Mitch
Crawled Through 5 FB Fields
1. Kurt Warner is the best and most accurate Cardinal QB I have ever seen. In some way I think this past season was his best. His total passing on the season yardage was less, but his accuracy in so many of the games---particularly in the first halfs of games---was off the charts. Plus, this year the Cardinals had a running game, which meant Warner didn't have to pass as often.
2. His performance in the playoff game versus Green Bay was the most spectacular and clutch as I have seen from a Cardinal QB. There have been plenty of other unforgettable performances like the Carolina playoff game and his games this year versus Jacksonville, Chicago, New York and Minnesota. But, the very thought of 5 TD and 4 incompletions in a playoff game remains goose bump inducing and awe inspiring.
3. I thought it was curious last year when he went from pondering retirement to wanting a two year contract. In his press conference after he signed the 2 year $23M deal with $15M guaranteed, he looked awkward and uncomfortable talking about the money. At the time it made me wonder if the new contract was a means in which to be financially rewarded and compensated for making a mere $5M per the preceding years while taking the Cardinals to new and unprecedented heights. Thus, it did occur to me at the time that he very well could retire after one year of the new contract.
4. However, the way he was playing this year and the way the team was continuing to accomplish things we Cardinal fans haven't seen since the 1970s, I was lulled into a comfort zone believing that Warner would not only finish out his contract, but that he might wish to play beyond next year, a la Brett Favre.
5. Is it just me or did any of you think Warner was making way too much of his concussion? Yes, of course I was concerned, but he did not have the look of someone seriously concussed...in fact, on the sidelines in the second half of the Rams game he was still in uniform, and he looked as if he could go back in at any moment. I am not saying he was faking, don't get me wrong. But, with the game well in hand, it just seemed that he was taking a smart hiatus.
6. It surprised me a great deal to hear that he was fine all week in practice the following week to then learn on game day versus the Titans that he was now suffering blurred vision and thus was deactivated for the game.
7. The next week he confessed that he has had blurred vision many times before and not as the result of a concussion. Then he goes and plays a fantastic game versus the Vikings---a team that quite frankly would strike fear in any QB's mind because of their pass rush (best in the league). Warner was tough as nails in this game (as always) and locked in.
8. When it was reported by ESPN on the advent of the playoffs that Warner was planning to retire, I felt as if I had been sucker punched. Like I said, I had been lulled into thinking he was at least good for the two years on his contract, and possibly beyond (he even mentioned that possibility in his post-season interview following the Saints game in the Cardinals' clubhouse). Not only did I feel sucker punched, I felt suddenly acutely aware that THIS season was suddenly DO or DIE. All along I had been thinking that next year would be the better chance. Thus, even as a fan I started feeling a sense of added pressure and desperation.
9. What exacerbated the situation even worse was that Warner did very little to diffuse the issue in his various interviews. He talked candidly at times about "the grind of the season" and "not making an emotional decision based on one game." Sure, I got that. But, quite honestly, I was very disappointed that Warner at the time didn't simply insist that all he was thinking about was the playoffs---and nip the discussion in the bud. Instead he seemed very recpetive to holding the conversations.
10. This is what bothers me most. Not only was all this Warner talk a distraction for me, a mere fan, but it had to be distracting for the players and had to have affected them in a similar way in the sense that suddenly this year became DO or DIE. No one will ever know the exact answer to this, but, giving up 10 TDs in 12 possessions for any playoff team would seem to be an egregious aberration. At times, our players looked like they were jogging around in a fog. I think they were reacting to feeling too much pressure. And I think the coaching was affected as well. Whiz always preaches being relaxed and focused...well, being in a funk is not exactly being relaxed and focused.
11. Following the season in his interview Warner lamented the daily and weekly grind, adding that the only fun is "the three hours on Sunday." But, he also said that "my body feels better than it has in the last three years." Yesterday on Sportscenter, Rick Reilly reported that Warner told him "this is the sorest I have ever felt." Which is which?
