#61

 

KURT WARNER

Nobody looked at the quarterback from Northern Iowa and gave him any serious consideration.

Nobody associated with the NFL who scouted Kurt Warner at Northern Iowa in the 1992 and ’93 seasons thought he had any kind of chance to be a decent pro quarterback.

Warner had been solid at Northern Iowa and proved himself to be an accurate passer when he completed 173 of 296 passes in his senior season. But Warner was not very athletic by NFL standards. He did not have a powerful arm. Scouts didn’t realize how accurate he was, because his receivers often broke so wide open that all Warner had to do was get the ball in the same area code if he wanted to complete passes.

Warner refused to take no for an answer. He may not have had a chance to prove himself to NFL scouts and coaches, but he did get the opportunity to play in the Arena Football League. While the competition may not have been stellar, AFL quarterbacks have to get rid of the ball quickly, put it in a very small window, and show decisive leadership with every snap of the ball.

Warner played three years with the Iowa Barnstormers, and in his last two seasons with that team, he had touchdown-interception ratios of 61-15 and 79-14. Nobody could deny that Warner was accurate with his passes and that he made the correct decisions with the ball. He opened eyes around the NFL, and after playing one season with the Amsterdam Admirals in Europe, the St. Louis Rams gave Warner a chance to carry a clipboard and put on an NFL uniform.

Warner joined the Rams in 1998 and it appeared he would be a backup quarterback and little else. However, that script got torn up in the summer of 1999. Head coach Dick Vermeil liked the look of his team in training camp, and he thought the Rams would have a real chance to win the Super Bowl.

However, when starting quarterback Trent Green was lost for the year when he suffered a knee injury in a preseason game, it seemed that Vermeil’s dreams went up in smoke. The Rams would now have to operate with Warner behind center.

Despite his success at the minor levels of the game, few thought Warner was ready for the big time. He was not a brilliant athlete, and he didn’t have the pedigree to compete successfully against the best players in the game.

Vermeil, as was his style, tearfully told the media that his team would rally behind Warner and wouldn’t miss a beat. However, it was hard to determine if Vermeil was trying to convince the media or himself.

But a funny thing happened when Warner took the field. He had Marshall Faulk on his side and a stellar receiving crew led by Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt. Warner quickly realized he had superior talent on his side, and he wanted to take advantage of his opportunity.

He exceeded all expectations, and he did it by miles. He had a brilliant year, completing 325 of 499 passes for 4,353 yards with 41 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The Rams were as powerful as Vermeil thought they would be, as they dominated the NFC.

The Rams not only won the NFC West, but also their 13-3 record was the best in the conference. They rocked the Minnesota Vikings in the divisional playoffs 49-37, and then played small ball as they edged the Tampa Bay Buccaneers by the unlikely score of 11-6 in the NFC Championship game.

Warner became the team’s unquestioned leader. The former Arena Leaguer, who had spent his offseasons working in a grocery store, became one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. It was an amazing rags-to-riches story, and the media was all over it.

However, to make the story complete, he had to come through in the Super Bowl against a strong Tennessee Titans team. The Super Bowl, of course, is often seen as the ultimate test for a quarterback. Skeptics thought Warner’s lack of pedigree could come back to haunt him in the biggest game.

The Rams jumped out to a 16-0 lead in the Super Bowl, but the Titans charged back and tied the score in the late stages of the fourth quarter. The Rams got the ball back with two minutes to go, and this was Warner’s chance to lead the Rams to the go-ahead score in the game.

Ideally, Warner would have led his team on a long drive and they would have kicked the winning field goal on the last play of regulation. However, Warner was not about leading his team to field goals. Instead, he hit Bruce with a 73-yard bomb and the Rams scored the go-ahead touchdown with 1:54 remaining.

While that gave the Titans time to mount a tying drive, the Rams’ defense stopped them one yard short, and they held on for the victory. It is the only Super Bowl victory in the history of the franchise.

Warner went on to have two more remarkable years with the Rams before injuries started to limit him. He would move on to the New York Giants in 2004, and suffered through a disastrous season. The following year, Warner was picked up by the Arizona Cardinals.

He suffered through two mediocre and injury-torn seasons, but he started to throw the ball well again in 2007. By the 2008 season, Warner was finally healthy again and throwing the ball with superb accuracy. He completed 401 of 598 passes for 4,583 yards with 30 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. More importantly, the Cardinals became a winning team with a 9-7 record.

That was good enough to get them to the playoffs, and the Cardinals reeled off postseason victories over the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers before they defeated the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game.

Warner was back in the Super Bowl, and this time he got to face the vicious Pittsburgh Steelers’ defense. The Cardinals took the lead late in the fourth quarter when Warner hit star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald with a 64-yard touchdown pass, but the Steelers staged their own game-winning rally and took the Vince Lombardi Trophy away.

Warner unexpectedly led two teams to the Super Bowl and won one championship and nearly a second. He proved himself to be perhaps the best undrafted player in the history of the game. He spent a career overcoming adversity and indignities to become one of the most accurate passers the game has ever seen.