Kurt Warner

This article is about the American football quarterback. For the American football running back, see Curt Warner.

Kurtis Eugene Warner (born June 22 1971, Burlington, Iowa) is a professional American football quarterback on the Arizona Cardinals. He is best known for his stint with the St. Louis Rams from 1998 to 2003, where he won two NFL MVP awards in 1999 and 2001, as well as the Super Bowl MVP award in Super Bowl XXXIV. He holds the distinction of being the most accurate quarterback in NFL history, with a career completion percentage of 65.6%.

High School and College Career

Warner played football at Regis High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and went on to do the same at the University of Northern Iowa. At University of Northern Iowa, Warner watched two quarterbacks battle up until his senior year. When Warner was finally given the chance to start, he was named the Gateway Conference's Offensive Player of the Year. During college, he met his future wife, Brenda, whom he married in 1997 and adopted her two children, son Zachary and daughter Jesse. They also have 5 children of their own: sons Elijah and Kade, daughter Jada, and twin girls Sierra Rose and Sienna Rae. Warner and his wife are both Evangelical Christians.

Arena Football and NFL Europe

After completing his college career at the University of Northern Iowa, he attended the Green Bay Packers training camp in 1994, but was released before the regular season began. Warner later worked at the Cedar Falls Hy-Vee grocery as a stocker 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 both 1996 and 1997 as he led the Barnstormers to Arena Bowl appearances in both seasons. He was also on a 20 player list of the best arena football players of all time.

In 1998 Warner was signed to be a quarterback in NFL Europe for the Amsterdam Admirals.

St. Louis Rams

1999 Season

Warner was the backup quarterback for the St. Louis Rams during the 1999 preseason. When starting quarterback Trent Green was injured in a preseason game, Warner took over as the starter. With the support of running back Marshall Faulk and wide receivers Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, Warner completed one of the top seasons by a quarterback in NFL history by throwing for 4353 yards with 41 touchdown passes and a completion rate of 65.1%. He was named the 1999 NFL MVP at the season's end.

With a high-powered offense nicknamed "The Greatest Show on Turf," Warner became the symbol of the Rams' turnaround in 1999. The offense registered the first in a string of three consecutive 500-point seasons, an NFL record.

In the NFL playoffs, Warner led the Rams to a Super Bowl XXXIV victory against the Tennessee Titans. He threw for two touchdowns and a Super Bowl record 414 passing yards, including a 73 yard touchdown to Isaac Bruce when the game was tied with just over two minutes to play. Warner also set a Super Bowl record by attempting 45 passes without a single interception.

Warner was awarded the 1999 Super Bowl MVP, becoming one of only six players to win both the league MVP and Super Bowl MVP awards in the same year. The others are Bart Starr in 1966, Terry Bradshaw in 1978, Joe Montana in 1989, Emmitt Smith in 1993, and Steve Young in 1994.

2000 Season

Warner started the 2000 season well, 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. Warner broke his hand and missed the middle of the 2000 campaign, but Trent Green filled in ably 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 just one player, would surpass the single-season record set by Dan Marino (5,084 yards). In contrast to his previous season, however, Warner's turnover ratio drastically increased in 2000, throwing an interception in 5.2% of his attempts. Due to a very poor defensive unit, the Rams were eliminated from the playoffs in the wild card round despite one of the most productive offensive years by an NFL team. Nine of the Rams' eleven defensive starters would be cut during the offseason, and Trent Green was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs.

2001 Season

Warner quickly returned to form in 2001. Although his season lagged behind his 1999 performance, he amassed a league-high 36 touchdown passes and 4,830 passing yards, a total second only to Dan Marino all-time. Warner lacked the accuracy he showed in 1999, however, by throwing a career-high 22 interceptions. He led "The Greatest Show on Turf" to an NFL-best 14-2 record and an appearance in Super Bowl XXXVI, which the heavily favored Rams lost to the New England Patriots. He was named the NFL MVP for the second time at the close of the season, giving the Rams their third winner in as many years (running back Marshall Faulk won in 2000).

In Super Bowl XXXVI Warner threw for 365 yards and a passing touchdown along with two interceptions and one rushing touchdown. After falling behind the Patriots 17-3, two Warner touchdowns tied the game late in the fourth quarter. The game ended when Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri booted a game-winning field goal as time expired, giving the Patriots the first of three Super Bowl wins in four years. Warner's 365 yards passing was second only to his own record of 414 in Super Bowl XXXIV.

