Culpepper: “Head-First Into Life”

Brad Culpepper — of the personal injury law firm of Culpepper Kurland — is among the more successful, high-profile attorneys in Tampa Bay.

That status derives, in part, from having been a pro football player for nine years – six of them as a starting defensive tackle for the Buccaneers. It also comes with having been an All American at the University of Florida and a member of the UF Hall of Fame now doing business in the heart of Gator Nation and Buc Land. And it’s a function of having a gregarious, sometimes outrageous, personality, a passel of prominent billboards and TV commercials and regular sports gigs on local radio and television.

But members of the business community will tell what’s even more important: a relentless work ethic, uncanny discipline and imposing communication skills.

Tampa business magnate Don Wallace calls Culpepper a “tenaciously” competitive person who doesn’t suffer fools. “But at the same time, he has empathy for others,” notes Wallace. “He’ll help anybody as long as they help themselves.”

Close friends and colleagues also point to grounded, family values, equilibrium between work and play, a strong sense of community involvement and the perfect life partner in wife Monica, a former UF Homecoming Queen.

“I’m head-first into life,” says Culpepper, 38, “I’m not a backward thinker. There was no time to look back to the football days. Getting a law degree, passing the bar, landing a position with a good firm (Morgan, Colling & Gilbert initially) and being involved with Monica and our three kids – those were my elixirs. I love what I do, and I try to work smart and be a great husband and parent.”

To that end, both Culpeppers can be found at South Tampa’s Gorrie Elementary each week reading to students – including their own: sons Rex, 10, and Judge, 7, and daughter Honor, 5.

“It matters that my kids know school is important,” explains Culpepper, a member of Gorrie’s student advisory committee. “And they like it that I’m there.”

At their spacious, 80-year-old, Mediterranean-style Davis Islands home, Brad, an accomplished pianist, helps the kids with their piano lessons – after a “Star Wars” intro. He and Monica, both avid readers, reinforce the principle that books transcend the classroom. Books-on-tape is a family staple on road trips.

“We try to expose them to all kinds of things,” says Culpepper, who’s an Eagle Scout. “Sports in season, arts and crafts, an appreciation of nature. It’s easy to just turn on a computer or pop in a video. It’s hard work being a good parent, and Monica is phenomenal — especially when it comes to the kids’ academics.”

And then there are the family getaways. First among equals: the exclusive Gilchrist Club, a 23,000-acre hunting and recreational lodge complex in rural Gilchrist County, about 30 minutes west of Gainesville.

For the last three years, the Culpeppers have retreated regularly to the lakes, grassy flats, wetlands and pine forests during non-hunting season for bass fishing, water skiing, wake boarding, skeet shooting and rubbernecking at the flora and fauna. A fully staffed kitchen and three gourmet meals a day complement the outdoor experience.

“It’s quality, uninterrupted time with our kids,” says Monica. “We can just enjoy it and not worry about the problems of running a second home.”

The Culpepper clan also enjoys side excursions ranging from canoe trips on the Little Manatee and Peace Rivers to berry-hunting hikes in North Carolina. Or sometimes just hopping in Brad’s 17-foot whaler for a spin on the Hillsborough River.

Not that the Culpeppers, who have been married 15 years, stint on getaways for two. A couple times a year they travel to celebrity golf outings, such as those hosted by Gino Torretta, the former Heisman Trophy winner from the University of Miami, and Jim McMahon, the erstwhile All-Pro quarterback of the Chicago Bears. There’s also the occasional New York trip to take in a show and just hang out.

Locally, they like dining at Tampa’s Malio’s and Mise en Place restaurants and occasionally escaping to a foreign film at Tampa Theatre.

“We like each other’s company,” says Brad. “We’re not one of those couples where she has her nights out with the girls, and I’m out with the boys. We don’t do that. If it’s fun and special and it’s just me, that’s really half an experience.”

Underscores Monica: “A healthy relationship outside the children is good for the kids too.”

