Warner's Future (press conference)

[TJ]

If little Matty's psyche can't handle the pressure of possibly better vet QB lighting a fire under his ass, I'm pretty sure I don't want him here as a signal caller anyway.

I knew this would come up, so here is my retort:

Look at Aaron Rodgers. He had to sit there and watch Favre nearly tear apart Rodger's career because of his popularity and ambivalence about playing each and every year. Rodgers sat there and rotted. Finally, Favre leads and look what happened: he became a Pro Bowl QB and one of the most accurate in the league. Why? Because he knew he was the QB from there on out. Situation is quasi-similar to Leinarts, even though Leinart was at one point the starter.

Imagine yourself as a football player and the psychology of having a future HoFer on your team behind you each and every step of the way. You know he was successful in the past. You know he still can play at an upper echelon. What goes through your mind? That you are one mistake away from losing your job. I'm almost positive that is going through his mind. That psychological situation is much different than that of going out and playing well.

Warner in St. Louis and New York is a wonderful example. Bulger was brought in in 2003 to eventually replace Warner if his thumb injury got worse. This is when he earned the nickname "bum thumb." Although Bulger was no world beater, Warner knew that his job was in jeopardy with each and every fumble. Sure enough, he lost his job in the 2nd game of the season and never got it back.

Then he was sent to the Giants to breed future starter Eli Manning. Again, Kurt, with all of the skill in the world, was eventually supplanted by Eli after taking 6 sacks against the Cardinals. His problem was that he was holding onto the ball too long. Sound familiar?

Now don't get me wrong, I do think Warner is a better QB, but recall that in 2008, Leinart lost his job because of one 3 INT game in the preseason. Warner has had plenty of 5+ turnover games in his career, especially with the Cardinals.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Funny you brought up BSP. How confident was Whiz in Matty to pit BSP against him for the #2? If you honestly think Whiz is heading into this season thinking, yeah we'll pick it right back up with Matty, you are sadly mistaken. Whiz has said all the right things, but, there's no way he's going to go with Matty. No way.

No way huh. Absolutely he's going to go with Leinart. Name one time where Whiz's words haven't matched his actions. He just doesn't "say all the right things" for the hell of it. If i'm so sadly mistaken and he's not going with ML, who is he going with? A rookie,there's your no way. A castoff like a weak armed Pennington over a guy who has been in his system for 3 years, no way. You're not going to start the BSP stuff again are you? He's always been and always will be a career backup. I could see if BSP had only been around about 3 years but this season, if he even plays, will be what,his 9th? I guess Preston Parsons is available.

 

[Mitch]

No way huh. Absolutely he's going to go with Leinart. Name one time where Whiz's words haven't matched his actions. He just doesn't "say all the right things" for the hell of it. If i'm so sadly mistaken and he's not going with ML, who is he going with? A rookie,there's your no way. A castoff like a weak armed Pennington over a guy who has been in his system for 3 years, no way. You're not going to start the BSP stuff again are you? He's always been and always will be a career backup. I could see if BSP had only been around about 3 years but this season, if he even plays, will be what,his 9th? I guess Preston Parsons is available.

You are wrong, as usual, and time will remind you that you are wrong.

 

[TJ]

You are wrong, as usual, and time will remind you that you are wrong.

Relax man. You are taking this way too personally

Have a drink

 

[TJ]

No way huh. Absolutely he's going to go with Leinart. Name one time where Whiz's words haven't matched his actions. He just doesn't "say all the right things" for the hell of it. If i'm so sadly mistaken and he's not going with ML, who is he going with? A rookie,there's your no way. A castoff like a weak armed Pennington over a guy who has been in his system for 3 years, no way. You're not going to start the BSP stuff again are you? He's always been and always will be a career backup. I could see if BSP had only been around about 3 years but this season, if he even plays, will be what,his 9th? I guess Preston Parsons is available.

Just heard a report from Whiz and says that he has the "utmost" respect and support for Leinart.

Sorry detractors, he is your 2010 QB

....unless Kurt changes his mind between now and the press conference

 

[Crazy Canuck]

You are wrong, as usual, and time will remind you that you are wrong.

