Our tech team has launched updates to The Nest today. As a result of these updates, members of the Nest Community will need to change their password in order to continue participating in the community. In addition, The Nest community member's avatars will be replaced with generic default avatars. If you wish to revert to your original avatar, you will need to re-upload it via The Nest.
If you have questions about this, please email help@theknot.com.
Thank you.
Note: This only affects The Nest's community members and will not affect members on The Bump or The Knot.
Kurt Warner retires :(
( I met him last year while standing in line at a Cold Stone Creamery in the Honolulu airport the day after the Pro Bowl game. While he gave my husband an autograph and hi-fived my 2 year old, I snuck down to the cashier and bought his wafflecone. He stopped by a few minutes later to graciously thank me and wish us well. It was the highlight of our weeklong Hawaii vacation. )
By BOB BAUM AP Sports Writer
TEMPE, Ariz.(AP)?Kurt Warner(notes) has called an end to one of the great storybook careers in NFL history.
The 38-year-old quarterback announced his retirement from the game on Friday after a dozen years in a league that at first rejected him, then revered him as he came from nowhere to lead the lowly St. Louis Rams to two Super Bowls, winning the first of them.
Written off as a has-been, he rose again to lead the long-suffering Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl a year ago. if(window.yzq_d==null)window.yzq_d=new Object(); window.yzq_d['h7WMAEWTWUE-']='&U=13ermvtq8%2fN%3dh7WMAEWTWUE-%2fC%3d715481.13818239.13825366.1323516%2fD%3dSKY%2fB%3d5761156%2fV%3d1';
Warner walked away with a year left on a two-year, $23 million contract, knowing he still had the skills to play at the highest level.
He had one of the greatest postseason performances ever in Arizona?s 51-45 overtime wild card victory over Green Bay on Jan. 10, but sustained a brutal hit in the Cardinals? 45-14 divisional round loss at New Orleans six days later.
Warner leaves the game with a legacy that could land him in the Hall of Fame even though he didn?t start his first game until he was 28.
In a comparison with the 14 quarterbacks to make the Hall of Fame in the last 25 years, Warner has a better career completion percentage, yards per pass attempt and yards per game. Only Dan Marino had more career 300-yard passing games.
In 124 regular-season games, Warner completed 65.5 percent of his passes for 32,344 yards and 208 touchdowns. He and Fran Tarkenton are the only NFL quarterbacks to throw for 100 touchdowns and 14,000 yards for two teams.
Warner, who grew up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and played collegiately at Northern Iowa, ranks among the career leaders in a variety of passing statistics.
He was also the fastest player in NFL history to 10,000 yards passing and tied Dan Marino as fastest to reach 30,000.
He has the top three passing performances in Super Bowl history. His 1,156 yards passing in the 2008 playoffs broke the NFL record of 1,063 he set with St. Louis in 1999.
Warner?s rise from obscurity seems the stuff of sports fiction.
He played three seasons in the Arena Football League and one in NFL Europe, mixed in with a sting stocking grocery shelves back in Iowa.
Warner made the Rams as a backup in 1998, then was thrust into the starting role in 1999 when Trent Green(notes) was injured.
What followed was a masterful and wholly unexpected season, when he led the Rams to a 13-3 regular-season record, then a Super Bowl triumph over Tennessee. He was named the league and Super Bowl MVP.
St. Louis was upset in the first round of the playoffs the following season, but Warner had them back in the big game in 2001, where ?The Greatest Show on Turf? lost a squeaker to New England. The season earned him a second NFL MVP award.
But after an injury-plagued 2002 season, he was sacked six times and suffered a concussion in a 2003 season-opening loss to the New York Giants. He never started for St. Louis again.
He signed a free agent contract with the Giants for 2004, but was replaced by rookie Eli Manning(notes) after nine games. Warner came to the Cardinals in 2005 and was an off-and-on starter before replacing the injured Matt Leinart(notes) part way through the 2007 season.
Warner had to beat out Leinart the following spring, then led the Cardinals to the NFC West crown and playoff victories over Atlanta, Carolina and Philadelphia before the narrow loss to Pittsburgh in last year?s Super Bowl, where he threw for 377 yards.
Off the field, Warner has been just as impressive.
He and his wife operate the First Things First Christian charitable foundation. Last year, he was named the NFL?s Man of the Year for his off-field and onfield accomplishments.
Warner?s departure leaves Leinart the presumed replacement. The former Heisman Trophy winner has started 17 games for Arizona but only one in the last two years.
Re: Kurt Warner retires :(
I was really hoping he would come back for the remaining year on his contract. He is a classy, interesting guy and really fun to watch. I loved his intensity on the field.
2012 Reading Challenge
He was my fantasy QB as well, I am going to have to do some research to try to find a new one.
He is a great guy, I live just outside St. Louis and he is still very well liked and respected here after he played for the Rams. We went to the game this year when the Cardinals came and beat up on Rams (hahaha!) and there were many Warner jerseys. One lady had a half-Cardinals/half-Rams jersey she had custom made.
I cannot say that I blame him, concussions are nothing to mess with for the long run. Football lost a great player!