Kurt Warner
American football player (1971 - )
- || At The Bottom
1995 -- It was a terrible day to move into a new apartment, and an even worse day for Kurt Warner's worthless car to die. It was the coldest day of the year, and snow had been falling since the previous day in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Drifts piled up around the wheels as Warner tried to figure out how he was going to move all his family's stuff without a car. He wondered how on earth he'd wound up in this position. Just a few months earlier, he was throwing passes at the Green Bay Packers' training camp, working his way toward a spot as an NFL quarterback. The former University of Northern Iowa star was sure that he'd be a standout in the pros, so he was stunned when the team cut him. The quarterbacks coach told him he had talent but wasn't ready for the big time. Disappointed, Warner returned to Cedar Falls to live with his girlfriend, Brenda, and her children. He waited for another shot at an NFL roster spot, but no one called. He waited by the phone on draft day for the World Football League, but no one wanted him. Desperate for a job -- any job -- Warner found work at a Hy-Vee grocery store, where he stocked shelves for minimum wage and bought his groceries with food stamps. When officials from the Arena Football League called to see if he would join an expansion team in Iowa, Warner ignored the offers, believing arena football was a last resort. Now, as he stood in the middle of a blizzard with a useless car and no direction in his life, Warner wondered if things could get any worse.
- || At The Top
2000 -- Warner stood at midfield at the Georgia Dome and raised the silver Lombardi Trophy into the air, celebrating as the St. Louis Rams' became world champions for the first time. Warner, who had already received the league's Most Valuable Player award, had just been named MVP of the Super Bowl, having passed for more than 400 yards and two touchdowns. He had begun the season as a backup quarterback, but when the starter fell to injury, Warner stepped in and became one of the more unlikely heroes in the history of professional sports. He led his team to a surprising 13-3 record, throwing 41 touchdowns and accumulating more than 4300 passing yards -- a remarkable feat for any quarterback, much less one who had only played in one NFL game before the 1999-2000 campaign. Warner followed up the regular season by marching the Rams through the playoffs and leading them to a close win over the Tennessee Titans in one of the most exciting Super Bowls ever. Warner would bring the Rams back to the playoffs (and to another Super Bowl) over the next two years before moving on to play with the New York Giants and the Arizona Cardinals, where he served mainly in backup roles while his teams groomed younger quarterbacks for the starting job. In 2009, Warner put together another remarkable season when he brought the Arizona Cardinals -- a team that had not won a playoff game since 1947 -- to their first Super Bowl, where the underdogs lost on a last-second touchdown to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Even with the defeat, Kurt Warner had secured himself a place as one of the great quarterbacks in NFL history.
- || The Comeback
Kurt Warner had turned down offers from the Arena League because he believed he was capable of doing better. He soon realized, however, that the last resort is sometimes the only resort, and after six months of stocking groceries, he took a job as quarterback of the Iowa Barnstormers, a new team that he took to the league championship game each of the next two seasons. During the 1996 season his girlfriend -- whom he married the next year -- helped steer him toward a religious awakening. He became a born-again Christian, an experience he believes helped strengthen his character as well as his personal life. During his years in the Arena Football League, Warner continued to believe he still had a shot at the NFL. He inched closer in 1998 when the Rams signed him and sent him to play for a season with the Amsterdam Admirals in the NFL's European league. There, he led the league in passing yards and touchdowns -- which was enough to earn him a backup job in St. Louis the next year. Many football observers were stunned by what happened in 1999 -- but not Warner. Asked by a reporter whether he was "in awe" of his accomplishment, Warner explained that he wasn't. "People think this season is the first time I touched a football," he explained. "They don't realize I've been doing this for years -- just not on this level, because I never got the chance. Sure, I had my tough times, but you don't sit there and say, Wow, I was stocking groceries five years ago, and look at me now.' You don't think about it, and when you do achieve something, you know luck has nothing to do with it."