Warner also said that he was tired of facing the scrutiny from the media and fans after bad games. That remark I found particularly moot, because besides the Carolina and the SF games, Warner was pretty much an indomitable and often an impeccable force all season long.
I thought Warner had more help this year than years before. And his game had evolved into a new dimension...once his Achilles' heel was holding onto the ball too long...this year he was consistently decisive and spot on in his timing. To me, he has never played played better.
12. In all honesty, once the playoffs started amidst the rumors that Warner was going to retire---and after seeing that Warner allowed for the conversations---it took a great dea of the excitement and fun a way for me as a fan---as I said I was feeling a sense of sudden desperation that I hadn't anticipated---and on top of it all, a sense of profound sadness that this was the last occasion to watch the best Cardinal QB of my lifetime.
To watch Warner prostrate and gasping for breath after the shot he took was unbearable and it exacerbated and magnified every little tingle of fear in my bones that kept telling me this is indeed it, it's over. Yet, to watch him trot back onto that field in the second half, knowing that the game looked already beyond the hope of any miracle, was to me on a par with one of my other most cherished sports moments---watching---as a 16 year old kid---Willis Reed limp out of the tunnel and onto the court to lead the NY Knicks to a World Championship.
Kurt Warner and everything about him inspires me. I cannot thank him enough for lifting my heart out of the perennial duldrums that only a long-lasting Cardinal fan can even fathom. To me, Kurt Warner is a hero---not just for being the QB who led the woeful Cardinals out of the darkness, but for being such a wonderful and exemplary person.
To hear Rick Reilly last night say that Kurt said, "the game is just not that fun anymore" was like taking a dagger and piercing my heart.
Well, Kurt, regardless of what you decide, YOU were the one more than any other who made the game FUN for me and so many of us much beleaguered Cardinal fans to watch. You brought the FUN back. And I just hope and pray that you can find a way to make it fun again, so you can relish in our fun.
You said that a player shouldn't go before it's too soon---well, after the season you just turned in---you continue to set new standards and accomplish brand new things---all of which are so fun for us fans to experience.
I hope for the encore, Kurt. I hope the real fun is still ahead.
My best,
Mitch
2. His performance in the playoff game versus Green Bay was the most spectacular and clutch as I have seen from a Cardinal QB. There have been plenty of other unforgettable performances like the Carolina playoff game and his games this year versus Jacksonville, Chicago, New York and Minnesota. But, the very thought of 5 TD and 4 incompletions in a playoff game remains goose bump inducing and awe inspiring.
3. I thought it was curious last year when he went from pondering retirement to wanting a two year contract. In his press conference after he signed the 2 year $23M deal with $15M guaranteed, he looked awkward and uncomfortable talking about the money. At the time it made me wonder if the new contract was a means in which to be financially rewarded and compensated for making a mere $5M per the preceding years while taking the Cardinals to new and unprecedented heights. Thus, it did occur to me at the time that he very well could retire after one year of the new contract.
4. However, the way he was playing this year and the way the team was continuing to accomplish things we Cardinal fans haven't seen since the 1970s, I was lulled into a comfort zone believing that Warner would not only finish out his contract, but that he might wish to play beyond next year, a la Brett Favre.
5. Is it just me or did any of you think Warner was making way too much of his concussion? Yes, of course I was concerned, but he did not have the look of someone seriously concussed...in fact, on the sidelines in the second half of the Rams game he was still in uniform, and he looked as if he could go back in at any moment. I am not saying he was faking, don't get me wrong. But, with the game well in hand, it just seemed that he was taking a smart hiatus.
6. It surprised me a great deal to hear that he was fine all week in practice the following week to then learn on game day versus the Titans that he was now suffering blurred vision and thus was deactivated for the game.
7. The next week he confessed that he has had blurred vision many times before and not as the result of a concussion. Then he goes and plays a fantastic game versus the Vikings---a team that quite frankly would strike fear in any QB's mind because of their pass rush (best in the league). Warner was tough as nails in this game (as always) and locked in.
