Wild Card
Surfin' Bird
End of the road?
After getting benched Cardinals' Warner may be done
by Jeffrey Chadiha
SI.com 10/10/2006
They chatted inside a crowded Georgia Dome locker room two Sundays ago, the aging veteran on the way out and the stud rookie with the bright future on the way in. Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner had plenty of reasons to be bitter--along with being benched in the 32-10 loss to Atlanta, he also had learned that he was being demoted to second-string from a gaggle of reporters who had just left coach Dennis Green's press conference--but he didn't take that frustration out on his successor, Matt Leinart. Instead, Warner pulled Leinart aside and offered some valuable advice. Just be yourself, he told Leinart, and don't ever let the circumstances outside the game dictate how you play.
It would've been easy for Warner to save that speech until a few days had passed, but that's never really been his style. He's a stand-up guy, a straight shooter, and he knew Leinart needed to know what he was facing as soon as possible. What Warner didn't know at the moment he took a backseat to Leinart was how he would feel about his own future once his days as Arizona's starting quarterback ended. Right now, he's still unsure about what's next for him, even though he is willing to concede that his NFL career could be nearing its end.
Warner didn't dismiss that topic when I found him at his locker inside the Cardinals facility last week. He stressed that he wasn't ready for retirement, but he also acknowledged that he's reaching a critical career crossroads.
"The more you deal with the negative side of this business, the harder it is to come to work and enjoy the whole thing," Warner said. "Obviously, I'm talking a few days after being fired but when I think about some of the situations and criticisms I've dealt with, it becomes easier to think about the next step in my life. I still believe I can be one of the best quarterbacks in the league but I also wonder what my next opportunity will be like. I wonder if I'll be putting myself in a position to succeed or if I'll just be opening myself to go down the same roads I've been on."
This isn't an easy admission for Warner to make. Comments like these mean he finally understands that he's facing odds that might be too great for him to overcome. After all, it's been a long time since he made that miracle run from grocery store clerk to Super Bowl-winning, MVP quarterback with the St. Louis Rams. Now everything is different. He's watched Marc Bulger replace him in St. Louis. He's watched the New York Giants give up on him halfway through a season when Eli Manning was supposed to be sitting out his rookie year. Now he's needed less than four games for the Cardinals to determine that Leinart gives them the best chance to win. Time clearly is no longer on Warner's side.
This isn't to say he was blind-sided by the Leinart situation. Warner did have a staggering 10 fumbles in four games and there's no way he could've missed Leinart's face on all those billboards and commercials around Phoenix. In fact, the most troubling issue for Warner is that the more he plays, regardless of who the quarterback of the future is, the less confidence he inspires in his coaches. "When you have a young guy waiting in the wings, there's not much room for error," Warner said. "It gets harder and harder to deal with that."
Warner says he never thought this way when the Giants dumped him after the 2004 season. He still had that same intense hunger to compete that carried him through the lean years of his career, back when nobody saw even a flicker of greatness in his right arm. But now that he's 35, he's eyeing more interests that could satisfy him off the field. He's always been heavy into religion but he's pondering a potential career as a television broadcaster now. He's thinking about writing books and expanding his foundation. This might sound like a stretch but he could even see himself preaching one day.
Warner wants to do all these things because he'll always have that urge to connect with people. His need to help others explains why he's been so quick to help Leinart handle this transition. "I'll always try to settle him down out there, "Warner says. "I'll try to make light of situations. I'll tell him what I see the defense doing when he's on the field. There's a lot to learn at this position but I'll do what I can to protect him from the things that can hurt his development."
Of course, Warner realizes it might not be so easy to fill that role once this season ends. He has two more years remaining on the contract he signed with Arizona in February and it's apparent that he'd still like another shot at proving he's a starter. The reality, however, is that he's essentially run out of options. Every time Warner has lost his job in the past, he's found a lesser team to make him their first-string signal-caller. Even if Arizona keeps him around next season, it's hard to know if another team would give him a shot--and whether he'd accept being a career clipboard carrier now. "I really don't know if I could be comfortable as a backup quarterback," Warner says, "Or if I'd go crazy in that role."
The smart money says Warner would probably quit before his career extended to a point where he needed to face that realization. He's had a great ride. He's eager to prove that he can make as big an impact off the field as he did on it. And he's clearly aware of how hard it will be to find another willing suitor. When you put all this together, it becomes apparent that even if Warner isn't ready for retirement, it may very well be the only satisfying option left for him in the near future.
