NFL: 4 backup quarterbacks who became stars
By Jeff Glauser
2. Kurt Warner, St. Louis Rams
One day, someone like Disney will produce a movie about Kurt Warner, and it will be a box office smash. Because, as Rocky, Rudy, and The Blind Side have taught us, everyone loves an underdog. And there may have been no more successful tale than Warner’s.
Undrafted out of the football mecca known as Northern Iowa, he toiled around in obscurity for years after being cut by the Green Bay Packers in 1994, spending time in the NFL Europe and Arena Leagues—and even famously bagging groceries at a local Hy-Vee—before latching on with the St. Louis Rams as their third-string quarterback in 1998.
The following season, Warner finally got his chance as a starter when prized free-agent acquisition Trent Green went down with a devastating knee injury in preseason. Needless to say, Green never got another chance in St. Louis.
What resulted was one of the greatest single season performances for one of the greatest offenses in NFL history—aptly named the Greatest Show on Turf—leading the Rams to an unlikely Super Bowl win and another appearance, while racking up two MVPs (1999 and 2001) to go along with four career Pro Bowl selections.
Then, nearly a decade later, Warner added yet another chapter to his Cinderella story, as he reinvented himself once again for the Arizona Cardinals, leading an entire team of underdogs to a narrow loss against the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XLIII.
Next: Tom Terrific