[AvengerRam]

I agree with a lot of what Barry says in this, but I have to take issue with a few of his more pointed remarks:

Like a parent, spouse, or child who has seen a loved one slowly slip away due to illness, those of us who will never forget what #13 meant to a team and a city have little emotion left to give as the irreversible end finally came.

The best way to diffuse a good point is to overstate it. That is what Barry has done here. Don't compare a football player leaving town to losing a loved one. Sheesh!

As the negative stories and feelings about Warner as the Rams quarterback appeared, they acted upon his legacy like tumors on bodily organs, some spreading and mutating to other areas. We may never know how the negative vibes played a part in what so quickly turned a two time MVP passer into a backup.

I'm pretty sure that Howard Balzer, me, Tx and even Bernie had little if anything to do with Kurt's downfall from star to backup.

Nor will I forget Warner taking the total blame for losses, when it was obvious that most of his teammates didn’t give half of his effort in those games

Other than Kevin Carter, who could Barry be talking about. Maybe its better not to take shots at unnamed players.

Is it any wonder that fans would identify with such an athlete and give so much of their gratitude for the first NFL championship for St. Louis to Kurt Warner, who took them from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs in just five months?

It is unfair to players like Faulk, Bruce, Holt, Pace, Timmerman, Wistrom, Fletcher and others to make statements like this. Kurt was a huge part of the Rams' championship season, but he didn't do it alone.

Though Kurt Warner gave the NFL the best publicity they had in years, he never seemed to get the protection from the referee that many top passers receive. Even when the league made it very clear that even borderline late or illegal hits should be called, it seemed that the flags stayed in the zebra’s pockets when it came to Warner. The memory of Hugh Douglas brutally slamming Warner to the cement- like turf of Veterans Stadium in the 2001 opener, or of man-mountain Ted Washington lifting Warner off his feet and pile driving him to the ground in another game, both without a flag, still sickens the stomach.

Kurt's not alone here. Ask Rich Gannon (who still can't wash the scent of Tony Siragusa from his favorite jersey).

Had Warner gotten a bit better protection from cheap shots, maybe his health would not have deteriorated so rapidly. Maybe he would have even won a second Super Bowl MVP, since the key interception for a score by the Patriots came on a play when Warner was clearly forearmed across the face and neck by blitzing linebacker Mike Vrable. Maybe if Faulk had been healthier over the past three years, or if Mike Martz would have run the ball more or protected him better with his scheme, Warner would have been able to avoid some damaging hits as well.

There isn't a bigger Ram fan than me out there, but even I think this sounds like whining.

For some reason, we seem to think that sort of limitation makes up for how great it feels in the moment the magic occurs, as if no one deserves more than a flash of greatness at an eye opening level; a bolt of lightning splitting a dark night sky, but providing that dazzling light for only an instant. Maybe that makes it possible to somehow accept this latest chapter of Warner’s saga, but it sure does nothing for the ache of seeing the best person in town, and the savior of a franchise, leave for another place, and other fans.

Oh please. Do you really feel that bad for a multi-millionare who now has the opportunity to continue playing in the biggest market in the world? And save the "savior of a franchise" nonsense. Again, Kurt didn't do it alone.

You know, I guess I didn't really like much about this article after all.