After getting benched Cardinals' Warner may be done
by Jeffrey Chadiha
SI.com 10/10/2006
They chatted inside a crowded Georgia Dome locker room two Sundays ago, the aging veteran on the way out and the stud rookie with the bright future on the way in. Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner had plenty of reasons to be bitter--along with being benched in the 32-10 loss to Atlanta, he also had learned that he was being demoted to second-string from a gaggle of reporters who had just left coach Dennis Green's press conference--but he didn't take that frustration out on his successor, Matt Leinart. Instead, Warner pulled Leinart aside and offered some valuable advice. Just be yourself, he told Leinart, and don't ever let the circumstances outside the game dictate how you play.
It would've been easy for Warner to save that speech until a few days had passed, but that's never really been his style. He's a stand-up guy, a straight shooter, and he knew Leinart needed to know what he was facing as soon as possible. What Warner didn't know at the moment he took a backseat to Leinart was how he would feel about his own future once his days as Arizona's starting quarterback ended. Right now, he's still unsure about what's next for him, even though he is willing to concede that his NFL career could be nearing its end.
Warner didn't dismiss that topic when I found him at his locker inside the Cardinals facility last week. He stressed that he wasn't ready for retirement, but he also acknowledged that he's reaching a critical career crossroads.
"The more you deal with the negative side of this business, the harder it is to come to work and enjoy the whole thing," Warner said. "Obviously, I'm talking a few days after being fired but when I think about some of the situations and criticisms I've dealt with, it becomes easier to think about the next step in my life. I still believe I can be one of the best quarterbacks in the league but I also wonder what my next opportunity will be like. I wonder if I'll be putting myself in a position to succeed or if I'll just be opening myself to go down the same roads I've been on."
This isn't an easy admission for Warner to make. Comments like these mean he finally understands that he's facing odds that might be too great for him to overcome. After all, it's been a long time since he made that miracle run from grocery store clerk to Super Bowl-winning, MVP quarterback with the St. Louis Rams. Now everything is different. He's watched Marc Bulger replace him in St. Louis. He's watched the New York Giants give up on him halfway through a season when Eli Manning was supposed to be sitting out his rookie year. Now he's needed less than four games for the Cardinals to determine that Leinart gives them the best chance to win. Time clearly is no longer on Warner's side.
This isn't to say he was blind-sided by the Leinart situation. Warner did have a staggering 10 fumbles in four games and there's no way he could've missed Leinart's face on all those billboards and commercials around Phoenix. In fact, the most troubling issue for Warner is that the more he plays, regardless of who the quarterback of the future is, the less confidence he inspires in his coaches. "When you have a young guy waiting in the wings, there's not much room for error," Warner said. "It gets harder and harder to deal with that."
Warner says he never thought this way when the Giants dumped him after the 2004 season. He still had that same intense hunger to compete that carried him through the lean years of his career, back when nobody saw even a flicker of greatness in his right arm. But now that he's 35, he's eyeing more interests that could satisfy him off the field. He's always been heavy into religion but he's pondering a potential career as a television broadcaster now. He's thinking about writing books and expanding his foundation. This might sound like a stretch but he could even see himself preaching one day.
Warner wants to do all these things because he'll always have that urge to connect with people. His need to help others explains why he's been so quick to help Leinart handle this transition. "I'll always try to settle him down out there, "Warner says. "I'll try to make light of situations. I'll tell him what I see the defense doing when he's on the field. There's a lot to learn at this position but I'll do what I can to protect him from the things that can hurt his development."
Of course, Warner realizes it might not be so easy to fill that role once this season ends. He has two more years remaining on the contract he signed with Arizona in February and it's apparent that he'd still like another shot at proving he's a starter. The reality, however, is that he's essentially run out of options. Every time Warner has lost his job in the past, he's found a lesser team to make him their first-string signal-caller. Even if Arizona keeps him around next season, it's hard to know if another team would give him a shot--and whether he'd accept being a career clipboard carrier now. "I really don't know if I could be comfortable as a backup quarterback," Warner says, "Or if I'd go crazy in that role."
The smart money says Warner would probably quit before his career extended to a point where he needed to face that realization. He's had a great ride. He's eager to prove that he can make as big an impact off the field as he did on it. And he's clearly aware of how hard it will be to find another willing suitor. When you put all this together, it becomes apparent that even if Warner isn't ready for retirement, it may very well be the only satisfying option left for him in the near future.
