Kurt Warner NFL Legend

In Burlington, Iowa, on June 22, 1971 the world welcomed Kurtis Eugene Warner. Kurt Warner plays as quarterback for the American football team the National Football League’s Arizona Cardinals. Originally, Warner was signed by the Green Bay Packers in 1994 as an undrafted free agent. In college, he played for Northern Iowa.

From 1998 to 2003, Kurt Warner achieved football stardom in a successful run with the St. Louis Rams. During this time, Warner also won not one, but two NFL Most Valuable Player awards in 1999 and again in 2001. He also won the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player award at Super Bowl XXXIV.

In high school is Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Warner played football for Regis High School. Later, Kurt Warner went on to attend the University of Northern Iowa, where he was third on the teams depth chart all the way through until his senior year. When given the chance to play as starting quarterback, Warner was given the title of the Gateway Conference Offensive Player of the Year.

After college, Kurt Warner signed up for training camp with the Green Bay Packers in 1994, but was let go before the beginning of the regular season. Warner then returned to the University of Northern Iowa where he worked with the football team as a graduate assistant coach. However, Kurt Warner had not given up on his dream to play in the NFL.

With no teams in the National Football League willing to give Warner a chance, he decided to try his hand in the Arena Football League with the Iowa Barnstormers in 1995.

In 1998, the St. Louis Rams signed Kurt Warner and he was allocated to the Amsterdam Admirals in the NFL Europe. Warner was the leader in the NFL Europe in passing yards and touchdowns. During the regular season in 1998 and the preseason in 1999, Warner settled into the role of backup quarterback for the St. Louis Rams. Warner took over as starting quarterback following Trent Green’s injury.

On June 3, 2004, Kurt Warner signed a deal to play with the New York Giants for two years. He began as the starting quarterback and helped the team win five of the first seven games in which he played. However, after quite a few less-than-stellar performances on the field and a losing streak that lasted through two games, the job of starting quarterback was passed on to Eli Manning.

At the beginning of 2005, Kurt Warner signed a $4 million contract with the Arizona Cardinals for one year and was instantly put in the place of starting quarterback. He had three unexceptional performances before he was replaced by Josh McCown following a groin injury.

Following a two-game struggle, Coach Dennis Green pulled McCown and re-inserted Kurt Warner as the starting quarterback. On Valentine’s Day in 2006, Warner signed a deal to play with the Arizona Cardinals for three years. The base salary of this deal is $18 million, with the added incentives for performance, Warner could be making as much as $22 million.

In October of 2006, Kurt Warner joined Mike Sweeney, Patricia Heaton, James Caviezel and Jeff Suppan in a political ad opposing a bill that supports embryonic cell research in the state of Missouri. The ad aired during the World Series that year.

Kurt Warner is married to US Marine Corp vet and then mother of two, Brenda. Warner adopted Brenda’s children Zachary and Jesse. The couple also has five other children together, Elijah, Kade, Jade and twins Sierra and Sienna. The Warners are born-again Christians.

by Julie-Ann Amos, professional writer, and owner of international writing agency www.ExquisiteWriting.com

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