 |  |  |  |  |  |  |
Logo by Max Layne Photography
| Kurt Warner Retires The NFL Loses One of Its Most Inspirational Players Ever by Dale Kulas, Entertainment Review Staff |
In case you missed it, earlier this week two time NFL league MVP Kurt Warner retired. There has been some debate if he is worthy of being in the NFL Hall of Fame due to his inconsistency
throughout his career. Kurt Warner had one of the wildest rides of any other NFL player to date. It took him many toils to prove he had what it took to make it in the NFL. Warner had early
success with the Cardinals, an injury-plagued middle portion of his career and finally going out with a bang in his final two seasons with the Cardinals. For the past several years has been
one of my favorite players to follow season to season, and for this column I would like to commemorate his career with a little biography of his rollercoaster of a ride.
Even though Warner did not play his first NFL pro game until the 1998 season, he had his first tryout with the Packers in 1994. Unfortunately, trying to compete with Brett Favre, Mark Brunell
and Ty Detemer proved to be too much and Warner was cut before the beginning of the season. No other team would give him a look, and Warner was forced to take a job back home in Iowa
at a grocery store. Now you know why the sacking Kurt Warner achievement in “Madden NFL 10” is called “Go Bag Some Groceries.”
Kurt did not give up on his dream. He went on to ply his craft in Arena Football, and played three seasons with the Iowa Barnstormers from 1995 to 1997, leading them to the Arena Bowl in
1996 and 1997. He was the poster boy for Arena Football, becoming the cover star for the first Arena Football game on PSone titled, “Kurt Warner’s Arena Football Unleashed.” His high
caliber Arena play landed him a job with the Rams in 1998, and he went on to hone his craft in NFL Europe in 1998 for the Amsterdam Admirals while being third in the Rams depth chart.
In 1999, after a preseason injury to starter Trent Green, Warner was named starter and exploded to one of the most productive offensives of all time. He threw for 4,351 yards and 41 TD
passes, and his highlight reel year was coined “The Best Show on Turf.” The perfect season He led the Rams to win Super Bowl XXXIV against the Titans. He won both the Super Bowl and
NFL League MVP awards that year. Two years later, Warner had another pro-bowl caliber season that landed him another NFL League MVP Award and led the Rams to another Super Bowl,
but came up short to a last second field goal against the Patriots.
2002 and 2003 were Warner’s worst years. Injuries plagued his performance, and in 2003 he was benched for the rest of the season after fumbling six times. He went to the Giants in 2004 in
a move to provide tutelage to their highly touted draft pick, Eli Manning. Warner started off the season well, but after a pair of back to back losses halfway through the season, the Giants
decided it was time for Eli to step up and take the reins.
Kurt Warner then went to one of the worst teams in NFL history, the Arizona Cardinals in 2005. In 2005 and 2006, Warner’s performance was all over the board. It fluctuated game to game,
and was riddled with minor bumps and injuries along the way preventing him from full time playing. The Cardinals were high on their 2006 number one draft pick, Matt Leinart. After several
games in 2006, Warner was benched and it looked like he would spend the remainder of his career backing up Matt Leinart.
Fate would have a different role to play however, after Leinart went out due to injury a few games into the 2007, Warner would fill in and played at a level since his pro-bowl Rams days. His play
continued to excel that he ended up winning the starting position over Matt Leinart going into the 2008 season. 2008 was a banner year for Warner, even though the Cardinals only went 9-7
that season, it was enough to win their first division title since 1975. Warner’s play continued to ride high in the post season, and their success got the Cardinals into their first ever Super
Bowl. Warner had a little déjà vu however, as in the final minute of play the Steelers made a score to win the big game.
2009 turned out to be Kurt’s final year of play; Warner got selected to a second straight pro bowl, and led the Cardinals to a second straight division title. He had an awesome performance in
their Wild Card postseason game against the Packers in a game that saw him throw more touchdowns than incomplete passes (5 TDs, while going 29 of 33!).
