Kurt Warner

"Well, first things first, I've got to thank my Lord and Savior up above — thank you, Jesus!"

- Kurt Warner

Kurt Warner was an NFL quarterback who was on four different NFL teams and played on two world league teams. He is one of the few quarterbacks to play in three Super Bowls. His quarterback career lasted for 15 years before retiring. He now is an NFL announcer for various television and radio stations.

Early Life
Kurt Warner was born in Burlington, Iowa June 22, 1971. He began his quarterback career at Regis High School, Iowa. Warner attended Northern Iowa in 1989 where he met his future wife Brenda Meoni who was a discharged Marine Corps corporal.

Quarterback Career
In 1993 Kurt graduated from Northern Iowa with a degree in communications. Going undrafted in the 94' season Kurt was signed by the Green Bay Packers that same season. Warner didn't stand a chance competing for the starting QB spot with Brett Favre, Mark Brunell and Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer and was released from the team before the regular season even started. Kurt returned home to Iowa to play for their Arena team the Iowa Barnstormers for three years. During this time, he married Brenda Meoni. During their honeymoon, Warner had a spider bite that prevented him from trying out for the Chicago Bears so instead he was signed by the St Louis Rams, however, his career did not take off until the 1999 season.

1999
In 1999 the St. Louis Rams' quarterback situation was a mess. The Rams dropped their first and second string quarterbacks and Warner was bumped up to back-up behind Trent Green. Before the season even started, Green tore his ACL and Kurt Warner became the starter. Warner went into week 1 doubted by all including teammates and coaches. Warner humiliated all his doubters utilizing Marshall Faulk, Isaac Bruce, and Tory Holt and throwing for 3 touchdowns in each of his first NFL starts (The only QB in NFL to do so). Kurt Blew the league away guiding the Rams to a 13-3 record and the number 1 seed in the playoffs. Getting the first round bye The Rams took down the Minnesota Vikings in an epic 49-37 shootout. In the divisional round against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Warner would struggle, only leading his team to 11 points, however it was enough to take the Rams to their second ever Super Bowl Appearance.

Super Bowl XXXIV
The Rams were the obvious favorites against the Tennessee Titans who had only gotten into the playoffs as a Wildcard team. The Titans however battled them hard holding the Rams All Star Offense to only 3 field goals while failing to score themselves. The Rams coming out of halftime would score the first touchdown taking a 16-0 lead. Before anyone could call the game the Titan fought back scoring 16 consecutive points. With 2:12 left on the clock Kurt Warner completed a 73 yard touchdown pass to Isaac Bruce. The Titans, lead by quarterback Steve McNair drove the Titans down the field and with 6 seconds left completed a pass to Kevin Dyson but was tackled by Mike Jones one yard shy of the goal line winning the Rams their first Super Bowl.

Post Super Bowl Career
After the Super Bowl, the Rams lacked the magic they had before. The whole team struggled including Warner, who missed games due to an injury. The Rams lost in the Wildcard round to the Saints after finishing the season 10-6. Warner and The Rams would return to the Super Bowl but would lose to the New England Patriots and their younger quarterback Tom Brady. With Warner playing terribly the next few years, the Rams benched him and later released him. Two days later the New York Giants signed Warner but would bench him early to the rookie Eli Manning. After watching a terrible season on the bench, Kurt quit the Giants. The next season Kurt signed a two year deal with the Arizona Cardinals.

Arizona
Kurt Warner definitely showed promise in his first two seasons as the Cardinals quarterback, however, the Cardinals went 5-11 both those seasons. Little blame was put on Warner's shoulders whereas most of it was given to the running back situation and the head coach, Dennis Green, who they fired after the 2006 season. The Cardinals hired Ken Whisenhunt, their offensive coordinator, as their new head coach. In 2007 the Cardinals proved to have a bright future ahead of them. Ken Whisenhunt's first season as head coach ended 8-8 which was an improvement to their previous seasons. Warner made use of his receivers Anquan Boldin and Larry Fitzgerald coming just one touchdown shy of the franchise record for passing touchdowns in a season (28).

2008
In 2008 Kurt Warner played like the player he was and routed the entire NFC West division, however, the Cardinals would only go 9-7 (6 of those 9 wins included victories over the pitiful NFC West). Arizona entered the playoffs doubted by many, however, Warner proved that these situations was when he played his best and Kurt Warner took the Cardinals to their first Super Bowl ever. The Cardinals fought their hearts out against the Pittsburgh Steelers, they even took a lead near the end of the 4th quarter, but the Steelers would comeback not leaving much time for the Cardinals to score. Warner would lose a fumble which would allow the Steelers to win their sixth Super Bowl.

