By Lori Shontz
Of the Post-Dispatch
07/31/2005
Giants Warner
Kurt Warner looks to pass against the Baltimore Ravens during a
preseason game last year at Giants Stadium.
(Jesse D. Garrabrant/Getty Images)
This time, Kurt Warner had the luxury of time. He wasn't in a big
hurry as he was in June 2004, when the Rams released him and he needed
to quickly find a team - any team - that could use a quarterback.
Last season's stint with the New York Giants ended, essentially, when
first-round draft pick Eli Manning took over the starting job in the
season's 10th game. That gave Warner plenty of time to think ... and
the entire offseason to find the perfect situation.
He had a checklist. A chance to start - without, as he put it, "having
to cheer for somebody not to do well." An offensive system that played
to his strengths. A team looking for a leader. An organization with a
bright future. And ideally, a warm-weather city for his wife, Brenda.
In the Arizona Cardinals, Warner said, he has met every single
requirement. "Not two out of three, not three out of four," he said by
phone from his new home in Phoenix. "Really, everything I was looking
for."
No, Warner wasn't specifically searching for a team that has posted
one winning record in the past 20 seasons and hasn't been to the
playoffs since 1998. But he said the Cardinals, who open training camp
today, remind him of another team that he joined when it was poised
for success - the Rams.
"St. Louis was built more around chemistry - everyone being on the
same page, everyone believing in everyone, everyone not caring who got
the credit, not worrying about who was going to be a superstar,"
Warner said. "I got that feel for this organization, where they were
going, the talent level they had."
The Cardinals sound equally pleased to have Warner. They say they
aren't concerned that in his past 16 starts, Warner has posted a 5-11
record. Or that in the past three seasons, he has thrown 10 touchdown
passes and 16 interceptions. Or that in nine games with the Giants, he
was sacked 39 times. Or that when the season starts, he will be 34
years old.
Arizona coach Dennis Green watched, literally, every throw that Warner
made with the Giants. (He said he didn't bother watching any film of
Warner in a Rams uniform: "He whipped us every time.") The exercise
put Green's mind at ease.
"When he has a chance to do his job ..." Green said, digressing
briefly into his philosophy that everyone has to carry his own water,
that no one can win by himself. "When Kurt had a chance to make good
throws, he made good throws. When his receivers ran the right routes.
If the protection's not there, there's nobody that can do their job."
Warner said the system is similar to the type of offense he ran so
successfully with the Rams. He also thinks the Cardinals, who improved
greatly on defense last season, their first under Green, are in need
of leadership on offense, something he can provide.
That's what Green expects from his new quarterback, as well - and it's
what younger players have noticed.
Take wide receiver Anquan Boldin, who was in high school and college
when Warner and the Rams were the talk of the NFL. "Everyone was
wanting to be part of an offense like that," Boldin said. "Every
Sunday, you'd turn on the TV just to watch the Rams rack up points and
yards. They made it look easy."
So when Warner became one of nine free agents to sign with the
Cardinals, Boldin took that as a good sign. Players were viewing
Arizona as a legitimate opportunity, not just a stop along the way.
And he was especially thrilled at the chance to play with Warner.
"Anytime you have a guy who played in two Super Bowls, who won the
MVP, I don't think he wants to go somewhere just to go somewhere,"
Boldin said. "He has the fire in him. He wants to win. I don't think
he would have come to Arizona if he didn't think he had a chance to
win."
Warner signed a one-year, $4 million deal with the Cardinals in March.
He said the free-agent process was much easier than it was after the
Rams released him; most teams had settled on their quarterbacks by
then, so he wasn't trying to look long-term.
"Last year was more about getting on the football field and trying to
have success as quickly as possible to open up a door in the future,
where hopefully I would become the starter and finish out my career
somewhere," he said. "It was really unlikely it was going to be New
York."
Thanks to mini-camp and a variety of other workouts, Warner enters
training camp already comfortable with the Cardinals' offense. He said
he can react without having to think through every little thing, a
level he never reached with the Giants.
"It was more managing it - doing what they ask you to do, playing
within myself, not making mistakes, all things I felt I could do as
well as I could do," Warner said. "Not only did I not have a full
comfort level in the offense, but it didn't call upon me to do some of
the things I am capable of doing. That makes it frustrating."
So between that and Manning, Warner knew that he wouldn't be the
starter for long. The hook came, however, quicker than he expected;
the Giants were 5-2 and seemed to be headed for the playoffs before
losing to Chicago by a touchdown and Arizona by a field goal in
November, when Manning took over.
Still, Warner accepted his role, saying it wasn't that difficult of a
transition to stand on the sidelines while a younger quarterback
played - "I'd been in that situation in St. Louis."
The difficulties came from the larger implications. "When politics
start to play into something, it's not just black and white, and it
gets a little more difficult to deal with," he said. "I don't know if
there's a great way or a better way to handle it. I understand it's a
prevalent part of the NFL, but I guess I was naive and didn't want to
believe that could play into it, even though I'd heard about it, seen
great players pushed out of an organization to make room for somebody
else. You never want to believe it could happen to you. I'm a little
more realistic what the NFL's all about."
In a similar vein, Warner wasn't surprised when the NFL announced the
schedule, which has the Cardinals opening against the Giants and
facing the Rams in Phoenix in Week 2. Neither was his coach.
"I call that the NFL's sense of humor," Green said. "The one thing
that surprised me is that we didn't have to go to St. Louis first."
That game comes on Nov. 20, not that the specific teams or venues on
the schedule mean anything to Warner.
"I'm not going to get all hung up with it," he said. "It's not a
vendetta. I'm so excited to be part of the Cardinals organization, in
a position to help turn around the franchise. It's not about showing
St. Louis that I can still play."
