Cheap shot of the week, Minnesota edition

Jim Souhan, of the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, in today's column:

It is his team and his time now, and on the first day of his undisputed reign as the Minnesota Vikings' alpha and omega, in an ear-piercingly loud Metrodome and against a team begging to be beaten, Daunte Culpepper couldn't seize his shining moment any more than he could hold on to the ball.

Culpepper didn't just produce fewer touchdowns in Week 1 than He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named — he produced fewer than Darren Sharper.

Culpepper didn't only commit five turnovers — he looked antsy and besieged while doing it.

Culpepper didn't just make you wonder if he missed a certain past-tense, blue-moon partaker of medicinal marijuana — he made you ponder whether he pines for Scott Linehan, Matt Birk, Mewelde Moore, Charlie Baggett, Cris Carter, Chris Hovan and Najee Mustafaa.

Those of us who think Culpepper is a wonderful quarterback and dynamic leader expected an explosion of emotional and statistical fireworks Sunday. Instead, we got a one-man Broadway show dedicated to the memory of Spergon Wynn.

For my part, I still think Daunte Culpepper is one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL, but yesterday's game proves that he can still be rattled by a really determined pass rush. Every team that has the Vikings on their schedule for this season will now be adding more pass rush work to their practice sessions before they face the Vikes.

Spergon Wynn, for the non-Vikings fans, was briefly with Minnesota and is now 3rd or 4th string QB for the Winnipeg Blue Bombers in the CFL. He had a very inglorious career with the Vikings:

To your average sports fan, the most memorable chokes involve great or near-great athletes failing when everything is on the line. But what of the failures of obscure jocks? Don't they deserve recognition for absolute mental and physical collapses? In that spirit, we ask you to consider Spergon Wynn, the Minnesota Vikings' third-string quarterback. Acquired in a trade with the Cleveland Browns in September, the second-year pro — presumably seasoned by a stint in NFL Europe — got his big chance in December after starter Daunte Culpepper and backup Todd Bouman went down with injuries. By then, the Vikings' playoff hopes had already slipped away, and all young Wynn had to do was look vaguely competent at the helm of the team's much-vaunted "quarterback-friendly" offense. He didn't. His quarterback rating (38.6) was the lowest, by far, of the 50 statistically eligible QBs to play in the NFL in the 2001 season. In three appearances (including two starts), Wynn threw one touchdown and six interceptions and, in a flourish of ineptitude, had a fumble returned for a touchdown on his final play.