Feb 03 2010
J-Speaks: A Great Signal Caller On and Off the Field Retires
From the first moment he got his chance to make a name for himself in the NFL, quarterback Kurt Warner made every moment count. He played well in big moments on the field and was even more of an impressive pro off the field. He was respected by his teammates as well as the organizations and fans he played for each Sunday. Last Friday in Tempe, AZ, the great signal caller closed this great chapter of his life.
On Friday, Warner announced his retirement from the NFL after a 12-year career in which he played for the St. Louis Rams (1998-2003), the New York Giants (2004) and the Arizona Cardinals (2005-2009).
He amassed incredible statistics in his career that should land him in the Hall Fame. He threw for 32, 344 yards, 208 touchdowns compared to 128 interceptions. His 1,156 passing yards in three Super Bowl appearances is the best in NFL history and those three games individually are the three highest passing yardage games in NFL history. The other four QBs he is ahead of are three current and multiple Super Bowl winners Hall of Famers Joe Montana, John Elway, Terry Bradshaw and current New England Patriots signal caller Tom Brady Warner’s 93.7 passer rating is the 3rd best of all-time. He is the 2nd quarterback in NFL history to throw 100 or more touchdowns for two different teams, the other is Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton who did it with the Minnesota Vikings and the Giants. He won two Most Valuable Player Awards (1999 & 2001) and was named Super Bowl MVP in Super Bowl XXXIV. He recorded 58 300-yard passing games and five games of 400 yards through the air. In the postseason he had a 9-4 record.
“Twelve of the best years of my life, but I want everybody to know that I’m excited about the next 12,” Warner said to reporters last Friday.
“I’m excited about spending more time with my family and seeing what God’s going to do next. I’m leaving at the right time at the right time and because I know that, it’s easy for me to walk away and say, ‘hey that is what it is. A great chapter; a great period in my life that I will never forget and its meant so much to me, but I don’t worry one bit about looking back and wishing that I played longer. I think it’s the perfect time and I’m ready.’ ”
To fully understand the greatness of Warner, you first have to learn where he began his football journey.
After he graduated from Regis High School in Cedar Rapids, IA, the Burlington, IA went onto the University of Northern Iowa where he was third on the quarterback depth chart until his senior year in 1993 where he threw for 2,747 yards and 17 TDs in leading the Panthers to an 8-4 record and a birth in the Division I-AA Playoffs. He was named the Gateway Conference Offensive Player of the Year.
Despite his great senior season, he was not selected by any NFL team in the 1994 NFL Draft. He did receive an invitation to try out for the Green Bay Packers in training camp of that year. He competed for a spot on the team against signal caller Brett Farve, Mark Brunell and former Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer. Warner was released from the Packers before the start of that season.
With no NFL future in site, Warner returned to Cedar Rapids and worked the night shift as a shelf stocker at the Hy-Vee grocery store for $5.50 an hour, while also working as a graduate assistant coach for the Northern Iowa football team.
The next year turned to the Arena Football League (AFL) and signed with the Iowa Barnstormers. In his three seasons with the team, Warner was named to the AFL’s First-team All-Arena in 1996 and 1997 and led them to three consecutive Arena Bowl appearances. On top of that he was named 12th on the AFL’s 20 best Arena Football players of all-time.
His impressive performance earned Warner a tryout in 1997 with the Chicago Bears, but an injury to his throwing elbow from a spider bite sustained on his honeymoon with his wife the former Brenda Carney Meoni derailed his chances.
In 1998, Warner final broke through into the NFL and was signed by the St. Louis Rams in 1998. He was assigned to the NFL Europe’s Amsterdam Admirals that year and led the league in passing yards and touchdowns.
The next year, Warner was promoted to back-up quarterback as the Rams signed Trent Green to be the team’s starter. On Aug. 28, 1999, the Rams whole outlook on the season changed as Green tore his ACL.
It was then that Warner was named the starter and then skepticism followed as the Rams were seen by many to be the bottom feeders of the NFL as they had been throughout the 1990s.
In a press conference prior to the start of the season, then head coach Dick Vermeil said to reporters, “We will rally around Kurt Warner and we’ll play good football.”