2002-2003 Seasons

Going into 2002, analysts felt that Warner's Super Bowl XXXVI loss was an aberration, but observers noticed a distinct loss of velocity on Warner's throws in the 2002 preseason. Warner began the season 0-3 as a starter, throwing seven interceptions against only one touchdown. In their fourth game against the Dallas Cowboys, Warner broke a finger on his throwing hand, and despite attempting to come back later in the season, his injury only allowed him to play two more games (both losses). In contrast to his 103.4 career passer rating entering the season, Warner posted a minuscule 67.4 rating in 2002. Warner was replaced as the Rams' starting quarterback after fumbling six times in the opener of the 2003 season against the New York Giants. Warner's replacement as the Rams quarterback, Marc Bulger, would be named to two Pro Bowls and is currently third all-time in completion percentage (trailing only Warner and Chad Pennington).

New York Giants

The Rams released Warner on June 1, 2004. Two days later, he signed a two-year deal with the New York Giants.

Warner started the 2004 season as the starting quarterback, winning five of his first seven games, but following several poor performances in a two-game losing streak, rookie quarterback Eli Manning was given the starting job. Giants coach Tom Coughlin later stated that he regretted starting Warner and should have played Manning from the beginning in order to give him experience and build his confidence. The Giants had a 5-4 win-loss record at the time of Warner's benching, finishing at 6-10 overall (going only 1-6 under Manning).

Arizona Cardinals

In early 2005, Warner signed a one-year, $4-million contract with the Arizona Cardinals, and was quickly named the starter by coach Dennis Green. Warner posted three relatively mediocre performances before injuring his groin and being replaced by former starter Josh McCown. McCown played in two games during Warner's injury, performing well enough that Green named McCown the starter for the remainder of the season.

The change in Warner's status led many sports analysts (including Dan Marino) to conclude that Warner's days of being a starting quarterback in the NFL were over. After McCown struggled in two straight games, however, Green re-inserted Warner into the starting line-up. After playing fairly well in two consecutive losses (passing for a total of nearly 700 yards), Warner defeated his former team, the Rams, by a score of 38-28. He passed for 285 yards and three touchdowns while posting a quarterback rating of 115.9. Warner's season ended in Week 15 when he partially tore his MCL.

Warner signed a new three-year deal with the Cardinals on February 14, 2006.

In Week One of the 2006 NFL season Warner won the NFC Offensive Player of the Week award, throwing for 301 yards and three touchdowns in a win over San Francisco. Two weeks later Warner passed the 20,000-yards passing milestone in his 76th game, one game more than record holder Dan Marino, although Marino accomplished the feat in his 5th season while Warner was in his 9th.

After three subpar games in Weeks 2-4, Warner was replaced at quarterback by rookie Matt Leinart in the fourth quarter of Week 4. Coach Green stated that Warner will be the backup quarterback for the remainder of the season.

Kurt Warner has said that he will return to the Arizona Cardinals for the 2007 NFL season.

The Arizona Cardinals are 3-12 with a winning percentage of .200 in games that Warner has started.

Career Stats

Passing Stats

Year	Team	G-S	Passing Att.-Comp.	Yards	Pct.	TD	Int.	Long	Sacks-Lost	Pass Rating
1998	St. Louis	1-0	11-4	39	.364	0	0	21	0-0	47.2
1999	St. Louis	16-16	499	4,353	.651	41	13	75	29-201	109.2
2000	St. Louis	11-11	347-235	3,429	.677	21	18	85	20-115	98.3
2001	St. Louis	16-16	546-375	4,830	.687	36	22	65	38-233	101.4
2002	St. Louis	7-6	220-144	1,431	.655	3	11	43	21-130	67.4
2003	St. Louis	2-1	65-38	365	.585	1	1	37	6-38	72.9
2004	New York	10-9	277-174	2,054	.628	6	4	62	39-196	86.5
2005	Arizona	10-10	375-242	2,713	.645	11	9	63	23-158	85.8
2006	Arizona	7-5	168-108	1,377	.643	6	5	64	14-104	89.3
Totals		80-74	2,508-1,645	20,591	.656	125	83	85	190-1,175	93.8
Postseason		7-7	169-268	2,221	.631	15	10	n/a	n/a	92.3

External links

• Kurt Warner: Urban Legend v. Truth Warner's personal life, marriage, and four children
• Warner's First Things First Foundation
• Warner's Good Sports Gang
• Kurt Warner at NFL.com
• Kurt Warner at azcardinals.com
• Kurt Warner at ArenaFan Online
• Pro-Football-Reference.com: Kurt Warner

Further reading

• Warner, Kurt & Silver, Michael, (2000). All Things Possible. San Francisco: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-251717-1 (cloth) ISBN 0-06-251718-X (paper back).