8. When it was reported by ESPN on the advent of the playoffs that Warner was planning to retire, I felt as if I had been sucker punched. Like I said, I had been lulled into thinking he was at least good for the two years on his contract, and possibly beyond (he even mentioned that possibility in his post-season interview following the Saints game in the Cardinals' clubhouse). Not only did I feel sucker punched, I felt suddenly acutely aware that THIS season was suddenly DO or DIE. All along I had been thinking that next year would be the better chance. Thus, even as a fan I started feeling a sense of added pressure and desperation.
9. What exacerbated the situation even worse was that Warner did very little to diffuse the issue in his various interviews. He talked candidly at times about "the grind of the season" and "not making an emotional decision based on one game." Sure, I got that. But, quite honestly, I was very disappointed that Warner at the time didn't simply insist that all he was thinking about was the playoffs---and nip the discussion in the bud. Instead he seemed very recpetive to holding the conversations.
10. This is what bothers me most. Not only was all this Warner talk a distraction for me, a mere fan, but it had to be distracting for the players and had to have affected them in a similar way in the sense that suddenly this year became DO or DIE. No one will ever know the exact answer to this, but, giving up 10 TDs in 12 possessions for any playoff team would seem to be an egregious aberration. At times, our players looked like they were jogging around in a fog. I think they were reacting to feeling too much pressure. And I think the coaching was affected as well. Whiz always preaches being relaxed and focused...well, being in a funk is not exactly being relaxed and focused.
11. Following the season in his interview Warner lamented the daily and weekly grind, adding that the only fun is "the three hours on Sunday." But, he also said that "my body feels better than it has in the last three years." Yesterday on Sportscenter, Rick Reilly reported that Warner told him "this is the sorest I have ever felt." Which is which?
Warner also said that he was tired of facing the scrutiny from the media and fans after bad games. That remark I found particularly moot, because besides the Carolina and the SF games, Warner was pretty much an indomitable and often an impeccable force all season long.
I thought Warner had more help this year than years before. And his game had evolved into a new dimension...once his Achilles' heel was holding onto the ball too long...this year he was consistently decisive and spot on in his timing. To me, he has never played played better.
12. In all honesty, once the playoffs started amidst the rumors that Warner was going to retire---and after seeing that Warner allowed for the conversations---it took a great dea of the excitement and fun a way for me as a fan---as I said I was feeling a sense of sudden desperation that I hadn't anticipated---and on top of it all, a sense of profound sadness that this was the last occasion to watch the best Cardinal QB of my lifetime.
To watch Warner prostrate and gasping for breath after the shot he took was unbearable and it exacerbated and magnified every little tingle of fear in my bones that kept telling me this is indeed it, it's over. Yet, to watch him trot back onto that field in the second half, knowing that the game looked already beyond the hope of any miracle, was to me on a par with one of my other most cherished sports moments---watching---as a 16 year old kid---Willis Reed limp out of the tunnel and onto the court to lead the NY Knicks to a World Championship.
Kurt Warner and everything about him inspires me. I cannot thank him enough for lifting my heart out of the perennial duldrums that only a long-lasting Cardinal fan can even fathom. To me, Kurt Warner is a hero---not just for being the QB who led the woeful Cardinals out of the darkness, but for being such a wonderful and exemplary person.
To hear Rick Reilly last night say that Kurt said, "the game is just not that fun anymore" was like taking a dagger and piercing my heart.
Well, Kurt, regardless of what you decide, YOU were the one more than any other who made the game FUN for me and so many of us much beleaguered Cardinal fans to watch. You brought the FUN back. And I just hope and pray that you can find a way to make it fun again, so you can relish in our fun.
You said that a player shouldn't go before it's too soon---well, after the season you just turned in---you continue to set new standards and accomplish brand new things---all of which are so fun for us fans to experience.
I hope for the encore, Kurt. I hope the real fun is still ahead.
My best,
Mitch