That is exactly what happened for the St. Louis Rams as Warner in his first NFL start versus the Baltimore Ravens threw for 309 yards and three scores as they won 27-10.
Warner became the first QB in NFL history to throw a touchdown pass in his first three starts.
He proved the league that he and the Rams were the real deal in the team’s fourth contest as they hosted the Kings of the NFC West the San Francisco 49ers, who won the division 12 of the past 13 years as well as beating the Rams in 17 of the previous 18 meetings. The Rams showed on that day they were not the same team of the past as Warner threw four first half touchdowns in leading the Rams to a 28-10 halftime lead. He would finish with five scoring throws and the Rams won 42-20. Threw four games, Warner threw 14 TDs and the Rams were undefeated at 4-0.
The team would finish the season 13-3, winning the NFC West as well as capturing home-field advantage in the NFC. Warner finished the season with 4,353 passing yards, 41 TDs and a 65.1 completion percentage. The Rams high-powered offense led by Warner and skilled players like all-world running back Marshal Faulk and wide receivers Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce, Ricky Prohel and Az-Zahir Hakim, the Rams offense was nicknamed, “The Greatest Show on Turf.”
In his first start in the postseason on Jan. 16, 2000, Warner and the Rams high octane offense kept the pedal to the metal as they defeated the Minnesota Vikings 49-37. Warner threw for 391 yards, five touchdowns and completed 82 percent of his passes.
In the NFC Championship game, the offense struggled for most of the game against a very stingy Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense. The Rams offense only managed a field goal by place kicker Jeff Wilkins and a safety through the first three quarters trailing 6-5. With 4:44 remaining in the game, Warner threw a 30-yard TD to Proehl that gave the Rams an 11-6 led and that they would never relinquish as they won the NFC over the Bucs by that score.
In Super Bowl XXXIV, Warner and the Rams hung with the AFC Champion Tennessee Titans for most of the game. Warner as he had all season managed to come up with a big play. In the fourth quarter, he threw a strike to Issac Bruce that he took to the end zone 73 yards to give the Rams a 23-16 lead. A goal-line stand by the Rams in the closing moments gave them the victory 23-16. Warner earned MVP honors with 414 passing yards, two touchdowns. He became the six player in NFL history to win the Super Bowl MVP and Regular Season MVP joining Hall of Famers Bart Starr, Bradshaw, Montana, Emmitt Smith and Steve Young.
The start to the 2000 season was no different as Warner continued his fine play with 300 plus passing yards in the first six contest, which tied Hall of Famer Steve Young and throwing 19 scores in that stretch. They would increase their record to 6-0.
The team unlike a year ago faced some adversity as Warner injured his hand and missed some time. The team despite strong play from back up Trent Green went 4-6 in the final 10 games to finish the season 10-6. What contributed to the Rams up and down play in the final weeks was a poor defensive unit and that Warner interception rate went from 2.6 percent (13 Ints) in 1999 to 5.2 percent in 2000 (18 Ints). The result the Rams lost to the New Orleans Saints in the Wild Card round of the 2000 NFL Playoffs 31-28.
As a result, the team traded Green to the Kansas City Chiefs in the off-season and nine of the 11 defensive starters for the Rams were let go and current Chicago Bears head coach Lovie Smith was hired as the Rams defensive coordinator.
The result, the Rams were back to their winning ways as the team go off to its 3rd straight 6-0 start in 2001. Warner amassed 36 touchdowns, completed 68.7 percent of his passes, but he did throw 22 interceptions. His great season earned him his second MVP award and the team clinched home-field advantage in the NFC and had the best record in the NFL with a 14-2 mark.
In the playoffs, they defeated the Green Bay Packers 45-17 in the Divisional round and then defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 29-24 in the NFC Championship Game to earn their second NFC crown in three seasons.
In Super Bowl XXXVI in New Orleans against the New England Patriots Warner threw for 365 yards, which at the time was the second-highest in Super Bowl history. Unfortunately, the Rams were unable to turn that yardage into points as the Pats defense stymied the Rams offense for the first three quarters.