With Kurt Warner retiring, the NFL has lost one of their most inspirational players of all time. Whether it be paying his dues in Arena Football and NFL Europe for four years, to overcoming a
rough patch in the middle of his career, Kurt Warner is living proof that hard work does pay off.
throughout his career. Kurt Warner had one of the wildest rides of any other NFL player to date. It took him many toils to prove he had what it took to make it in the NFL. Warner had early
success with the Cardinals, an injury-plagued middle portion of his career and finally going out with a bang in his final two seasons with the Cardinals. For the past several years has been
one of my favorite players to follow season to season, and for this column I would like to commemorate his career with a little biography of his rollercoaster of a ride.
Even though Warner did not play his first NFL pro game until the 1998 season, he had his first tryout with the Packers in 1994. Unfortunately, trying to compete with Brett Favre, Mark Brunell
and Ty Detemer proved to be too much and Warner was cut before the beginning of the season. No other team would give him a look, and Warner was forced to take a job back home in Iowa
at a grocery store. Now you know why the sacking Kurt Warner achievement in “Madden NFL 10” is called “Go Bag Some Groceries.”
Kurt did not give up on his dream. He went on to ply his craft in Arena Football, and played three seasons with the Iowa Barnstormers from 1995 to 1997, leading them to the Arena Bowl in
1996 and 1997. He was the poster boy for Arena Football, becoming the cover star for the first Arena Football game on PSone titled, “Kurt Warner’s Arena Football Unleashed.” His high
caliber Arena play landed him a job with the Rams in 1998, and he went on to hone his craft in NFL Europe in 1998 for the Amsterdam Admirals while being third in the Rams depth chart.
In 1999, after a preseason injury to starter Trent Green, Warner was named starter and exploded to one of the most productive offensives of all time. He threw for 4,351 yards and 41 TD
passes, and his highlight reel year was coined “The Best Show on Turf.” The perfect season He led the Rams to win Super Bowl XXXIV against the Titans. He won both the Super Bowl and
NFL League MVP awards that year. Two years later, Warner had another pro-bowl caliber season that landed him another NFL League MVP Award and led the Rams to another Super Bowl,
but came up short to a last second field goal against the Patriots.
2002 and 2003 were Warner’s worst years. Injuries plagued his performance, and in 2003 he was benched for the rest of the season after fumbling six times. He went to the Giants in 2004 in
a move to provide tutelage to their highly touted draft pick, Eli Manning. Warner started off the season well, but after a pair of back to back losses halfway through the season, the Giants
decided it was time for Eli to step up and take the reins.
Kurt Warner then went to one of the worst teams in NFL history, the Arizona Cardinals in 2005. In 2005 and 2006, Warner’s performance was all over the board. It fluctuated game to game,
and was riddled with minor bumps and injuries along the way preventing him from full time playing. The Cardinals were high on their 2006 number one draft pick, Matt Leinart. After several
games in 2006, Warner was benched and it looked like he would spend the remainder of his career backing up Matt Leinart.
Fate would have a different role to play however, after Leinart went out due to injury a few games into the 2007, Warner would fill in and played at a level since his pro-bowl Rams days. His play
continued to excel that he ended up winning the starting position over Matt Leinart going into the 2008 season. 2008 was a banner year for Warner, even though the Cardinals only went 9-7
that season, it was enough to win their first division title since 1975. Warner’s play continued to ride high in the post season, and their success got the Cardinals into their first ever Super
Bowl. Warner had a little déjà vu however, as in the final minute of play the Steelers made a score to win the big game.
2009 turned out to be Kurt’s final year of play; Warner got selected to a second straight pro bowl, and led the Cardinals to a second straight division title. He had an awesome performance in
their Wild Card postseason game against the Packers in a game that saw him throw more touchdowns than incomplete passes (5 TDs, while going 29 of 33!).
With Kurt Warner retiring, the NFL has lost one of their most inspirational players of all time. Whether it be paying his dues in Arena Football and NFL Europe for four years, to overcoming a
rough patch in the middle of his career, Kurt Warner is living proof that hard work does pay off.