Of the Post-Dispatch
07/31/2005
Giants Warner
Kurt Warner looks to pass against the Baltimore Ravens during a
preseason game last year at Giants Stadium.
(Jesse D. Garrabrant/Getty Images)
This time, Kurt Warner had the luxury of time. He wasn't in a big
hurry as he was in June 2004, when the Rams released him and he needed
to quickly find a team - any team - that could use a quarterback.
Last season's stint with the New York Giants ended, essentially, when
first-round draft pick Eli Manning took over the starting job in the
season's 10th game. That gave Warner plenty of time to think ... and
the entire offseason to find the perfect situation.
He had a checklist. A chance to start - without, as he put it, "having
to cheer for somebody not to do well." An offensive system that played
to his strengths. A team looking for a leader. An organization with a
bright future. And ideally, a warm-weather city for his wife, Brenda.
In the Arizona Cardinals, Warner said, he has met every single
requirement. "Not two out of three, not three out of four," he said by
phone from his new home in Phoenix. "Really, everything I was looking
for."
No, Warner wasn't specifically searching for a team that has posted
one winning record in the past 20 seasons and hasn't been to the
playoffs since 1998. But he said the Cardinals, who open training camp
today, remind him of another team that he joined when it was poised
for success - the Rams.
"St. Louis was built more around chemistry - everyone being on the
same page, everyone believing in everyone, everyone not caring who got
the credit, not worrying about who was going to be a superstar,"
Warner said. "I got that feel for this organization, where they were
going, the talent level they had."
The Cardinals sound equally pleased to have Warner. They say they
aren't concerned that in his past 16 starts, Warner has posted a 5-11
record. Or that in the past three seasons, he has thrown 10 touchdown
passes and 16 interceptions. Or that in nine games with the Giants, he
was sacked 39 times. Or that when the season starts, he will be 34
years old.
Arizona coach Dennis Green watched, literally, every throw that Warner
made with the Giants. (He said he didn't bother watching any film of
Warner in a Rams uniform: "He whipped us every time.") The exercise
put Green's mind at ease.
"When he has a chance to do his job ..." Green said, digressing
briefly into his philosophy that everyone has to carry his own water,
that no one can win by himself. "When Kurt had a chance to make good
throws, he made good throws. When his receivers ran the right routes.
If the protection's not there, there's nobody that can do their job."
Warner said the system is similar to the type of offense he ran so
successfully with the Rams. He also thinks the Cardinals, who improved
greatly on defense last season, their first under Green, are in need
of leadership on offense, something he can provide.
That's what Green expects from his new quarterback, as well - and it's
what younger players have noticed.
Take wide receiver Anquan Boldin, who was in high school and college
when Warner and the Rams were the talk of the NFL. "Everyone was
wanting to be part of an offense like that," Boldin said. "Every
Sunday, you'd turn on the TV just to watch the Rams rack up points and
yards. They made it look easy."
So when Warner became one of nine free agents to sign with the
Cardinals, Boldin took that as a good sign. Players were viewing
Arizona as a legitimate opportunity, not just a stop along the way.
And he was especially thrilled at the chance to play with Warner.
"Anytime you have a guy who played in two Super Bowls, who won the
MVP, I don't think he wants to go somewhere just to go somewhere,"
Boldin said. "He has the fire in him. He wants to win. I don't think
he would have come to Arizona if he didn't think he had a chance to
win."
Warner signed a one-year, $4 million deal with the Cardinals in March.
He said the free-agent process was much easier than it was after the
Rams released him; most teams had settled on their quarterbacks by
then, so he wasn't trying to look long-term.
"Last year was more about getting on the football field and trying to
have success as quickly as possible to open up a door in the future,
where hopefully I would become the starter and finish out my career
somewhere," he said. "It was really unlikely it was going to be New
York."
Thanks to mini-camp and a variety of other workouts, Warner enters
training camp already comfortable with the Cardinals' offense. He said
he can react without having to think through every little thing, a
level he never reached with the Giants.
"It was more managing it - doing what they ask you to do, playing
within myself, not making mistakes, all things I felt I could do as
well as I could do," Warner said. "Not only did I not have a full
comfort level in the offense, but it didn't call upon me to do some of
the things I am capable of doing. That makes it frustrating."
So between that and Manning, Warner knew that he wouldn't be the
starter for long. The hook came, however, quicker than he expected;
the Giants were 5-2 and seemed to be headed for the playoffs before
losing to Chicago by a touchdown and Arizona by a field goal in
November, when Manning took over.
Still, Warner accepted his role, saying it wasn't that difficult of a
transition to stand on the sidelines while a younger quarterback
played - "I'd been in that situation in St. Louis."
The difficulties came from the larger implications. "When politics
start to play into something, it's not just black and white, and it
gets a little more difficult to deal with," he said. "I don't know if
there's a great way or a better way to handle it. I understand it's a
prevalent part of the NFL, but I guess I was naive and didn't want to
believe that could play into it, even though I'd heard about it, seen
great players pushed out of an organization to make room for somebody
else. You never want to believe it could happen to you. I'm a little
more realistic what the NFL's all about."
In a similar vein, Warner wasn't surprised when the NFL announced the
schedule, which has the Cardinals opening against the Giants and
facing the Rams in Phoenix in Week 2. Neither was his coach.
"I call that the NFL's sense of humor," Green said. "The one thing
that surprised me is that we didn't have to go to St. Louis first."
That game comes on Nov. 20, not that the specific teams or venues on
the schedule mean anything to Warner.
"I'm not going to get all hung up with it," he said. "It's not a
vendetta. I'm so excited to be part of the Cardinals organization, in
a position to help turn around the franchise. It's not about showing
St. Louis that I can still play."