As a figure of some public renown, Brad is frequently called upon to help area charities with fund-raising. Often Monica will assist. Among the beneficiaries: Shriner’s Hospital for Children, the Children’s Miracle Network, Shands Hospital at UF and the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

“Brad has been our (MDA Ball) auctioneer for three years, and he’s the reason it’s been so successful,” says Marilyn McPhail, vice chair of the MDA. “He gets the audience involved. He does it from the heart. He and Monica are both philanthropists. They are the perfect couple.”

The Football Factor

*During his NFL career, the 6’1″ Culpepper played at about 275 pounds. These days he’s a ripped 205. How did he do it? The way he does everything: with total commitment. He ate smaller meals, avoided eating after dinner and does something aerobic virtually every day. His philosophy: “In short, burn more than you consume.”

*A lot of pro athletes can’t face the future outside the lines of their sport. Not Culpepper. The transition, he says, was “seamless.” As a 10th round draft pick in 1992, he knew there were no guarantees of a lengthy NFL career. “I needed to prepare for a post career and use my name,” he says. “But you need a skill.” So he took law courses at UF in the off-seasons. He retired from the NFL in 2001, the same year he received his law degree.

*Parallels with business: “I love the competition between me and opposing counsel,” explains Culpepper. “You have to be sound in your fundamentals and never let anyone outwork you.”

*Culpepper is a regular on “Tailgate Sunday” on WTVT Fox, Channel 13, before Buc games. “I don’t think of him as a jock,” says co-host Chip Carter. “More like an attorney who strapped on a helmet. He’s network quality.”

Reality Woe

If only Hogan knew best.

It’s obvious what 17-year-old Nick Bollea really needed. A normal life in the steadfast lane.

Instead, he’s been living in his Hulkster dad’s fishbowl, VH1 reality-TV world; being home-schooled away from the masses; and having every opportunity to indulge an adrenaline-rush, fast-car fantasy. “My son, the aspiring, professional drift driver.” Excellent.

Multiple speeding tickets – and a consequent restricted license – were mere precursors to that horrific traffic accident in Clearwater resulting from his less-than-prudent driving. Young Bollea remains under investigation in the wreck that left a passenger in critical condition.

The Hulkster then hired Barry Cohen, who you don’t hire unless you look really, really guilty about something. Ultimately, lawyer and client family parted ways.

Meanwhile, the Bollea-Hogan family was taking a media beating and apparently tried to counter it with a proactive strategy. Linda Bollea, Nick’s mom, gave an interview to a local daily. Among the outtakes: “What 17-year-old doesn’t get tickets?” And she apparently took him out of Clearwater Central Catholic High School, because she didn’t want him exposed to drugs and fights. He has a GED on his incipient resume.

Suggestion: Give Hill & Knowlton a call. If the media scrutiny, which you’d previously been courting fervidly, is now too unkind and invasive, bring in some PR pros. The sort of folks that will say it’s never a good idea to go public rationalizing 100-mph speeding violations or slandering one of the better schools around.

It’s, sadly, reached this point of contrived damage control.

If only Hogan knew best.

Profiles In Chutzpah

Andy Savage, the Charleston, S.C., attorney for Youssef Megahed, one of the two indicted USF students, recently complained that his Muslim client was the victim of profiling. That’s, of course, as much a prerogative as it is a public ploy.

In do doing, Savage said this: “If this had been my son, if it was an Irish-American kid who had been stopped in Berkeley County going 60 mph, he might have been ticketed. More likely they would say, ‘Slow down, son. Keep on going.’ But they would never been viewed as suspicious individuals.”

Let’s put this into a broader, real-world context. Try this analogy.

Suppose you were an Irish-American kid traveling with a dubious itinerary, “fireworks” in the trunk, et al in Belfast, Northern Ireland during “The Troubles.” And you were stopped for speeding.

“Slow down, son” and “Keep on going” are not among the things that local police would likely say to the two Irish-American kids from Charleston. And an askance look of suspicion and a car search would be givens.

Nice try, counselor.

Sports Shorts

*Deja view: I’d like to see a promising future and a productive present when I look at the Bucs’ pricey, number one draft choice: defensive end Gaines Adams . Instead, I see Booker Reese.

