Culpepper tears tendons in right knee
<!-- end pagetitle --><!-- begin bylinebox -->
ESPN.com news services
<!-- begin presby2 -->
<!-- end presby2 -->
<!-- end bylinebox -->
<!-- begin text11 div --><TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR><TD vAlign=top><!-- begin leftcol --><!-- template inline -->EDEN PRAIRIE, Minnesota --
Daunte Culpepper's nightmarish season is over.
AP
Minnesota Vikings head coach Mike Tice (right) helps quarterback Daunte Culpepper off the field.
Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Tice confirmed Monday that his star quarterback has a torn ACL, MCL and PCL in his right knee.
The loss of Culpepper is the latest in a string of emotionally-wrenching disappointments for the Vikings, including lopsided losses and allegations of lewd behavior by team members aboard a chartered lake cruise earlier this season.
Culpepper was seen crying in the locker room after Sunday's game, and when asked about his conversation with Culpepper, Tice looked down and mumbled, "He said, 'I love you,' and I said the same thing to him. I love him, too."
Culpepper ran for an 18-yard gain on the final play of the first quarter when he was hit by multiple defenders. Carolina cornerback
Chris Gamble came in from the side and tackled Culpepper's leg and he immediately grabbed his knee.
<!--------------------------START PLAYER CARD------------------><TABLE class=tableheadFixWidth cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=3 width=200 align=right><TBODY><TR class=stathead><TD class=whitelink colSpan=2>
Daunte Culpepper</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow align=right><TD align=left>
Quarterback
Minnesota Vikings
Profile</TD></TR><TR class=evenrow><TD align=middle><TABLE cellSpacing=1 cellPadding=1 width=190 bgColor=#ffffff border=0><TBODY><TR class=stathead align=middle><TD align=middle colSpan=6>
2005 SEASON STATISTICS</TD></TR><TR style="BACKGROUND: #bcbcb4" align=right><TD width="17%">Att</TD><TD width="17%">Comp</TD><TD width="17%">Yds</TD><TD width="17%">TD</TD><TD width="17%">Int</TD><TD width="17%">Rat</TD></TR><TR align=right bgColor=#999999><TD>212</TD><TD>136</TD><TD>1372</TD><TD>6</TD><TD>12</TD><TD>71.6</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE><!---------------------INLINE MINI-PLAYER CARD ENDS HERE--------------------->
Culpepper was helped off the field and taken to a cart for the ride into the locker room. The team initially said he sprained his knee.
He was on crutches with a heavy brace around his knee after the game and said he wouldn't know anything until after undergoing an MRI on Monday.
"I'm not talking about anything," Culpepper said on Sunday. "We don't know the extent of the damage right now. I really can't talk about it until we do the MRIs and find out."
Brad Johnson replaced Culpepper and went 13-for-28 for 162 yards and a touchdown in Minnesota's 38-13 loss to the Panthers.
"We have to rally around Brad," Tice said. "Brad doesn't have the same arm Daunte has, [but] Brad has played a lot more games than Daunte has. We can make up for the different styles by going to more short passing to give ourselves a chance to suit his style.
"Brad is a very good quarterback, he's won a Super Bowl. We have faith in Brad."
Information from The Associated Press and SportsTicker was used in this report
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
