Look back: NFL scandal so shocking it left a cleanup crew traumatized. What Really Happened on the Minnesota Vikings’ Love Boat? The NFL’s dirtiest scandal explained

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Daunte Culpepper looks on during the game against the Green Bay Packers. (Image via Getty and Twitter/X) Fred Smoot had one piece of advice for anyone who ever got on that ship: “If you ever get on that ship, please don’t turn on the black light. Please.”Delivered to Barstool Sports in 2018, this series tells you everything you need to know about October 6, 2005. The Minnesota Vikings’ “Love Boat” scandal remains the most illegal, most talked about and most stunning off the field incident in modern NFL history, and 20 years later, it’s found its way back into the conversation.

None of this becomes a national story without Cathy Hough.Hough lived at 4997 Tuxedo Blvd. in Mound, Minnesota, a five-minute walk from Al and Alma’s Lake Minnetonka Charter Boat Company. On the night of October 6, 2005, she was folding laundry when she looked out of her bedroom window and saw a black limousine bus pulling up to the corner of her street. Seven large men climbed out and lined up at her court.They peed on her weed. Hough came out and yelled at them, and one of the men said to him, “It’s just water, ma’am.”She got into her Chevy Lumina, followed the bus to Al and Alma, drove home and called 911. That call set off a police investigation that turned the NFL upside down.The two-yacht excursion was organized by first-year Vikings safety Fred Smoot and possibly two other players, according to Stephen Doyle, an attorney for Al and Alma’s. Smoot had an $80,000 budget and threw a rookie party one night during the team’s bye week. He put down his credit card, chartered two large houseboats and arranged for prostitutes to fly in from Atlanta, Miami, Los Angeles, New York and Texas. About 100 women arrived in limousines. “You’d think the president was moving at this point,” Smoot later told Barstool Sports.After supervisors learned what was happening on board, the ships were ordered back to shore just 40 minutes into the scheduled 3.5-hour voyage. The cleaning crew found used condoms, KY jelly and sex toy wrappers on both vessels. One crew member told investigators, “They’ve never experienced anything like this in the history of this group of people.”

On December 15, 2005, Hennepin County prosecutors charged Daunte Culpepper, Fred Smoot, Bryant McKinney, and Moe Williams with three felonies: disorderly conduct, disorderly conduct, and lewd or lascivious behavior. Each charge carried a maximum of 90 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.Specific allegations, according to eyewitness accounts, as reported by ESPN and Minnesota Public Radio: Culpepper was given a lap dance by a naked woman at a bar on one ship and put his hands on her. McKinnie placed the woman on a bar in the living room and performed oral sex on her, before receiving oral sex while sitting on a recliner next to three other unidentified men. Smoot used a sex toy on two women on the lounge floor. Williams got a lap dance from the dancer above without.Charges against Culpepper were dropped in April 2006. Williams was found guilty of disorderly conduct, fined $300 and ordered to complete 30 hours of community service. Smoot and McKinnie pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct in May 2006, paid a $1,000 fine and completed 48 hours of community service. Their 30-day jail sentences were suspended for one year.The NFL fined Smoot $82,352 and McKinnie $41,176 in September 2006. Neither was suspended. The day after McKinney’s fine, the Vikings extended his contract to seven years for $48 million.

The franchise paid a price that exceeded the fines.Head coach Mike Tice was fired at the end of the 2005 season, with the Love Boat scandal a major factor in owner Zygi Wilf’s decision. Wilf subsequently issued a 77-page code of conduct to all team employees. The Vikings went 9-7 that year and missed the playoffs on tiebreakers, a team that had been in the NFC Championship the previous season.Smoot, looking back years later, framed it the only way a human can: “We were a bunch of 20-year-olds with millions of dollars in our pockets. What do you expect guys to do? They’re going to have fun and find a little trouble.”And Cathy Hough, the woman whose 911 call started it all? The Vikings never apologized. Al and Alma sent her a gift basket. She told Sports Illustrated’s Jeff Pearlman, “I think it’s a public embarrassment to people.”

The Minnesota Vikings’ Love Boat scandal was a 2005 off-field dispute involving several Vikings players on two charter boats on Lake Minnetonka. Crew members reported public sexual acts and other inappropriate behavior, and four players were later charged with misdemeanors.

The Minnesota Vikings’ Love Boat scandal happened on October 6, 2005, during the team’s bye week. Several Vikings players were on two charter boats on Lake Minnetonka in Minnesota when crew members reported public sexual acts and other inappropriate behavior.

Daunte Culpepper, Fred Smoot, Bryant McKinnie, and Moe Williams were indicted in December 2005. They each faced charges of indecent behavior, disorderly conduct, and lewd or lascivious behavior.

Charges against Culpepper were dropped in April 2006. Williams was found guilty of disorderly conduct. Smoot and McKinnie later pleaded guilty to misdemeanor disorderly conduct and were fined by the NFL.

The scandal became infamous due to graphic witness allegations, a police investigation, misdemeanor charges, and damage to the Vikings’ public image. It also came during the regular season and became one of the NFL’s most talked about off-field controversies.