A piece from someone who probably has Whiz's phone number, and bumps into him everyday at work:

http://blog.azcardinals.com/2010/01/27/expect-leinart-not-a-qb-blockbuster/

 

[Crazy Canuck]

Relax man. You are taking this way too personally

Have a drink

He's just building towards his annual meltdowm.

 

[joshstmarie]

You are wrong, as usual, and time will remind you that you are wrong.

And brian st. pierres name will haunt you about how wrong you were for the rest of your life on this board.

 

[Mitch]

And brian st. pierres name will haunt you about how wrong you were for the rest of your life on this board.

Too bad he had back issues, because we will never know what he could have done otherwise.

I will take the hit. I believed in BSP. In fact I was sure he would outplay Leinart. He didn't. Mea culpa.

What I find curious, though, is when you look over at Whiz's sideline huddles, it's Warner, Whiz and BSP working everything out.

And, for the record:

TD Passes in 2009:

Warner: 26

St. Pierre: 1

Leinart: 0.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

Just heard a report from Whiz and says that he has the "utmost" respect and support for Leinart.

Sorry detractors, he is your 2010 QB

he's just saying that .

 

[CtCardinals78]

Too bad he had back issues, because we will never know what he could have done otherwise.

I will take the hit. I believed in BSP. In fact I was sure he would outplay Leinart. He didn't. Mea culpa.

What I find curious, though, is when you look over at Whiz's sideline huddles, it's Warner, Whiz and BSP working everything out.

And, for the record:

TD Passes in 2009:

Warner: 26

St. Pierre: 1

Leinart: 0.

And for the record passing yards in 2010

Warner:3,753
Leinart: 435
BSP: 12

 

[DeAnna]

Leinart strikes me as the type of guy that's always had everything handed to him and doesn't respond well to competition.

If they bring in a vet to compete with him, he'll probably go into a shell. He needs to be given the keys to the car and show they have confidence in him.

They will have to upgrade the defense and the running game, for sure.

 

[FrustratedFan04]

You guys are all forgetting that it was Leinart's broken clavical, not his play that put KW on the field 2 1/2 years ago. The rest is history, but Whiz picked ML over KW once before. IF KW leaves ML's the guy.

 

[Zeno]

Remember Mitch wanted us to dump Warner 3 seasons ago because he was too highly paid to be a back up, he wanted us to go in to the season with Shane Boyd as our back up. Anything he says about a QB I take with a grain of salt as he is wrong WAY more often than he is right at that position.

 

[TJ]

Leinart strikes me as the type of guy that's always had everything handed to him and doesn't respond well to competition.

If they bring in a vet to compete with him, he'll probably go into a shell. He needs to be given the keys to the car and show they have confidence in him.

They will have to upgrade the defense and the running game, for sure.

+1

 

[LoyaltyisaCurse]

And brian st. pierres name will haunt you about how wrong you were for the rest of your life on this board.

The rest of his life? LOL! that is pretty ridiculous; I certainly hope you are never wrong about a player you like.

 

[Cbus cardsfan]

You are wrong, as usual, and time will remind you that you are wrong.

You didn't answer who.

I've been wrong plenty of times.That's no big secret. If i had it my way we would of had Byron Leftwich throwing to David Terrell. The difference is when i'm wrong, i can admit it and,when someone calls me on it,i don't get mad and start a thread saying i'm out of here only to come back 3 days later.

 

[Perfectionist]

If there is a press conference, whatever his decision we all know that Kurt will bring his Bible, stand at the podium and be pure class.

He's just so special that I'll have trouble letting him go. We have been so blessed to have him on the team and in the community. How often does an athlete like this come along? How often does a human being like this come along?

It's been such a grand journey having him on the team. I want him to do whatever he feels led to do after all the prayer and consideration I know he's been putting into this decision.

So well said. Warner brought winning and credibility, along with a touch of class, to an organization in dire need of both. Thank you Kurt for what you have done for the Cardinals, on and off the field.

