesota Vikings quarterback in TG Lee Dairy's "lunch bunch" sweepstakes.

It was a welcome environment for Culpepper, who for once didn't have to worry about Randy Moss' trade to the Oakland Raiders, Coach Mike Tice's ticket scandal or the possible ownership change that has alternated between praiseworthy and bizarre.

Although Culpepper addressed the Vikings' various issues, Wednesday was about kids meeting their football hero.

Barwick was so nervous he was speechless when he was introduced to Culpepper.

"Don't be scared, Tyler," prompted his mother, Tracy.

Culpepper broke the ice, asking Tyler and his brother, Zach, about school and sports. Culpepper finally got Tyler to smile when he told him his favorite subject in school was math.

Sterling Park's other fourth-graders weren't so shy. When Culpepper walked into the lunchroom, they practically burst out of their little bodies to get his attention. The other grades were excluded from meeting Culpepper because it wasn't their lunch hour. But, several fifth-graders tried to scheme their way to look at Culpepper by continually asking to use the bathroom, seeing it is located inside the lunchroom. School administrators snuffed out the ploy quickly.

The former UCF standout tried to blend in. He went through the lunch line and ate with Tyler and his classmates. It was some sight watching someone 6-foot-4, 264 pounds fold himself into a seat as tall as his kneecap.

"I was impressed because he stayed longer than I thought he would," Sterling Park Principal Carol Ann Darnell said.

Culpepper cleaned his plate and then let Tyler and his brother check out his orange Ferrari convertible.

"This is where hard work can get you," Culpepper told them.

The lavishness, however, does come with a price.

When the Vikings traded the troubled Moss, Culpepper initially was blamed for forcing the deal -- which he has denied repeatedly.

On Wednesday, Culpepper didn't deny a Moss-less locker room might be a good change, but he stressed he did not want to see Moss depart.

"I'm looking at it positively, but I'm not saying it's a good thing he's gone," Culpepper said.

He said the two haven't spoken since he was traded.

"I'm sure it's tough for him right now," Culpepper said, "but I'm not making it into a big beef."

Culpepper said he and Moss never had a situation like Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens and quarterback Donovan McNabb. Owens, who is in embroiled in a contract dispute with the Eagles, took a jab at McNabb and told ESPN.com recently, "I'm not the guy who got tired in the Super Bowl."

"Randy and I didn't have any problems," Culpepper said. "Randy would never say anything like that about me."

Tice made headlines during the offseason for scalping his league-issued Super Bowl tickets -- a violation of NFL rules. The NFL reprimanded Tice, but it was another dramatic situation.

"People were trying to make a big deal out of nothing," Culpepper said.

If that wasn't enough, Culpepper also is waiting to see if Reggie Fowler will become the Vikings' owner. But things haven't gone smooth in that department, either.

Fowler, who could become the NFL's first black owner, is awaiting league approval to buy the team. The approval process reportedly was slowed because Fowler failed to deliver financial documents on time. Even before that, controversy brewed because Fowler had several inaccuracies on his biography.

But no matter what else happens, it's Culpepper's locker room when he returns to the Vikings.

"The boat has got to keep on sailing," he said.

Jemele Hill can be reached at jhill@orlandosentinel.com.

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[DawgPound]

It's cool that he took it really seriously.  He could have blown them off and hardly stay, but he showed how classy he really is.