St. Louis was able to get back into it thanks to a 1-yard touchdown by Warner and a 26-yard strike to Proehl that tied the game at 17 all. New England after that score marched down the field and place kicker Adam Vinatieri knocked in the game-winning field goal as time expired and the Pats won 20-17 to win their first of three Super Bowls.
The team would never be the same and neither would their great signal caller. Over the next two seasons Warner would go from a Super Bowl champion and the toast of the town to an often injured and unproductive leader of the Rams offense. The culmination of his demise came in the 2003 season opener when Warner fumbled the ball six times in the Rams 23-13 loss at the Giants. He would be replaced by current Rams quarterback Marc Bulger, who would lead the team to 12 wins in their final 15 games. The team finished atop the NFC West with their 12-4 record, but lost in the Divisional round to the NFC Champion Carolina Panthers in double overtime 29-23.
In the off season, the Rams released Warner and he was signed a two-year deal with the Giants on June 1, 2004.
He began the season very well in leading “Big Blue” to five victories in their first seven outings in 2004. Following a two-game slide to the Bears and the Cardinals, Warner was replaced by his understudy rookie Eli Manning. The team went 5-4 under Warner (6TDs, 4 Ints) but finished 1-6 with Manning under center as the team and went 6-10 in 2004.
In the early part of 2005, Warner signed with the Arizona Cardinals and almost immediately was named the starter under then head coach Dennis Green. While he showed flashes of brilliance that made him special in St. Louis, he did have his struggles. Throughout his first two seasons with the Cards, he would battle with young QBs like Josh McCown and Matt Leinart to be the starter.
Things came together for Warner in 2007 under new head coach Ken Whisenhunt. He threw 27 touchdowns in 14 games, one shy of the Cardinals all-time record and the team finished 8-8 that season.
The next season, Warner was even better throwing a team-record 30 touchdowns and just 14 picks, completed 67.1 percent of his passes and had a 96.9 quarterback rating. The team finished the season just 9-7, but won the NFC West for the first time since 1975 and earned their first playoff birth since 1998, the year they defeated the Dallas Cowboys in Dallas in the Wild Card round 20-7 on Jan 2, 1999.
In the post-season, they defeated the Atlanta Falcons at home in the Wild Card round 30-24 on Jan. 3, 2009. Warner went 19 for 32 for 271 and two touchdowns
The next week the Cards defeated the NFC South winner Carolina Panthers and won 33-13 in the Divisional round. Warner was 22 for 32 for 220 yards and two scores. The win not only avenged a 27-23 setback in Week 8 at the same venue, it also represented the Cards first victory on the East Coast in 2008.
On Jan. 18, 2009, the Cardinals hosted their first NFC Championship Game at home as they played against the Philadelphia Eagles. Behind a 279-yard passing four touchdown performance by the veteran signal caller, the Arizona Cardinals did the unthinkable and defeated the Eagles 32-25 to earn a trip to their first Super Bowl.
In Super Bowl XLIII versus the Pittsburgh Steelers, Cardinals started the game very flat as they trailed 10-0 in the early going. The team got on track late in the second period as Warner threw a 45-yard strike to Anquan Boldin to the Steelers’ 1-yard line. He would then throw a touchdown strike to tight end Ben Patrick to cut the lead to 10-7. In the closing moments of the 1st half Warner led the Cards down the field on an eight play 87-yard drive, but the drive was killed by a interception by linebacker James Harrison who took the pick back for a 100-yard touchdown, which became the longest play in Super Bowl history and gave the Steelers a 17-7 lead at intermission.
After the Steelers tacked on a field goal by kicker Jeff Reed to make the count 20-7 in the third quarter, Warner and the Cardinals went to work in the fourth period with floating score from Warner to Larry Fitzgerald early in the fourth. They would later then get two points on a safety. Then on their own 36-yard line, Warner threw a strike down the middle to Fitzgerald that he took 63 yards to the end zone that gave Arizona a 23-20 lead on the Steelers with 2:37 remaining in the contest.
The Steelers though went 78 yards on eight plays that culminated in a 6-yard touchdown to Super Bowl MVP Santonio Holmes in the corner of the end zone that gave Pittsburgh the lead and eventually the victory 27-23.