Retirement
The Cardinals were determined to do the same thing again in 2009 and many critics did say they played much better than in 2008. The Cardinals fell just short of a first round bye in the playoffs. Warner vs. Rodgers was the headline in their Wildcard game against the Green Bay packers. Warner was on fire in that game as was Rodgers, but it was the Arizona defense that allowed the Cardinals to win in overtime. Their victory would not last another week when the New Orleans Saints placed a bounty on Warner and injured him. Kurt's back-up Matt Leinart could not pull out the win for the Cards and they lost 45-14. After the game Kurt Warner who had played like a NFL superstar for 12 seasons retired but would live on as a Cardinals legend.

Post Retirement
After Retirement, Warner became an announcer for various television and radio stations. He even announced for the Cardinals on a few occasions, although there was not much to announce since Warner practically left his team in ruins. In 2014 the Cardinals found their Super Bowl magic again but this time their first and second string quarterback (Palmer and Stanton) were both injured for the rest of the season. As they limped to the playoffs, Warner considered coming out of retirement to help them on, though the NFL stated that the deadline to sign with a team had passed. Even if they did allow no one knew for sure if Warner really would have played seeing as he was only a few months away from being eligible to the Hall Of Fame. On January 31, 2015, the night before Super Bowl XLIX many expected Warner to be inducted into the Hall of Fame. However it was not to be and Warner would have wait a little longer to achieve his life-long goal.

NFL Records
Warner shares several records: Warner also ranks second in several categories:
 * Most yards passing in a Super Bowl game – 414 yards (against Tennessee Titans)[56][57]
 * Three highest passing yardage totals in Super Bowl history: Warner also owns the 2nd highest (377 yards against Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XLIII) and 3rd highest (365 yards against New England in Super Bowl XXXVI) passing yardage totals in Super Bowl history.[58]
 * Only quarterback to throw 400+ yards in a Super Bowl game
 * Most touchdown passes in a single postseason – 11 touchdowns (in 2009, tied with Joe Montana in 1990 and Joe Flacco in 2013)
 * Most yards passing in a single postseason, 3 games played – 1,063 yards (in 1999)
 * Highest completion percentage in a single game (regular season)(min 20 attempts) – 92.3% (24/26) (9/20/09) [59] (Highest single game completion percentage – Tom Brady 92.9% (26/28) (1/12/08))[60]
 * Highest rate of games with 300+ yards passing (min. 100 games played) – 41.9% (52/124)[61]
 * Most career games with a perfect passer rating (regular season) – 3 games (tied with Peyton Manning and Ben Roethlisberger)[62]
 * Fastest player to pass for 30,000 yards – 114 games (tied with Dan Marino)
 * Fastest player to pass for 10,000 yards[63]
 * Only quarterback to throw for over 14,000 yards with two different teams (St. Louis Rams and Arizona Cardinals)
 * Only quarterback to throw 40 touchdowns and win a Super Bowl in the same season (in 1999)
 * Most yards passing in the first four games of a season – 1557 yards (2000)[64]
 * Most yards passing in the first five games of a season – 1947 yards (2000)[65]
 * Most yards passing in the first six games of a season – 2260 yards (2000)[66]
 * Highest average passing yards per game on Monday Night Football – 329.4 yards (min 7 games)
 * One of 3 quarterbacks to throw 100 touchdown passes with two different teams (Fran Tarkenton and Peyton Manning)[citation needed]
 * One of 2 quarterbacks Tied to throw 5 touchdown passes in two different playoff games – (following Daryle Lamonica)
 * One of 2 quarterbacks to complete 80% of his passes in two playoff games (tied with Tom Brady)[67]
 * One of 2 quarterbacks with 4 consecutive games with a passer rating over 120 (in 2009, tied with Johnny Unitas)
 * One of 3 quarterbacks to make Super Bowl starts with two different teams – (with Craig Morton – Dallas Cowboys (in 1970) and Denver Broncos (in 1977) and Peyton Manning -
 * One of 4 quarterbacks to win a Conference championship with two different teams (with Craig Morton and Earl Morrall and Peyton Manning)
 * 2nd highest career completion percentage (Min. 1500 attempts) – 65.5 (Chad Pennington, 66.0)
 * 2nd highest career passing yards per game (Min. 100 games) – 260.4 yards/game (Peyton Manning is first)[68]
 * 2nd highest career passing yards in Super Bowl history – 1,156 yards (Tom Brady, 1,277 yards)
 * 2nd highest career completion percentage, playoffs – 66.5 (Drew Brees, 66.7)