*Reality check: Finally, Jon Gruden has his kind of savvy, mobile quarterback in Jeff Garcia . He certainly underscored the obvious recently. “No disrespect to anyone else who we’ve had here,” stated Gruden. “But he’s a much better quarterback than what we’ve played with. He’s just a much better player.”

But no disrespect. Sometimes brutal candor is much worse.

* Dan Wheeler , the bullpen set-up man traded to the Rays for popular and productive Ty Wiggington, has not been overly effective. His 0-4 record and high ERA speak for themselves. But his performance also ironically impacts the broadcast booth where neither color analyst Joe Magrane nor play-by-play partner Dewayne Staats are known as team apologists.

They are known as professionals, and it’s especially notable with Staats. He’s Wheeler’s father-in-law. But you’d never know it.

*Speaking of Magrane , he’s as fast with a quip off camera as on. To wit:

“Steroids in baseball; that’s like putting a mustache on the Mona Lisa .”

“No, I don’t begrudge today’s players making what they do. Hey, you can’t take it with you. That’s why there are no luggage racks on hearses.”

“I was having dinner the other night with Bono, and he said, ‘Joe, nobody likes a name-dropper.'”

*Enough of female sideline reporters eaves-dropping on ad hoc pep talks. Learn the game or get some pride and a real job.

Gator Uproar

The University of Florida can’t get Tim Tebow back into the headlines soon enough. That First Amendment fiasco over the tasered student at the John Kerry lecture was a national embarrassment.

UF’s campus police need to be trained to not handle a YouTube-yahoo provocateur as if he were a Danny Rolling clone. Arrest and get physical with the student who overstayed his time limit if he were threatening someone or inciting insurrection. Video indicated he didn’t incite much more than eye-rolling from a few fellow students and a nonplussed reaction from Kerry.

Open discourse is often far from a seamless exchange on a college campus.

Being an annoying, self-promoting prankster is still shy of a taser-able act.

VP Clark?

By any account, the Democrats have a leg up on next year’s presidential election. And by any recall, they are quite capable, if past is truly prologue, of screwing it up royally.

The country, to be sure, is largely disillusioned and fed up with the war in Iraq, but demands protection in a world too filled with jihadi Muslim crazies.

A politically pragmatic suggestion to Dems: Whoever your presidential nominee is, match her up with Wesley Clark to fill out the ticket. Yes, he didn’t distinguish himself as a campaigner last time, but that’s because he wasn’t a seasoned politician, which is not all bad.

More to the point, Clark is (literally) Rhodes Scholar smart, a former NATO commander and as good looking as Mitt Romney — which might give Bill something to ponder.

Frustrated Obama “Campaign” On Track For Fundraising

The smack down between the Democratic National Committee and the state of Florida — over the Sunshine State’s Jan. 29 presidential primary date — only grows more contentious. Talk of voter disenfranchisement and the threat of a Democratic convention sans 210 Florida delegates has already resulted in a lawsuit. And pressured by the first-among-equals early states – Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina – the candidates have pledged not to campaign past September in states — Michigan and Florida to date — that have defied the DNC-approved date of Feb. 5.

So what does a distracting controversy and a little intra-party fratricide mean to those helping run a presidential candidate’s campaign in Florida?

“It’s frustrating, but we’ll make the best of it,” says Tampa’s Frank Sanchez, a member of Sen. Barack Obama’s national financial committee and a key Florida fundraiser and volunteer organizer.

“The uncertainty doesn’t help when you have a message to get out, and this becomes the dominant issue and political story,” adds Sanchez. “And as a Floridian, it’s just very disappointing to see this.”

But Sanchez, who also advises Obama on Latin America, points out that fundraising isn’t impacted. “There’s no violation if we do fundraisers,” he notes, “so it won’t affect our ability to raise money.”

That’s because there’s a Mack Truck-size loophole that will allow candidates to appear at Florida fund-raisers, but not make generic campaign stops. As long as there’s a charge – even $10-$15 – it’s not “campaigning.” Political ATMs, yes; whistle-stop speeches, no. That’s the well-hedged pledge.