In the contest, Warner went 31 for 43 for 377 yards and three touchdowns with just one pick. In the second half alone, he was 19 for 25 for 242 yards and two touchdowns.
After that many thought was this it for Warner because he was a free agent and he was looking for a solid deal that would pay him about $14 million per season. In the beginning of free agency, which started on Feb. 27, 2009 things did not look good for him coming back to Arizona as the he and the organization could not come to an agreement. He even talked to the Cards division rivals the 49ers, who offered him a contract that was worth more than what the Cards offered him at $20 million for two years. On Mar. 4, 2009, Warner did resign with Arizona a two-year deal worth $23 million total with $4 million for each of the next two and a $15 million signing bonus.
In 2009, Warner was as good as ever as he threw 26 touchdowns to just 14 interceptions and had a QB rating of 93.2 and completed 66.1 percent of his passes. The team won its second straight NFC West crown going 10-6.
In the postseason, he delivered one of the all-time great performances in postseason history with a 29 for 33 for 379 yards and 5 touchdowns in the Cards 51-45 overtime victory by the Cardinals in the Wild Card round versus the Green Bay Packers on Jan. 29. He also recorded the second highest quarterback rating in NFL postseason history with a 154.1 rating and became the second quarterback to throw five touchdowns in a playoff game twice and the first to do it since the merger of the NFL and AFL.
The next week, the Cards season ended at the hands of the eventual NFC representatives in the Super Bowl as the New Orleans Saints defeated Arizona in the Divisional round 45-14. Warner went just 17 for 26 for 205 and had an interception.
The story of Kurt Warner is a classic example of what it means to stick with it. There were many times he could have let his dream go and no one would have given a care if he did. By him sticking with it, he showed that dreams can come true.
He also showed that you gain respect from your teammates and your opponents when you go out there and make a name for yourself in the biggest of moments both on and off the field.
“He’s a phenomenal player, but I think people will remember him as being a better man than as a football player,” Vikings defensive end Jared Allen said last week at the Pro Bowl.
“He set such a good example for young quarterbacks not only on the football field as a QB, but as a person,” Texans signal caller Matt Schaub said at the Pro Bowl last week.
With all of great numbers there one that illustrates what Warner did in his career with the Cardinals and Rams. He is one of three QBs to win a playoff game for a team coming off nine or more losing seasons in succession. The other two signal callers to do that are current ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer and former Cardinal Jake Plummer. For someone to take two perennial cellar dwellers of the NFL and turn them into teams of relevance should more than guarantee that Warner is selected to be a Hall of Famer in five years.
“No doubt; No question about it,” Cards safety Antrell Rolle said at the Pro Bowl last week. “If he doesn’t go first ballot, I don’t know anything about second ballot for him First ballot.”
“He’ll get my vote any day,” said his Cards teammate Darnell Dockett last week at the Pro Bowl. “For him to come into an organization that was not winning, to turn around take a team like the Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl and turn around the next year, win a division, to win a game in the postseason. What do you say about that?”
Whether he reaches the Hall of Fame on his first year of eligibility, the career of Kurt Warner proved a number of things. Anything is possible when you hang in their; that when one door closes you find another one to open. More than anything, when you have faith in yourself and show what you can do, that is how people develop faith in you and respect what you do. You also respect someone that you had a chance to meet in person as I had a chance to do about six years ago when I saw him with his family in Toys “R” Us in New York City with his family.
I think the host of ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown Chris Berman, Chris Carter and Mike Ditka put it best last Sunday at the Pro Bowl.
“The game was better because he played in it,” said Ditka.
“I think it’s a legacy of anything is possible,” said Carter. “We all had dreams and aspirations of playing in the National Football League, but none of our stories don’t even stand up to Kurt Warner and his story. It’s a real legitimate story and I believe that the human being is better than the football player that we’ve seen.”
“The NFL will miss him as a person and off course as a quarterback,” said Berman.
Information, statistics and quotes are courtesy of 1/29/10 4 p.m. edition of ESPN’s NFL Live; Fox Sports Arizona; 1/31/10 5:30 p.m. edition of ESPN’s Sunday NFL Countdown; www.espn.go.com; en.wikipedia.org;