he suffered the injury during the Week 12 game against the Kansas City Chiefs but it did not begin to bother him until Wednesday. Some sources said he suffered the injury when he ran a race with Oakland cornerback Stanford Routt, a college sprinter, after practice but head coach Lane Kiffin declined knowledge of the alleged incident. Due to his injury, Culpepper did not play in another game that season and was placed on injured reserve on December 26. 2008 retirement and comeback Culpepper visited the Green Bay Packers on April 23 and 24, 2008. He would later turn down the offer from the Packers, $1 million for a one-year contract, claiming the deal was not good. He said he was in contact with a few other teams. In July 2008, it was reported that the Detroit Lions were interested in signing Culpepper, but they never made an offer to him. He worked out with the Pittsburgh Steelers in August 2008, but the Steelers elected to sign Byron Leftwich instead to replace the injured Charlie Batch. On August 29, 2008, Culpepper then changed his mind and stated that he would consider a backup role in Green Bay if they were still interested in him, but the team did not put forth an offer. On September 4, 2008, Culpepper announced his retirement. He expressed his frustrations with the NFL in a brief retirement letter. The main reason of his retirement was because he felt he could still be a starting quarterback in the NFL. The Kansas City Chiefs had spoken to Culpepper about coming out of retirement for the 2008 season after Brodie Croyle was declared out for the season with an injury. On October 23, Culpepper stated through an email to Adam Schefter that he would come out of retirement and give the NFL another shot. On October 27, Culpepper told the Chiefs that he would not make another meeting with the team due to a “better opportunity with another team”. Detroit Lions On November 2, 2008, ESPN reported that he had agreed to terms on a two-year deal contract with the Detroit Lions and would join the team the following week. After passing a physical, Culpepper officially signed with the Lions on November 3. The Lions assigned Culpepper number 11, the number Roy Williams had worn before he was traded to Dallas on October 14. Culpepper played four games