Sunday, October 03, 1999Can Bengals lose to Arena Football QB?
Blue-collar kid gets chance to be NFL star
BY MICHAEL PERRY
The Cincinnati EnquirerWhen the NFL season started, quarterback Kurt Warner's pro football resume looked like this:
• 1998: St. Louis Rams, NFL, one relief appearance, completed 4 of 11 passes for 39 yards
• 1998: Amsterdam Admirals, NFL Europe, led league with 2,101 yards passing and 15 touchdowns
• 1995-97: Iowa Barnstormers, Arena Football League, passed for 10,164 yards and 183 touchdowns
Warner will make his third career NFL start today against the Bengals at Cinergy Field. He has led the Rams to a 2-0 start and is the No. 2-rated quarterback in the league -- behind Washington's Brad Johnson.
The 28-year-old Warner, who is earning just $254,000 this season, has completed 65.2 percent of his passes (45-of-69) for 584 yards with six TDs and two interceptions. He's also run for a touchdown and ranks ahead of guys named Favre, Aikman, Young, Bledsoe and Marino.
“He's a blue-collar kid,” St. Louis coach Dick Vermeil said. “He's not a hot dog, he's not a big ego guy, not a selfish guy. I think the players really respect him and care about him.”
It is not by design that Warner is the Rams' starter. The team signed former Redskins quarterback Trent Green in February, but he suffered a season-ending knee injury in the preseason that “absolutely devastated” Vermeil and his players.
As the franchise turned to him, Warner was unfazed.
“We just went about it as business as usual,” he said. “They had all the confidence in me. I never saw anybody waiver.”
Warner always believed he could compete in the NFL; all he needed was a chance. He played college ball at Division 1-AA Northern Iowa, where he was a starter for one year. As a senior, he led the Gateway Conference in total offense and passing efficiency and was the league's offensive player of the year.
He attended the Green Bay Packers' training camp as a free agent in 1994, but didn't make the cut. Warner moved on to play football wherever he could. He led Iowa to the Arena Bowl two straight years and holds all the team passing records.
“I was playing because I love the game,” he said. “I was having a lot of fun.”
Warner's early season success has been much like Arena ball, where he used to throw for eight TDs a game. Last week against defending NFC champion Atlanta, St, Louis scored on four touchdown drives of more than 70 yards.
The Rams offense ranks No. 3 in the NFC.
“The thing that I admire most about him is his ability to bounce back after he makes a bad pass or a couple incompletions or when we go three-and-out,” running back Marshall Faulk said. “He does a good job at getting everybody back to the huddle and getting us riled up and ready to go again and makes sure the next series is better than the past series.”
Said Vermeil: “I expected him to play well. I did not expect him to play at the level he's playing. I don't know what the limit is on this kid.”
After Green was lost for the season, Vermeil told Warner in front of the whole team that he believed in him and that he expected him to play well. Vermeil thinks showing confidence in Warner helped the players feel confident.
Warner helped his own cause by attending more offseason workouts than necessary and by working hard and improving in mini-camps.
“He's a very down-to-earth young man who has really struggled to earn the right to play in this league,” Vermeil said. “He's way more than paid his dues.”
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