Culpepper's passing statistics are numbers worth promoting.(NFL)(National Football League, Daunte Culpepper)

Watching an NFL game on television is an exercise in numbers overload. Seemingly every pass, every catch, every rushing yard has some statistical meaning that has not escaped the network research departments. Problem is, when we see figures that actually have significance, they risk being muted by all these other wannabes.

So let's not wait any longer to embrace the handiwork of Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper. Now, here are some numbers with pizzazz. If you remember anything from the first half of this season, it should be his quick start toward tracking down some of the more sacred figures in the league record book, particularly Dan Marino's season mark of 5,084 passing yards. Let's give that mouthful some context; that means Marino averaged almost 318 yards per game. Doesn't seem possible that any mortal should be good enough to duplicate that output. But Culpepper is a candidate.

It would have been more likely for Peyton Manning to be the front-runner in any chase after Marino. It has been Manning, not Culpepper, who has demonstrated steady maturation, improving each year in honing the special skills needed to be a magnificent NFL quarterback. And even ...