Four Vikings Charged in Boat Party Incident

Four Vikings – Daunte Culpepper, Fred Smoot, Bryant McKinnie and Moe Williams – were charged with misdemeanors Thursday in connection with the infamous boat party on Lake Minnetonka Oct. 6.

The Vikings found out today that cornerback Fred Smoot, quarterback Daunte Culpepper, tackle Bryant McKinnie and running back Moe Williams are being charged with misdemeanors in the infamous bye-week boat party. Each of the players was charged with indecent conduct, disorderly conduct and lewd and lascivious conduct.

“We have been down this road with other players before and I’ll just let you know, as it pertains to any type of punishment or this or that, according to NFL rules and union contracts there is a big difference between allegations, charges and convictions,” head coach Mike Tice said before the charges became public. “So until at any point there is a conviction of any type, if there is, I have no actions to take and nothing to say.”

If convicted, the maximum sentence for each charge is a $1,000 fine or up to 90 days in jail. However, convictions could be weeks away and the Vikings only have three games left in their regular season. That could mean any disciplinary action, if any, by the league or team might have to wait until the start of next season.

“It won’t be resolved for quite some time, that much I know,” Tice said.

The Vikings have scheduled a press conference for 3:45 today.

Tice is trying to keep the team focused on their game against the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday, a game with huge playoff implications, but he admits that is more difficult to do with the boat story resurfacing.

“We are a little tense. I am a little tense. I tried not to be tense this week. We got rumblings of this last night in my (radio) show when the TV cameras were out there,” Tice said. “We knew at some point this would come up again. I really would like to just be able to focus 100 percent on the Steelers, but that is not the real world unfortunately.”