Culpepper Shines for Team, City in Mountain Lions Home Opener

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- There was something majestic to the moment. It was pure emotion – as spastic as it was.

Daunte Culpepper finally got his roll on again.

The veteran quarterback connected on a 33-yard touchdown pass to Rodrickus Windsor with 31 seconds left to give the Mountain Lions a 24-20 victory Saturday night against the visiting Florida Tuskers.

Culpepper, whose glory days were supposed to be behind him, was basking in the glory.

"I was just getting my roll on, having fun, just doing what I do," a smiling Culpepper said after the win. "It just feels great, man. Just to have some fun playing. Getting a touchdown, turning around and busting out my old roll. It just doesn't get any better than that."

It was the perfect way to introduce himself and the United Football League to the more than 20,000 fans who nearly sold-out Hornet's Stadium in Sacramento on Saturday night.

"Having a packed house like this in the first game is just phenomenal," Culpepper said. "The atmosphere was very exciting and I hope we can keep this going all year."

He didn't seem surprised about the support of Sacramento.

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• Daunte Culpepper Starting Over "Since the day I landed here, at every supermarket or gas station, people were saying they were going to be at the game," Culpepper said. "Everywhere I go people talk about the Mountain Lions. I can tell they really wanted some pro football here."

Plenty of big names were in attendance. Hollywood actor Denzel Washington roamed the sidelines, watching his son, Mountain Lions running back John David Washington. Other big names included entertainer Jackie Greene, Sacramento Kings Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans, Sacramento Mayor and former NBA point guard Kevin Johnson, and Mixed Martial Arts star Uriajh Faber.

"It almost feels like the atmosphere of a high school game in the sense that it's a big city, but it's a tight-knit community," Faber said. "It's awesome. Just walking into the stadium you could feel the energy."

Sacramento resident Joe Marsalla stood behind an end zone as his young son buzzed circles around him, playing football with a plastic water bottle and a friend.

"I am extremely pleased with the product and impressed," Marsalla said. "Look, I'm 50 years old. I love getting out and being able to do something like this."

The atmosphere in Sacramento on Saturday night exemplified the UFL's goal when it turned San Francisco's "California Redwoods" into Sacramento's Mountain Lions.

"Since the day I landed here, at every supermarket or gas station, people were saying they were going to be at the game. I can tell they really wanted some pro football here."
-- Daunte Culpepper "The objective was to give the fans a sense of what this league is about," said UFL Commissioner Michael Huyghue in a press conference following the game. "I think people came and you can see the atmosphere is more than just football. It's a community-driven initiative and people are having fun. When you talk about the UFL, that's really what we want people to say: that they had a good time."

Sacramento makes for the appropriate setting. Steve Tebbs, the Director of Facilities and Operations at the hosting Hornet Stadium, said it had been more than a decade since he saw the stadium so packed. The last time he said the place was so filled was in 1999 when Sacramento State faced rival U.C. Davis.

Saturday night marked Sacramento's first outdoor professional football game since the 1994 Gold Miners of the Canadian Football League.

"Sacramento has been hungry for football," Tebbs said. "You have 49ers and Raiders fans, but you are driving two hours to see a football game. But here is an opportunity to see good football here in your own backyard. People are saying, 'Oh man, I can see Daunte Culpepper and guys like Jeff Garcia?' Yeah you're going to get a lot of people to come see that."

GAME BALL GOES TO

The roll. Well, and Daunte Culpepper. Marketed as the face of the Mountain Lions, Culpepper delivered in the game's final moments and finished with 374 yards and three touchdowns.

A SPECIAL MOMENT

For Mountain Lions receiver Otis Amey, it was a surreal homecoming. While the setting may have been the same, the scene was completely different. Amey played from 2001-2004 at Sacramento State, the home site for the Mountain Lions.

"I was hyped," Amey said. "I could hardly sleep last night. It was great during the offensive introductions to hear everyone go crazy and say welcome home."

Culpepper joked that he even had to calm Amey down prior to the game.

"His energy level was up," Culpepper said. "He was jacked up. I had to tell him to calm down before the game. It's normal, he played college ball here so I can imagine. I'm going to feel like that when we go to Orlando. Playing in front of familiar faces who know you, you want to do good for them."

HEART GOES OUT TO

The Florida Tuskers, who lost their first regular season UFL game in the franchise's history.

WHO'S GOT NEXT?

Culpepper and the Mountain Lions travel to face Jeff Garcia and the Omaha Nighthawks while the Tuskers host the Las Vegas Locomotives.

Jimmy Spencer can be reached at jimmypspencer@gmail.com or on Twitter @jimmypspencer