Dear Kurt,

[slanidrac16]

I owe you an apology. I was a non believer. I thought your better days were far behind you. I thought the organization was making a huge mistake by not starting Matt Leinart.
I gave coach Whiz the benefit of the doubt when he named you the opening day starter, but I had my doubts.
I knew you were going have some good days, which I was just as sure you would have your terrible days.I doubted you'd make it through the whole season without being injured and I was positive we would see at least 1 fumble every game.
But how was I to know the extra work you were putting in to protect the ball, move in the pocket, and reel in your style a tad to avoid interceptions? I had no idea that you were working so hard not just to be good,but to be better?
There was no way for me to see the profound effect your leadership was to have on this team.

I know if you were to actually read my letter of apology, you would tell me that you played a small role and that it took 53 guys and the entire coaching staff and organization to accomplish what our beloved Cardinals have accomplished, and I can appreciate that. But it starts with you. Whether you are willing to accept the credit or not it starts with the quarterback.
Let me add, I don't think there is another QB in the league that could have done what you did with THIS team. Not Peyton Manning. Not Drew Brees. Not Donovan McNabb.

In retrospect, you could have acceted a back-up role on this team and collected your paycheck every week like a good soldier. But you didn't. You could have just coasted this year knowing you were a free agent at the end of the year, but you didn't. How was I to know the competitive fire in your belly?

So, I'm sorry I doubted you. I sincerely hope you consider re-signing here for another couple of years. We got a good thing going and I'd like a chance to get use to this. Thank you for erasing a lifetime of agony and despair for me. Thank you for stepping up.

Have a great Super Bowl....I know you will.

Sincerely,
slanidrac16

 

[Spielman]

And now you know why so many Rams fans love the guy so much.

 

[82CardsGrad]

Very well said 16...

I will forever remember the day I flew back from NY this past July. Kurt and Brenda were on the plane with me. We walked to baggage claim together and talked briefly about the upcoming season... I commented on this board then, at how blown away I was by his appearance. Quite simply - he was ripped. One quick glance and anyone could see that he spent the offseason getting himself in the best shape of his career.
He told me as we were taking the escalator down to baggage claim, that he WILL win the startng job up in Flagstaff. That was "his mission", and he "had no intentions of failing".

I remember walking to my car after wishing him well - part of me was thinking, "sure... another old jock who didn't know when to take his rightful place alongside "the future"... ". But I was so amazed at his physical presence. And the look in his eyes when he said it was his "mission" to beat Matt up in Flag, I thought maybe... just maybe Kurt might pull this off.

Well - here we are, a week away from the friggin Super Bowl and Kurt Warner has taken EVERY Snap for us this season...

I have to admit that I was always a Kurt Warner fan, even prior to this season. But I have also come to learn to NEVER, EVER doubt this man...
And for all those that continue to sell him short - just wait... Kurt has a few more surprises in store for all his doubters!!!

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[NeverSayDieFan]

Classy post, Slani...

You CAN'T put a price on LEADERSHIP! It makes everyone around you BELIEVE!

 

[green machine]

Couldn't have said ti better myself.

I was a non believer, but have now changed my tune.

So happy to be wrong!

 

[Spielman]

Wow. So it appears that I owe Kurt an apology too.

From October 21st, 2007

Warner's always had a ton of guts.

The Greatest Show on Turf era Rams had a clinical sort of vibe to them. They didn't beat up defenses, they dissected them. No blood and guts, no dirt thanks to the turf, and zero attention paid to the boys in the trenches with all those glory boys around. Just quick, clean cuts with surgical precision, right on down the field.

Warner paid the price for that. The receivers didn't have to fight for extra yardage; Bruce and Holt and Hakim got in the habit of avoiding big hits by ducking down. Why take the chance on getting hurt if that extra couple of yards didn't mean a first down? They could pick those yards up a moment later practically at will. Faulk paradoxically saw his carries and the resulting wear and tear reduced from his days in Indy, even as his star rose dramatically.

But Warner, for all that he was the one wielding the scalpel and earning the plaudits, was the guy who couldn't avoid taking the hits that his teammates could. He was the one delivering the ball on time to Holt or Proehl or Bruce as the Rams lined up five wide with an empty backfield and tried to block six rushers with five linemen. He was the one picking himself up off the turf time after time as Holt or Hakim ducked down twenty-five yards down the field after a big gain. The price for all those shifty wide receivers running rings around defensive backs was that there wasn't a whole lot of protection for the man at the other end of the pass. Even the most glorious moment of Warner's career, the bomb to Isaac Bruce for the go-ahead TD in the closing minutes of Super Bowl XXXIV, came with Warner lying flat on his back after being smashed to the turf by Jevon Kearse.

Through all of that, he kept getting back up, kept slinging passes, kept wielding the scalpel... until he broke. And he healed and came back for more, and broke again. And again. And eventually the guy that came back wasn't quite the same as the guy who had been there before. His hand wasn't right. Passes would occasionally come out strangely. Nobody seemed to know exactly how many concussions he'd had, but the number was becoming disturbingly high. He wasn't the same anymore for multiple physical reasons.

Now, he's still not what he was. He's recovered from some of the problems but the hand is chronic with what is probably degenerative osteoarthritis. His head is clear, though, and he's still got the old zip and the old accuracy, and for a play, or a series, or a quarter, or maybe even a whole game, he can fool you into thinking he's the Warner of old, ready to gunsling a team deep into the playoffs, maybe all the way to a Lombardi trophy. But it's illusion. It can't be sustained anymore. And I still watch him just for those wonderful moments of deception.

Turns out I was wrong. He's looked a lot more like the Warner of old than the guy I was describing here ever since this post.

Sorry, dude. I should've had more faith.

 

[jaguarpaw81]

Am I the only one that instantly thought Tango was back when I saw this thread title?

 

[vince56]

I almost made a Photoshop last year that would've showed the Cards' training facility was on the corner of Warner & Fumble.

I'm also glad to be proven wrong. Kurt is the freaking man.

 

[Jersey Girl]

Am I the only one that instantly thought Tango was back when I saw this thread title?

How do you know about Tango with just 211 posts?

 

[IAWarnerFan]

It's ok. We all can't be Warnerphiles.