After completing his college career, Warner was not drafted by an NFL team. He received an invitation to try out for the Green Bay Packers' training camp in 1994, but was released before the regular season began; Warner was competing for a spot against Brett Favre, Mark Brunell and former Heisman Trophy winner Ty Detmer. While Kurt was with the Green Bay Packers, the head coach was Mike Holmgren and the quarterbacks coach was Steve Mariucci[8], the San Francisco 49ers head coach in 1999. After Warner was released, Mariucci had told him that he knew Warner had enormous potential but was not ready to be an NFL quarterback yet.
It was at this time that Warner famously stocked shelves at a Hy-Vee grocery store in Cedar Falls for $5.50 an hour.[9] He also returned to Northern Iowa and worked as a graduate assistant coach with the football team, all the while still hoping to get another tryout with an NFL team. With no NFL teams willing to give him a chance, Warner turned to the Arena Football League in 1995 and signed with the Iowa Barnstormers.n 1998, Warner was finally signed by an NFL franchise, the St. Louis Rams, and was allocated to NFL Europe's Amsterdam Admirals, where he would lead the league in touchdowns and passing yards.[12] Incidentally, his backup at the time was Jake Delhomme, another famous rags-to-riches quarterback who is now the QB for the Carolina Panthers. Returning to the United States for the season, Warner spent the 1998 campaign as St. Louis' third-string quarterback behind Tony Banks and Steve Bono.
[edit] 1999 season
After releasing Banks and Bono following the 1998 season, the Rams signed free agent Trent Green to be their starting QB, and Warner was promoted to second string. When Green tore his ACL in a preseason game, Warner took over as the Rams' tentative starter. St. Louis coach Dick Vermeil was initially concerned with the team's situation at quarterback after Green's injury, but with the support of running back Marshall Faulk and wide receivers Isaac Bruce, Torry Holt, Az-Zahir Hakim, and Ricky Proehl, Warner put together one of the top seasons by a quarterback in NFL history, throwing for 4,353 yards with 41 touchdown passes and a completion rate of 65.1%. The Rams' high-powered offense was nicknamed "The Greatest Show on Turf" and registered the first in a string of three consecutive 500-point seasons, an NFL record.
Warner threw three touchdown passes in each of the first three NFL starts; he is the only NFL quarterback in history to accomplish that feat. Warner drew more attention in the Rams' fourth game of the season, a home game against the San Francisco 49ers (who had been NFC West division champions for 12 of the previous 13 seasons). The Rams had lost 17 of their previous 18 meetings with the 49ers, but Warner proceeded to throw a touchdown pass on each of the Rams' first three possessions of the game, and four TDs in the first half alone, to propel the Rams to a 28–10 halftime lead on the way to a 42–20 victory. Warner finished the game with five touchdown passes, giving him 14 in four games and the Rams a 4–0 record.
Warner's breakout season from a career in anonymity was so unexpected that Sports Illustrated featured him on their October 18 cover with the caption "Who IS this guy?" [13] He was named the 1999 NFL MVP at the season's end.
In the NFL playoffs, Warner ultimately led the Rams to a Super Bowl XXXIV victory against the Tennessee Titans. In the game, he threw for two touchdowns and a Super Bowl-record 414 passing yards, including a critical 73-yard touchdown to Isaac Bruce when the game was tied with just over two minutes to play. Warner also set a Super Bowl record by attempting 45 passes without a single interception. For his performance, Warner was awarded the Super Bowl MVP, becoming the sixth player to win both the league MVP and Super Bowl MVP awards in the same year. The others are Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Emmitt Smith, and Steve Young.
[edit] 2000 season
Warner started the 2000 season where he had left off in his record-setting '99 campaign, racking up 300 or more passing yards in each of his first 6 games (tying Steve Young's record) and posting 19 touchdown passes in that stretch. Warner broke his hand and missed the middle of the season, but Trent Green filled in ably and the Warner/Green duo led the Rams to the highest team passing yard total in NFL history, with 5,232 net yards. Warner and Green's combined gross passing yard total was 5,492, which, if held by just one player, would surpass the single-season record set by Dan Marino (5,084 yards). In contrast to his previous season, however, Warner's turnover rate drastically increased in 2000, as he threw an interception in 5.2% of his attempts (compared to just 2.6% in 1999). And due to a very poor defensive unit, the Rams were not the same elite team they had been the year before; they were eliminated from the playoffs in the wild card round by the New Orleans Saints despite one of the most productive offensive years by an NFL team. In response to the disappointing season, nine of the Rams' eleven defensive starters would be cut during the offseason, and Trent Green was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs.
[edit] 2001 season
Warner quickly returned to MVP form in 2001. Although his performance lagged behind his 1999 performance, he amassed a league-high 36 touchdown passes and 4,830 passing yards, a total third only to Dan Marino and Drew Brees all-time. Warner's penchant for turnovers carried over from 2000, as he tossed a career-high 22 interceptions (despite completing a career-high 68.7% of his passes), but he still led "The Greatest Show on Turf" to its third consecutive 6–0 start (becoming the first NFL team to do so, later equalled by the 2005-2007 Indianapolis Colts), an NFL-best 14–2 record, and an appearance in Super Bowl XXXVI. Warner was also named the NFL MVP for the second time in three seasons, giving the Rams their third winner in as many years (running back Marshall Faulk won in 2000).
In Super Bowl XXXVI, Warner threw for 365 yards (then the second-highest, now the third-highest total in Super Bowl history) and a passing touchdown along with a rushing touchdown, but his rhythm was largely disrupted by New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick's defensive game plan, and he tossed two costly interceptions which helped stake the heavy-underdog Patriots to a two-touchdown lead. After falling behind to the Patriots 17–3, though, the Rams rallied to tie the game late in the fourth quarter on a one-yard Warner QB sneak touchdown run and a 26-yard touchdown pass from Warner to Ricky Proehl. However, despite the courageous comeback, the game ended in a loss for Warner and the Rams when Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri booted a game-winning field goal as time expired, giving the Patriots the first of three Super Bowl wins in four years.
'Bye Kurt!!
GO SAINTS! (I normally root for Indy but I think the Saints should win a Superbowl, the Colts can win again another year!!).
