Athletes - Kurt Warner

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	Athletes - Kurt Warner

:For the similarly named running back, see Curt Warner
.Kurtis Eugene Warner (born June 22, 1971 in Burlington, Iowa) is an American football quarterback currently playing for the Arizona Cardinals of the NFL.

Childhood & Early Career

Warner's story is considered one of the most inspirational in the history of American sports. He grew up in an abusive family situation and, after years of anonymity and tribulation, he developed into a very successful NFL quarterback. Warner studied and played football at Regis High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and went on to do the same at University of Northern Iowa. During college, he met his future wife Brenda (who also grew up in an abusive family situation and had an abusive previous marriage), whom he married in 1997 and adopted her two children, son Zachary & daughter Jesse. They also have 5 children of their own: sons Elijah and Kade, daughter Jada Jo, and twin girls Sierra Rose and Sienna Rae born in December 2005. Warner and Brenda are both born-again Christians.

After college, he attended the Green Bay Packers training camp in 1994, but was released from the team. Later he worked at the Cedar Falls Hy-Vee Food Store stocking shelves before being signed by the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League, in 1995. Warner was named to the AFL's All-Arena First Team in 1996 and 1997 as he led the Barnstormers to ArenaBowl appearances in both seasons.

NFL career

Warner left the Barnstormers to sign with the NFL's St. Louis Rams in 1998, and was allocated to the Amsterdam Admirals of the NFL Europe.

Warner was the backup quarterback for the St. Louis Rams during the preseason of the 1999-2000 season. When the starting quarterback, Trent Green, was injured in the preseason, Warner took over as the starter. Ironically, coach Dick Vermeil was not very happy or confident about putting in Warner as the starter and would not have done so if the more experienced backup quarterback Paul Justin had not been injured. In fact, at a press conference, Vermeil said that he was hoping Warner could hold the team together and win a game or two while they waited for Justin to be ready to play. Of course, Warner proved Vermeil wrong about his concerns. The accurate-throwing Warner, running back Marshall Faulk, and wide receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt were part of the high-scoring offense nicknamed "The Greatest Show on Turf." Warner's magical season, in which he tossed a staggering 41 touchdown passes, is regarded as one of the top seasons by a quarterback in NFL history. Warner became the symbol of the Rams' giant turn-around in 1999. The offense registered the first in a string of 3 consecutive 500 point seasons, an NFL record.

In the NFL playoffs, Warner led the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl XXXIV victory against the Tennessee Titans. He threw for a record 414 passing yards that game including a 73 yard touchdown strike to Bruce when the game was tied with just over 2 minutes to play. He was Super Bowl MVP in 1999, becoming one of the select few to win both the League MVP and Super Bowl MVP in the same year. The others are Bart Starr in 1966, Terry Bradshaw in 1978, Joe Montana in 1989, Emmitt Smith in 1993, Steve Young in 1994.

Warner started the 2000 season red-hot, racking up 300 or more passing yards in each of his first 6 games (tying Steve Young's record) and posting 19 touchdown passes in that stretch. Also in 2000, former St. Louis Offensive Coordinator Mike Martz replaced the retired Dick Vermeil as Rams' head coach. Their relationship would start off warm (like that between Warner and Vermeil) and would remain that way for the next few years. Warner broke his hand and missed the middle of the 2000 campaign, but Trent Green was able to step in and the Warner/Green duo led the Rams to the highest team passing yard total in NFL history, with 5,232 net yards. Warner and Green's combined gross passing yard total was 5,492, which if held by only one, would easily surpass 5,084 yards, the single-season record set by Dan Marino. For the first time in his short career, though, Warner showed a disturbing tendency to lock onto receivers and force turnovers; he threw an interception in 5.2% of his passing attempts (18 int in 347 attempts). Still, an injured Warner was one of the most formidable passers in the NFL. Due to a very poor defensive unit, though, the Rams were eliminated from the playoffs in the Wild Card round despite one of the most productive offensive years by a team ever. In response to the poor defensive performance, nine of the Rams' eleven defensive starters would be cut during the offseason, as St. Louis reloaded for another Super Bowl run.

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Athletes - Kurt Warner

Childhood & Early Career

NFL career

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