 

[Duckjake]

The Cardinals' success is far more attributable to Warner than anything else. Warner has been the one constant, regardless of Whiz, Haley, etc. Time will prove this, especially if Whiz sticks, as the Bidwills will insist he does, with Leinart as QB...and continues to think that Bill Davis is the answer as DC.

This might have more merit if Warner hadn't been 3-12 as a starter with 85.8 and 89.3 QB ratings and was part of an offense that was so weak in the redzone that Rackers attempted 42 FGs in 2005.

After Whisenhunt was hired Warner's QB ratings jumped into the 90's and the Cards became one of the NFLs best redzone scoring teams.

So obviously Warner wasn't a constant regardless of Denny Green. Which leads me to believe that Whisenhunt and his staff had a lot to do with Warner's and the Cardinals success.

 

[dreamcastrocks]

Thats a joke right???? We dont make the playoffs next year if Leinart is our QB...ANy takers?

I think we will. We weren't supposed to make the playoffs with Warner this year.

 

[JC_AZ]

WHAT IF... Warner announces retirement from PLAYING but has agreed to be the new OC since we don't currently have one... ML/Offense level could go up? At least retaining some creativity and someone to continue tutoring ML? Not likely, but would like to see it happen to keep KW as part of the organization... JMHO

 

[Pariah]

WHAT IF... Warner announces retirement from PLAYING but has agreed to be the new OC since we don't currently have one... ML/Offense level could go up? At least retaining some creativity and someone to continue tutoring ML? Not likely, but would like to see it happen to keep KW as part of the organization... JMHO

A couple of thoughts on this:

~I don't think I'd want an OC that just walked off the field to be designing an offense. Coaching and playing are two different skill sets. That's not to say Warner may not eventually make an excellent coach, but I think it's unlikely he could make that transition in a matter of weeks (or days).

~The Cards are claiming they don't even know what Warner's decision is. If that's true, then it's unlikely that Warner is announcing himself as a Cardinals coach (of any ilk).

JMHO

 

[Mitch]

Remember Mitch wanted us to dump Warner 3 seasons ago because he was too highly paid to be a back up, he wanted us to go in to the season with Shane Boyd as our back up. Anything he says about a QB I take with a grain of salt as he is wrong WAY more often than he is right at that position.

You are right, Zeno. The year before Whiz arrived, Warner looked skittish and was struggling big-time in the red zone. At that point, I thought he was too higly paid to be a backup, and I also thought Shane Boyd's familiarity with Whiz's system would make him a good backup.

I was obviously wrong...but at the time did anyone think that we'd witness a Warner renaissance?

However, and this is where you and a few others paint a one-sided story.

Rewind to two summers ago, following Whiz's first year. I was one of the mere few on this board that felt that Warner, not Leinart, was the right QB for the system, and I was miffed as to why Leinart had been tabbed the starting QB when Warner had led the team to a 5-3 record the second half of the year, scoring what was for the Cardinals a whopping 27 ppg. I lobbied all summer for Warner, and I even remarked on one of my posts that "Warner actually makes the Cardinals a Super Bowl contender." At that point, I was nearly laughed off the board.

We all go with what our eyes and our instincts tell us. In this game it's often hard to be right.

 

[az jam]

i agree with Urban on this. Leinart will be the starter, they will sign a veteran backup and draft a qb on the later rounds to develop. I'm not sure if they will resign Brian St. Pierre. He is an unrestricted free agent and has major back problems that may need surgery. Too much risk there in my opinion. As i said in one of my earlier posts I like Chris Redman (Falcons) as a quality backup and he is an UFA.

 

[BullheadCardFan]

Leinart strikes me as the type of guy that's always had everything handed to him and doesn't respond well to competition.

If they bring in a vet to compete with him, he'll probably go into a shell. He needs to be given the keys to the car and show they have confidence in him.

They will have to upgrade the defense and the running game, for sure.

I for one do not want a QB that can not handle pressure.

He definitely needs to be challenged for the job. If he goes into a shell then he doesn't deserve the keys to the car as you stated.