Big Weekend on Tap for Former Cedar Valley Football Star
Becoming a starter in the National Football League is a hard enough accomplishment yet even thinking about making it into the Hall of Fame. One former Cedar Valley football all-star is being inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame this weekend.
This weekend Kurt Warner will be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Although he was born in Burlington, Iowa. The Cedar Valley is where his football career started its climb to the top.
I never 'really' met him, but our paths crossed a few times on the social scene in the Cedar Valley in the 90's. There were even a few times at the old 'Coyotes' while I was hosting a few station events. I was left with the impression that he was a very humble and courteous gentleman.
He's even a man after my own heart. How did he celebrate the good news that he was a part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2017? The Kurt Warner family celebrate the Hall of Fame news by going out to eat, at Burger King (see Tweet). #KeepItReal.
There aren't many stories about a rise to the top like Kurt Warner's story. Northern Iowa Panthers football fans watched him hone his craft. Draft day came and went, and Warner went unclaimed. That did not stop him from making pro football his profession.
He signed a contract with the Green Bay Packers in 1994, but that didn't work out. Then an upstart team in the Arena Football League signed Warner to play for them in their inaugural year (1995), and he played three seasons as an AFL quarterback for the Iowa Barnstormers.
After a stint in the NFL's European Football League, In 1998, Warner returned to the states on the St. Louis Rams roster. From their his career blossomed. The Burlington, Iowa native was named the NFL's Most Valuable Player in 1999 & 2001). He lead the Rams to two Super Bowl games winning it all in Super Bowl XXXIV.
In 2008, he returned to the Super Bowl as an Arizona Cardinal claiming his second championship ring. Warner is the only quarterback to throw for 300 or more yards in three Super Bowls. The list goes on-and-on for the four-time Pro Bowler.
Congrats to Kurt Warner.