Any chance a bunch of loopholier-than-thou lawyers are behind this one?

Meanwhile, the Obama bandwagon has scheduled a high-end ($1,000 minimum) fundraising doubleheader here in the Tampa Bay Area later this month (Sept. 30). The first gathering will be in Hyde Park at the home of Tom and Linda Scarritt; the nightcap at the Pinellas home of Tom and Donna Marie Main.

But on into the fall, there will be more than an absence of “campaign” stops in Florida. Don’t look for the candidates, including Obama, to make many, if any, fund-raising appearances either. “Practically speaking,” explains Sanchez, “his schedule will be very limited outside those first four states.”

Bullish Upset In Context

A show of hands. Anyone else hang in there all the way for that colossal, overtime, Saturday night-morphs-into-Sunday morning, USF win at Auburn? Thought so.

Let’s put that pulsating, nationally televised 26-23 victory for the ages into context.

*Auburn’s been playing football since the game looked like rugby; USF’s been at it for a decade. Auburn was the only team to defeat national champion Florida last year.

*USF is ranked ahead of Florida State, Miami, Michigan and Notre Dame.

*The Bulls picked up a ton of national publicity – and also returned from Auburn with a $650,000 check. As a result of the upset win, Sports Illustrated, The Sporting News , and the New York Times have joined ESPN in picking up on the upstart Bulls.

*Local interest now ramped up for the next two Bulls’ games – both at home. This Saturday (noon) North Carolina comes calling, and the Bulls’ biggest challenge will not be UNC – but not letting down against an inferior, Atlantic Coast Conference opponent. Imagine. The following Friday night top-five West Virginia visits, which should only be the biggest college game in the history of Tampa. Both games are on national television.

According to USF Sports Information Director Chris Freet, the Bulls anticipate a sellout — that’s 65,000 — for WVU.

*”There’s definitely an on-campus buzz,” says Freet. “And the Auburn win coming when it did means a lot of our freshmen are caught up early as Bulls’ fans. I think that will also be reflected in apparel sales. It’s all good.”*But just to keep the Bulls humble: Neither the (AP) writers’ (26) nor the ( USA Today ) coaches’ (27) poll ranked USF in the top 25 after the dramatic Auburn win. Moreover, the coaches’ poll had Auburn — Auburn! — ahead of USF at 26.

Just a hunch, but head coach Jim Leavitt might be using that snub to his advantage. North Carolina will find out first.

Muslim Profile Update

Andy Savage, the Charleston, S.C., attorney for Youssef Megahed, one of the two indicted USF students, recently complained that his Muslim client was the victim of profiling. That’s, of course, as much a prerogative as it is a public ploy.

In so doing, Savage said this: “If this had been my son, if it was an Irish-American kid who had been stopped in Berkeley County going 60 mph, he might have been ticketed. More likely they would say, ‘Slow down, son. Keep on going.’ But they would never have their car torn apart. They would never have been viewed as suspicious individuals.”

Let’s put this into a broader, real-world context. Try this analogy.

Suppose you were an Irish-American kid traveling with a dubious itinerary, “fireworks” in the trunk, et al in Belfast, Northern Ireland during “The Troubles.” And you were stopped for speeding.

“Slow down, son” and “Keep on going” are not among the things that local police would likely say to you. And an askance look of suspicion and a car search would be givens.

Nice try, counselor.

History Center Inclusion

This month marks the groundbreaking for the $52 million Tampa Bay History Center on Garrison Channel. The 60,000-square-foot museum, which is scheduled to open in December 2008, will be interactive and hands-on. The building will be certifiably “green.” It will debut with 30,000 artifacts, some pre-dating Jamestown.

A suggestion: One prominent exhibit should be dedicated to how this project was accomplished. From the $19.5 million in community investment public money to the History Center’s hustle, community education, professionalism and business plan – one that already has resulted in nearly $23 million raised.

And not only did the Hillsborough County Commission find the downtown project worthwhile and approve that $19.5-million construction contract, but it did so with praise and without posturing.

Now that’s historic.