Kurt Warner and His Lord

Kurt Warner Retires

A real class-act and great witness of Jesus hangs up his cleats.

from: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=4870096

Quarterback Kurt Warner announced his retirement Friday from the NFL after 12 seasons, a year after leading the Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl and weeks after leading them to the second round of the playoffs.

"Not much on the drama part of it, as most of you know," Warner said to begin a news conference at the Cardinals' training facility in Tempe, Ariz.

"Obviously, it's been 12 unbelievable years, some of the best years of my life," a composed Warner said Friday. "But I want everybody to know that I'm just as excited about the next 12, that I'm excited about what lies in front of me. I'm excited about spending more time with my family, and seeing what God's going to do next."

Since the Cardinals were eliminated from the playoffs in a 45-14 loss to the New Orleans Saints on divisional playoff weekend, Warner has spent his days huddling over his decision with family and his agent, Mark Bartelstein.

Warner has been voted to five Pro Bowls and became the second quarterback in history to throw more than 100 touchdown passes for two NFL franchises.

True Stories about a True Hero

When my wife and I lived in St. Louis (while I was going to seminary), the St. Louis Rams were the Sunday game on TV. And, the first year we were there, that was not a good thing. I believe their record in 1998 was 3-13!

Then, the following year, the Rams got a star running back, drafted a terrific rookie wide receiver, and started a little-known quarterback who just happened to dominate the league and win the Super Bowl that year. This quarterback's name was Kurt Warner.

All of a sudden, watching the Rams games was fun. During the commercials to the games, Katherine and I sat amazed at how many commercials featured a good-looking, middle-aged pastor who got on and said things like, "I'm not here to sell you anything; I just want you to know Jesus loves you." Weeks later, we found out that this was Kurt Warner's pastor, and Kurt personally paid for each and every one of these commercials to be put on St. Louis televisions everywhere.

Then, our fourth year in St. Louis, Katherine and I finally got tickets to a Rams game. As we were standing in line to go in, I noticed tons of kids handing out free football cards to everyone in line. I took one and noticed it was a football card of Kurt Warner. When I turned it over, it had Kurt's testimony of receiving Jesus as his Lord and Savior.

This weekend, the Vikings play the Arizona Cardinals whose QB is--you guessed it--Kurt Warner. He's having a great year; some are even talking MVP. I'm hoping for a Vikings win, but if anyone has to beat them, let it be this true hero of the faith.