Kurt Warner was left for dead after taking the St. Louis Rams to the Super Bowl at the age of 30. That happened way back in 2001. Now, 8 years later, there is no way anyone would have predicted that he would find himself back in the big game. No one, that is, except himself. Considering he only played in 7 games in 2002, in only 2 games in 2003, and was replaced by rookie Eli Manning in 2004 in New York. So where is a dried-up, has-been to go when a career goes dry? How about the desert heat? So that is where he went…Arizona. In 2005, Warner threw the ball a lot because…well…there wasn’t anything else his team COULD do. And he got hit a lot. And that’s not good when you are 34 and apparently biding your time to retirement.
And then when the Cards drafted Matt Leinart, it looked like he would be kept around to train the rookie QB of the Cardinals’ future. But, in an interesting twist of fate, Warner didn’t cave to the call of retirement. Instead, he fought for a starting position and got it. His experience & poise kept him in the top spot and the capable hands of 2 very good wide receivers also helped. So now, Warner is back in the drivers seat, facing off against another one of those rookie upstarts in Ben Roethlisberger.
Can Warner do it one more time? Can he stave off all of the “old age” talk and lead his Cardinals to the first Super Bowl win in franchise history? I will be rooting for him! Warner has shown, time and time again, that he is a class act. Put all of his amazing stats aside, he is a great man doing great things, not only on the field, but off it. A born again Christian, Warner never passes up a chance to give God a shout out in interviews and has done plenty of charity work in his lifetime. He and his wife have 7 kids (Warner adopted his wife’s 2 children from a previous relationship) and he continues to be a strong spokesperson for husbands and fathers everywhere.
Kurt Warner is a class act in a league that is in dire need of “class acts”. With so many negative stories coming out of the NFL, Warner is a breath of fresh air. Throw in stats that are equivalent to some of the other great quarterbacks in NFL history, I am going out on a limb here and saying with his win in the NFC Championship game this year versus the Eagles, Warner has locked up a place in the NFL Hall of Fame. But…that is many years down the road. Right now, he has a chance to become a legend. And THAT is something far better than a head in a dark room.
A Round World Through Square Glasses 
Go Cards!!! I’ll be rooting for them. I agree Warner is a nice change of pace from the normal bad images many NFL players portray.
It looks like I’ll need to find that old Rams jersey for the big game in a few weeks. I wonder if he’ll call it a day if he wins another one?
Peter Brown, an obscure, late night weekend announcer for Sporting News Radio, decided that last night was a good time to bash Warner’s “shouts out” for God in his post game interviews. Warner is anything but arrogant in his demeanor and in his remarks, and while Brown chose to take offense by saying that Warner seems to think God is on his side, and makes people who don’t share his views feel bad about themselves, I say he missed the mark on his poor judgement of Warner by a wide mile. Brown should have kept his opinion to himself and avoided letting his bias show.
As a long suffering Cardinals fan, from the days when they first move the franchise to my hometown, I’m ecstatic over yesterday’s win, doubly so for Kurt Warner.
I would love to see Kurt seal the Hall of Fame bid. It will sound sappy but here is my Kurt Warner story: We live in west county St. Louis. My wife was at a local breakfast eatery, during the period of time that Kurt played for the Rams, with two of my daughters. She notices Warner enjoying breakfast with a man in a suit. She leaves him alone till he is done with his meal and when he gets up she lets the girls go over and ask for autographs. He pulls out his trading card with scripture on the back and signs it with their names and pats them on the head.
Classy, professional move, right? My wife and daughters finish their meal beaming over their souvenirs. Then when my wife asks for the check the waitress says, “Sweetie, Kurt Warner paid for you and your girl’s breakfasts.”
Yeah, I know, he’s a high-paid athlete. The $20-25 tab was nothing to him. But the fact that he even thought about it was what impressed me.
Brian Marchant-Calsyn
THAT is an awesome story! And it seals the deal…I am REALLY rooting for the Cards now! 🙂