 THE PAST AND FUTURE KURT WARNER, BY 316
(Sept 5) |
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I. KURT WARNER'S
INTERESTING LINEAGE. Was browsing some college football websites this morning, and ran across an interesting page on the site for the University of Northern Iowa---Kurt Warner's alma mater. Perhaps it's because Warner is a "local guy" that I'm generally very defensive about him. Perhaps it's because my own stepson (who has some real Division I/Division I-AA skills . . . dreams) is moving up through the same high school football conference in the state that produced Warner, and I'm now subconsiously projecting my own hopes for "one of my own" on Warner. Perhaps it's something else. I don't know. But . . . the truth remains that, although Warner has taken a long, sometimes odd route to being the Rams' starter in 1999, he's not simply the backwoods, clueless, talentless cardboard cutout of an NFL player he can be categorized as here sometimes . . . or elsewhere. One of the barometers of Warner's skills is reflected in the fact that there are now SIX former Northern Iowa players on NFL rosters right now. In addition to Warner, you can count Jacksonville Jaguar outside linebacker (not to mention former Pro Bowler and AFC defensive player of the year) Bryce Paup and emerging Jet wideout Dedric Ward as former UNI stars. (In fact, Ward and Warner were teammates at Division I-AA UNI . . . and played in the same high school football conference against each other.) In addition to Warner, Paup and Ward, veteran Raider wideout Kenny Shedd, Detroit Lion defensive tackle James Jones and Lion rookie safety Ty Talton are all Panther alumnus. UNI may be able to add a seventh player to that list at the end of this year. Flanker Mike Furrey - who transfered to UNI from Ohio State three years ago - just set the career reception record in the Gateway Conference yesterday. Playing in his first game of the season, the Chrebet-like Furrey totaled 11 receptions for more than 180 yards, and even returned a punt for a touchdown for good measure . . . as top-20 rated UNI defeated the fifth-ranked team in Divison I-AA, McNesse State of Lake Charles, Louisiana, 41-17. There just aren't too many "smaller schools" in the college football nation right now that can boast six former players on NFL rosters . . . let alone larger schools with that many. Now . . . is that a guarantee of Warner's success? Of course not. There simply are no guarantees anywhere. But . . . no matter what happens . . . don't make the mistake of simply assuming Warner is a pretender to the throne as an NFL caliber player. He has an interesting lineage . . . but a very, very successful one. II. THE HOLMGREN CONNECTION. Now, as it happens, I know a lot about Warner, and had seen him a lot and was intrigued by what I knew of Warner's time in his first NFL camp---with the Packers. That "background info" came straight from his bloodlines . . . from Warner's brother, who I worked with for a couple of years (a couple of years back). Based on those conversations, I was aware that Mike Holmgren was more than just a little intrigued with Warner's skills. Warner was one of the first in a long line of not that highly regarded QBs Holmgren has molded in his career---a list that includes Bret Favre (thought to be a great talent who didn't have the discipline to harness it in college and in his rookie year in Atlanta), Mark Brunnel (many sniffed that the former Washington star was little more than a poor man's Steve Young ---a tremendous athlete trying to play QB), and Doug Pederson (a fine, but little known, backup), et al. >From my understanding, Holmgren simply felt Warner needed some seasoning in a couple of pro style camps---but was unable to give that to him in Green Bay because of the Packers' much publicized log jam at QB . . . with Favre, Detmer and Brunnell. And, I don't think there was any doubt that Holmgren's friendship with Vermeil (and Walsh's relationship with Holmgren and Vermeil) played a role in Warner getting signed by the Rams after the '97 season. It was at that point Warner began to get the seasoning he needed as a pro. If the truth be told, it's likely that Holmgren recommended Warner to Vermeil. III. THE 99 SEASON? I'm not real crazy about making predictions. When the Rams brought Warner in a year and a half ago, let's just say I was, in all honesty, hopeful. I can't recall predicting much about what he'd accomplish . . . just that I wished folks would give him some time and slack and lay off the Arena League garbage they were yanking his crank on. I have no idea how this is going to shake down with Warner in the end. None of us do. But the first five weeks will be telling . . . and the further along the season goes, the more comfortable Warner will become in this system. If the Rams can weather the first month and a half . . . the better things should (presumably) get. As we all know, there's nothing quite like getting thrown in the deep end to speed the learning curve. Of course, the obvious issue that we're all missing in the glow of another season's dawn is that while we all want the Rams to improve, it's not likely that even with Green they would have been in serious playoff contention. I think we'd all be thrilled with 8-8. Soooo . . . this year was going to be a key building year in the Vermeil tenure . . . with Green or without. The thought that we're missing out on watching our team play in playoff games---because Green was cheap-shotted to the sideline for an entire season---is a bit much to assume. I personally would have been thrilled with an 8-8 season in which Green QBed. Still, the upside is also just as obvious. If Kurt Warner can suffer the slings and arrows of this trial by fire, get through the rough spots and have some nice, high spots over the course of the long season, the Rams suddenly go into the 2000 season being *very* strong and very deep at QB for the first time in memory. |
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