QB’s football legacy has local roots
The NFL has a commercial that states that there are 1,700 stories about how players made it to the NFL and every one of them is different.
When you look at how Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner got his start in the NFL and he is now going to start in his third Super Bowl game, Warner’s tale is indeed the real football “Cinderella” story.
Like many football stories the roots of this story lies in the state of Louisiana.
Lafourche Parish resident Joe Clark, who coached over 40 years in high school, college, the United State Football League, the World League, NFL and NFL Europe, was on the ground floor when Warner got his first chance to play in the big leagues.
“Kurt was bagging groceries at a local supermarket and playing in the Arena League in 1997 when I got a call from an old coaching colleague, Dick Moseley, who was the defensive backfield coach for Northern Iowa. He highly recommended Kurt to me and we wanted him to play for us with the Amsterdam Admirals,” Clark said. “I got in touch with Kurt, but he had given his word to the coaches and management with the Iowa Barnstormers that he was playing for them in 1997. He was just getting married, he had a new family and he gave up a shot to play in NFL Europe because he was a man of his word. He felt God would tell him when it was right to make the move.”
One year later Warner signed a free agent contract with the St. Louis Rams with no signing bonus, no guaranteed money and a minimum NFL salary, if he made the team.
The Rams allocated Warner to NFL-Europe and he went on to flourish in Clark’s offense in NFL Europe leading the league in passing yardage, completions and touchdown passes.
One year later after a season-ending knee injury Warner took over for Trent Green and he went on to lead the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl championship, a league MVP honor and a Super Bowl MVP award after throwing for 4,353 yards and 41 touchdowns.
In the three-year span from 1999-2001 Warner threw for 12,612 yards, 98 touchdown passes, two NFL MVP awards and two appearances in the Super Bowl.
But over the next few years with injuries, inconsistent play and a lack of confidence from new coaches that he was still a top-flight quarterback, Warner was bounced from St. Louis to the New York Giants and then to the Arizona Cardinals.
“Despite all the shortcomings and injuries he incurred in the early to mid-2000s, Kurt never let adversity change him or bring him down,” Clark said. “He has great faith and he knew that if God wanted him to play in another big game it would happen. If it didn’t, then he knew it was just wasn’t meant to be.”
This past weekend the Arizona Cardinals were one of just six teams to never play in a Super Bowl along with the New Orleans Saints, Detroit Lions, Cleveland Browns, Jacksonville Jaguars and the Houston Texans.
Now there are only five teams to not play in a Super Bowl because the Arizona Cardinals led by Kurt Warner defeated the Philadelphia Eagles 32-25.
Warner completed 21 of 28 passes for 279 yards and four touchdowns, three of those touchdowns to star wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald.
“This is great for the game of football,” the retired football coach who lives in Mathews said. “Kurt gives inspiration to every person who ever played pitch and catch with his Dad as a kid and was able to play football at a certain level.
“He is a great player, but even more important he is a better person and the guy just has a burning desire to excel and not let anyone down. I think he is one of the greatest inspirational stories there is in sports today.”
Destrehan High School standout linebacker Rufus Porter is making the recruiting rounds in the final weeks leading up to National Signing date.
The All-State linebacker visited Louisiana Tech last weekend, he took a visit to Tulsa this weekend and he is expected to visit SMU in the next two weeks.
The speedy weakside linebacker also has a scholarship offer from Tulane University.
Questions? Comments? Email Mike Detillier at mdsports@myviscom.com.
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