Warner: Leading by Example

For all of ESPN's warts, one of the good things it does it have Wayne Drehs write for its Web site.

I just saw this piece that showed up on ESPN.com on Dec. 26, and I hope you'll take a look at it. It's worth your time. It's a feature on Kurt Warner. Whether you like Warner or not -- and I do -- I can't imagine you won't respect him after reading this piece.

Here's an excerpt:

No matter how much people argue, Warner is not your usual guy. Not in the era of me-first, fan-last athletes. Not with guys like Adam "Pacman" Jones, Terrell Owens and Plaxico Burress roaming around.

So why do some people shake their heads when they hear about the good things Warner does for others? Why does the hair on their necks stand up?

"People relate to athletes who make bad choices because it brings the athlete down to their level," (former teammate Josh) McCown said. "It helps them feel good about who they are and what they're doing.

"On the other side, when you hear the stories about Kurt, here is someone squeezing the most they can out of their life. And at the end of the day, that causes all of us to look in the mirror. And I think sometimes we don't like what that mirror looks like. So it's easier to rip on the things Kurt does than change yourself."

The full story is at http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?page=hotread17/kurtwarner

Warner and his Arizona Cardinals team took care of business Saturday in the opening round of the NFC playoffs, beating the Atlanta Falcons, 30-24. Warner threw for 271 yards and two touchdowns.

Nice.