Kurt Warner
Kurt Warner
Kurtis Eugene "Kurt" Warneris a former American football quarterback, a current part-time TV football analyst, and a philanthropist. He played for three National Football Leagueteams: the St. Louis Rams, the New York Giants, and the Arizona Cardinals. He was originally signed by the Green Bay Packers as an undrafted free agent in 1994 after playing college football at Northern Iowa. Warner went on to be considered the best undrafted NFL player of all time, following a 12-year career regarded as...
ProfessionFootball Player
Date of Birth22 June 1971
CityBurlington, IA
I was looking for someone that was willing to give me a chance to play the game the way I played again. He definitely allowed me to do that. ... It wasn't necessarily what he had done with quarterbacks in the past, although it never hurts to be a part of a team or with a coach that has had great offensive success and great success with quarterbacks.
A lot more is depending on me to do things with the football, to make decisions to throw the football to make big plays and help us win. That's more of what I'm used to doing. That's more of how I played in St. Louis. It's more the way I like to play.
Anquan reminds me a whole bunch of Torry: the way they run routes, their strength to the football. Larry's a big young receiver, continues to grow. Those two guys I played with in St. Louis are the two best receivers I ever played with. The guys here have the same potential.
I love playing here, ... I played in a dome in college. I played inside in Arena Football. I've played in the dome here. I just love playing inside. It's my element. It's what I'm comfortable with. ... It was great to get back in here. If we play this way at home, we're going to be a very, very tough team to beat.
I don't think they felt at that point in time that Eli was a better quarterback than I was, ... Maybe they did. It was never shown to me. I'm not trying to knock Eli by that. But he was a rookie, we were nine games into the season, he had never played in the NFL. I don't believe they felt he was going to do the things I couldn't do. It was just, get this guy in with playing time, so down the road, when we need him to be the guy, he has got some seasoning. He got better game in and game out.
It's funny because I've played against so many guys that I've played with over the years the last two weeks, ... It's probably not going to be any different. There's going to be some hugs and smiles before the game, but then you're going to get out there and battle.
I thought Eli looked poised. It was one of those games where, fortunately for him, he wasn?t called upon to do a whole lot. They had a lot of big runs and he had a couple of screens that were probably his biggest plays. I think the game played out the way they wanted it to. They took the pressure off him, which allowed him to continue to grow and get better.
Yeah, I think, yeah, in New York it was really a chance to showcase what I could still do and try to present myself with an opportunity like here in Arizona, ... It's where I can play the game the way I wanted to and hopefully write my own story.
I still think we have a lot of work to do, but guys are getting more comfortable and coming into their own. We have a lot of guys mixing in and out of the offensive line. You're talking basically the fourth center we've had in four games.
I think it is going to be sooner rather than later, so I'm very optimistic about it. Maybe not as optimistic as to hope I could be out there on Sunday, but optimistic that it'll happen soon.
That was huge, to get back in that rhythm early, ... That's what really set us apart. We had to get back to that attitude and that mentality and start making those plays early in the game.
To me, that's fun. It's a challenge every week, but fun from the standpoint that everything is predicated on what another team is doing.
We needed to get back to the mistake-free, care-free, fun-loving football that we're used to playing, ... This has got to give us a lot of confidence.
You know, ... I'm pretty sure I'm going to be an Arizona Cardinal.