Kurt Warner was the engineer of the “Greatest Show on Turf” in their glory days in St. Louis. He became a Superbowl MVP and two-time NFL Most Valuable Player. He took the Walter Payton “Man of the Year” honors as well. Oh, and he was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017. Not bad for a guy that was stocking shelves at a local Hy-Vee grocery store in Iowa while waiting for an NFL opportunity. Warner is the living embodiment of the rags to riches cliché.
Warner was born in Burlington, Iowa. He played football at Regis High School in Cedar Rapids, graduating in 1989. From there, Warner attended the University of Northern Iowa, where he was third on the Panthers’ depth chart 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 and first-team all-conference.
But Warner’s story almost never happened. After Northern Iowa, he was cut by two teams in the mid-’90’s. He then left the grocery store business in 1995, when the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football league, signed him to a contract. Warner led the Barnstormers to two Arena Bowl berths and was named to the first team All-Arena in 1996 and 1997.
The story of perseverance was going to be tested again after he was given another shot at the NFL in 1998 with the Rams. But the rest, as they say, is history.
NFL CAREER
In 1994, Warner went undrafted and was invited to try out for the Green Bay Packers in training camp. He was released before the regular season began. Warner returned to UNI as a graduate assistant, still hoping to get another tryout in the NFL.
In 1998 the Rams signed Warner as a free agent. They allocated him to the European Football League where he played for the Amsterdam Admirals. Warner led the EFL in passing yards and touchdowns in 1998.
Still nothing was guaranteed for him. In 1999 the Rams left him unprotected for the Expansion Draft to stock the Cleveland Browns. He went unclaimed. So, he stayed with the Rams and began the ’99 season as the team’s second-string quarterback. Following an injury to veteran quarterback Trent Green, who would miss the rest of the season with a torn ACL, Warner was named the starter. Then Rams coach Dick Vermeil said in a press conference following the injury, “We will rally around Kurt Warner, and we’ll play good football.” Truer words may have never been spoken.
Warner made the most of the opportunity and became THE story in the NFL. With Warner at QB, the Rams explosive offense scored 526 points. Warner passed for a league-leading 41 TDs and was named the NFL’s Most Valuable Player that year as the Rams posted a 13-3 record. The team capped the improbable season with a 23-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV. Warner set a Super Bowl record with 414 passing yards and threw a pair of touchdowns to lead the Rams to their first Super Bowl title and was named the game’s MVP.
He recorded another MVP season two years later when he brought the Rams back to the Super Bowl. This time they came up short 20-17 to the Patriots.
In the offseason of 2004, the Rams released Warner. 2 days later he signed a deal to play for the Giants. He started that season as the number one quarterback, but following a two-game losing streak, he lost the job to rookie Eli Manning.
Warner would then sign a one-year deal with the Cardinals and became the starter. After an up and down couple of years, Warner once again was the starting quarterback and made a third trip to the Super Bowl, the first ever appearance in Cardinals history. Warner threw for 377 yards and 3 TDs in a tough loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII.
A couple of years later, in January of 2010, Warner announced his retirement from the NFL.
BROADCASTING CAREER
Immediately after his retirement, Warner already had two offers from television networks. Warner said he’d basically had conversations with every network before making his choices. He joined both the NFL Network and Fox Sports in 2010. He worked as an analyst for the NFL Network and was in a booth for Fox as a game analyst with either Chris Rose or Chris Myers to call regional games.
In 2011 Warner signed an exclusive deal with NFLN, leaving his other part-time gig with Fox.
During the football season, Warner joins Rich Eisen, Steve Mariucci, and Michael Irvin on NFL GameDay Morning, the network’s Sunday Morning pregame show. He can also be seen as a regular contributor throughout the week on NFL Total Access.
Warner is also given the opportunity to work from the booth multiple times a year. He’s mainly paired with Eisen on these telecasts.
He added another gig a few years ago. After many attempts to lure Warner to Westwood One’s broadcast booth full-time, the network landed him and made him the new lead color analyst for Monday Night Football and the Super Bowl, starting with the 2018-19 NFL season.
While Warner loves his studio work immensely, there’s something about being at the game that excites the former player.
“I love being on the field before the game, talking to the players, taking in the atmosphere and the energy of the fans,” Warner told NFL.com in 2018. “I love the story of the Xs and Os. On radio, I’m sharing what I’m seeing and how I view the game.”
He’ll continue in his dual role and will be on the call for Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.
AS AN ANALYST
I really enjoy Kurt Warner’s work. He presents a no nonsense, authoritative ,yet friendly demeanor on air. Warner has the credentials in the league to be a guy that could be someone that talks down to the audience, but he’s quite the opposite. He has the ability to talk. By that I mean he’s smooth when it comes to making a point, or analyzing a play. Warner’s thoughts come across energetically in a manner that is extremely clear and on point. He’s smart, comfortable on camera and has that ability to break down the game in a way that’s understandable for die-hard and casual football fans.
You can tell that there’s a chemistry on NFL GameDay Morning. These guys, Rich Eisen, Steve Mariucci, Michael Irvin and Warner present themselves as guys that actually like each other.
“When you watch us, you feel like you’re hanging with a bunch of guys in a living room who are talking football and having a good time,” Warner told NFL.com in 2018.
Warner has shown the ability to be versatile as well. He’s been in the studio, in the booth on television and also on radio. That’s not an easy trifecta to pull off by anyone. The constant reps he gets on the Monday Night radio broadcasts certainly go a long way in building confidence in his other roles along the way.
He doesn’t take himself too seriously at times either. Warner isn’t afraid to poke a little fun at himself. Warner recently went viral for a response to a Steelers fan proclaiming the James Harrison interception return for a touchdown of Warner in Super Bowl XLIII as the best play in Super Bowl history. Warner saw that post on social media and politely disagreed with that fan’s opinion. With a repost, simply saying “Kind of depends on who you ask!!!!”
DID YOU KNOW?
Kurt Warner had a movie made about his life called “American Underdog”.
On August 30, 2010, it was announced on live television that Warner would be appearing as a contestant on Dancing with the Stars. His professional dance partner was Anna Trebunskaya; the couple was eliminated in week 8.
Andy Masur is a columnist for BSM and works for WGN Radio as an anchor and play-by-play announcer. He also teaches broadcasting at the Illinois Media School. During his career he has called games for the Chicago Cubs, San Diego Padres and Chicago White Sox. He can be found on Twitter @Andy_Masur1 or you can reach him by email at Andy@Andy-Masur.com.
