Warner coming home, for himself and others

He'll be 37 next month, which means Kurt Warner has lived half his life away from his Cedar Rapids hometown.

"It feels like home away home," he said. "It's where my extended family still lives. I still have a lot of friends there. I've come back to do a number of things there, whether it's for my foundation or just to visit. It continually makes me aware of the encouragement and support I've gotten there, the instrumental values I had instilled in me at a young age."

Published in The Gazette on May 10, 2008

That might sound like a lot of platitudes if it didn't have teeth behind it.

The Kurt Warner First Things First Foundation has conducted football clinics in Cedar Rapids for Special Olympics participants, with the two-time NFL Most Valuable Player being as hands-on as he could be at them. He has targeted Blank Children's Hospital in Des Moines, where he played for the Iowa Barnstormers, as a site for a Warner's Corner, a "fun zone" for pediatric patients.

The night of May 25, Warner is hosting "An Evening With Champions" at Cedar Rapids' Paramount Theatre. It's a fundraiser and awareness-raiser for First Things First.

Golfer Zach Johnson, who followed Warner to Regis High School and pro sports glory, will be part of the event. Warner will give a talk, and he and Johnson will hold a question-and-answer session with the audience.

"It's a chance for myself and Zach to say thanks to the people of Cedar Rapids and around Iowa who have supported us throughout our careers," Warner said last week from Phoenix. "It's also a chance to share our stories and hopefully encourage other people who have a few dreams.

"The second objective is to make people aware of what our foundation is trying to do, not only in Iowa but around the country. I'm trying to use my platform and situation to help better the world around us and join hands with other people who are doing that."

Few pro athletes of renown tout their Christian beliefs as often or as loudly as Warner. He admits that doesn't appeal to everyone. Likewise, Johnson caught ridicule in certain circles for saying Jesus walked with him as he played the final round of the 2007 Masters he won.

"Negative media comes with sharing your faith," he said. "People don't always like it when you make it the forefront of what you do, especially in athletics. A lot of people don't think faith and athletics really should mix. I've lost a number of endorsements that could have been connected to my foundation because it's openly Christian-based, and they shy away from it. So it suffers in that regard.

"But I'm happy to face those things for the sake of my faith in God and what I believe in. For all those who say no, God will connect me with the right people who want to do right by people."

Touting your faith is one thing, living it is another. Whatever your religious beliefs or non-beliefs, isn't Warner who most of us want prominent athletes to be? He lives within the law, and lives for people other than himself. Take a quick look at www.kurtwarner.org and go to "Projects."

Warner and his wife, Brenda, escort kids with life-threatening illnesses to Disney World every year. They help low-income families make homeownership a reality. They've organized winter coat drives ever since they were in St. Louis in 2001. They've created F.U.N. (Fundamentals You Need) for adolescents in St. Louis, New Jersey, Phoenix and Waterloo, rewarding them for attendance, grade and behavior requirements in their schools.

There's a lot more. Warner said it all goes back to his childhood days in Cedar Rapids.

"When I would play football at the Jane Boyd Center, there were coaches there who had an impact on my life. They volunteered their time. That really stuck with me. As I dreamed all those years ago about playing in the NFL, I always told myself when I got there I wanted to give something back.

"We actually share our time, building relationships with the people we work with. It's not just writing checks."

Warner's cause is helped greatly by remaining a prominent figure in football, seven years after his second MVP award and Super Bowl trip with St. Louis. Is it already nine years since he emerged from obscurity to help rocket the Rams to a world championship?

When Matt Leinart injured his shoulder and was done for the season after the Cardinals' fourth game, Warner showed a lot of what he produced during his great Rams run. He had 27 touchdown passes to 17 interceptions. He had three TD throws in each of Arizona's final four games. He totaled 669 passing yards in the last two games, both wins.

Nothing is resolved in Phoenix about who will start for the Cardinals when they open the 2008 season. Leinart is the Heisman Trophy-winning glamour guy from USC. Warner was undrafted out of Northern Iowa, getting to the NFL by way of Arena Football and NFL Europe. He also is the more-proven commodity of the two.

"I was happy with the way I performed last year," Warner said. "I really helped our offense make some huge strides the last eight games of the year and I'm very proud of that. It was one of my best seasons in the NFL. We had one of the top 10 offenses in the league and one of the top five scoring offenses.

"I believe I still have enough left to throw 30 or more touchdown passes and have another great year."

As we came to realize many years ago, a good way to look silly is to doubt Warner when he thinks he can accomplish something.

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