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Won't get any better for Kurt
Bob Glauber
Friday, June 4, 2004
Yes, even Kurt Warner can't figure out how it has come to this: How one minute, he was the most incredible story in pro sports, the stockboy-at-the-local-HyVee-turned-Super Bowl hero. And how the next minute, he was wearing a headset and a blank stare, wondering where in the world it all went wrong.
"Sometimes you just sit back and say, 'Wow, how did I get here?'" the former St. Louis Rams quarterback said yesterday. "You wonder where it's going."
Warner hopes it's going back in the other direction, that the pendulum will begin to swing in the direction of a Super Bowl now that he has left the wonder and heartbreak of the Rams behind and come to the Giants. He believes he again can be the dominant quarterback he was from 1999-2001, when he won a Super Bowl, went to another, collected two NFL MVP trophies and was named a Super Bowl MVP.
Sorry, Kurt, I have my doubts.
"I think that two or three years down the road, it's all going to make sense, and that a lot is going to be accomplished," he said. "Sometimes it's hard to make sense of it, but all I can do is take it day by day and see what tomorrow brings."
Warner's enthusiasm is understandable in light of his experience the last two seasons, in which he failed to win any of his eight starts, suffered three broken bones in his throwing hand and a concussion, and ultimately lost his job.
But Warner is kidding himself if he thinks he can get back to where he once was.
He certainly gives the Giants a chance to win more games than if No. 1 pick Eli Manning were thrown into the starting lineup right away. But to imagine Warner throwing darts the way he did with The Greatest Show on Turf in St. Louis is simply unrealistic.
Once he steps onto the field against the blitz-happy Eagles in the regular-season opener Sept. 12, you will see the same problems that led to Warner's fall from grace. You will see him lock on to receivers the way he did during his difficult times in St. Louis. You will see him get jittery under a heavy rush. And with the shaky offensive line the Giants figure to have, Warner certainly can't expect the kind of protection that once gave him time in his seven-step drops to fuel the Rams' high-octane attack. It doesn't help that the Giants are without the collective speed and talent around Warner that he enjoyed with the Rams.
Warner can't possibly be as bad as he was in last year's opener against the Giants, when he fumbled six times and suffered six sacks. A mild concussion can explain some of those problems, but certainly not all.
One player who was with the Rams during their two Super Bowl seasons said Warner slowed down noticeably in recent years, that he was not making on-field decisions as quickly as he did when he first came into the league and that he was becoming increasingly jumpy when he sensed a heavy pass rush.
In fact, by the time Mike Martz sat Warner after the opener last season, there was substantial, albeit quiet, support among many Rams players for making the change to Marc Bulger.
Warner played the good soldier the rest of the season, never publicly complaining about Martz's decision. And there were no harsh words about his Rams experience yesterday, only fond recollections of the past and a warm-and-fuzzy look to the future.
"We had so much success and things were so great, you'd love to ride off into the sunset," Warner said. "Unfortunately, things didn't turn out that way. Those six years were the greatest six years of my life. But I'm looking forward to nothing but better things in New York."
In fact, Warner hopes to spend the rest of his career in New York, however long that may be. Another red flag: How is he supposed to be this great tutor for Manning when he's looking to play here another four or five years? Manning is the Giants' future, even though Coughlin has decided he'd rather bring him along slowly with a veteran presence like Warner.
Even if Warner plays well, the Giants shouldn't sign him to a long-term contract next year. This might be Warner's team in 2004, but it's Manning's team in 2005 and beyond.
And who knows? If Warner fails to recapture the form that made him football's best player from 1999-2001, it might be Manning's team this year after all.
Bob Glauber
Friday, June 4, 2004
Yes, even Kurt Warner can't figure out how it has come to this: How one minute, he was the most incredible story in pro sports, the stockboy-at-the-local-HyVee-turned-Super Bowl hero. And how the next minute, he was wearing a headset and a blank stare, wondering where in the world it all went wrong.
"Sometimes you just sit back and say, 'Wow, how did I get here?'" the former St. Louis Rams quarterback said yesterday. "You wonder where it's going."
Warner hopes it's going back in the other direction, that the pendulum will begin to swing in the direction of a Super Bowl now that he has left the wonder and heartbreak of the Rams behind and come to the Giants. He believes he again can be the dominant quarterback he was from 1999-2001, when he won a Super Bowl, went to another, collected two NFL MVP trophies and was named a Super Bowl MVP.
Sorry, Kurt, I have my doubts.
"I think that two or three years down the road, it's all going to make sense, and that a lot is going to be accomplished," he said. "Sometimes it's hard to make sense of it, but all I can do is take it day by day and see what tomorrow brings."
Warner's enthusiasm is understandable in light of his experience the last two seasons, in which he failed to win any of his eight starts, suffered three broken bones in his throwing hand and a concussion, and ultimately lost his job.
But Warner is kidding himself if he thinks he can get back to where he once was.
He certainly gives the Giants a chance to win more games than if No. 1 pick Eli Manning were thrown into the starting lineup right away. But to imagine Warner throwing darts the way he did with The Greatest Show on Turf in St. Louis is simply unrealistic.
Once he steps onto the field against the blitz-happy Eagles in the regular-season opener Sept. 12, you will see the same problems that led to Warner's fall from grace. You will see him lock on to receivers the way he did during his difficult times in St. Louis. You will see him get jittery under a heavy rush. And with the shaky offensive line the Giants figure to have, Warner certainly can't expect the kind of protection that once gave him time in his seven-step drops to fuel the Rams' high-octane attack. It doesn't help that the Giants are without the collective speed and talent around Warner that he enjoyed with the Rams.
Warner can't possibly be as bad as he was in last year's opener against the Giants, when he fumbled six times and suffered six sacks. A mild concussion can explain some of those problems, but certainly not all.
One player who was with the Rams during their two Super Bowl seasons said Warner slowed down noticeably in recent years, that he was not making on-field decisions as quickly as he did when he first came into the league and that he was becoming increasingly jumpy when he sensed a heavy pass rush.
In fact, by the time Mike Martz sat Warner after the opener last season, there was substantial, albeit quiet, support among many Rams players for making the change to Marc Bulger.
Warner played the good soldier the rest of the season, never publicly complaining about Martz's decision. And there were no harsh words about his Rams experience yesterday, only fond recollections of the past and a warm-and-fuzzy look to the future.
"We had so much success and things were so great, you'd love to ride off into the sunset," Warner said. "Unfortunately, things didn't turn out that way. Those six years were the greatest six years of my life. But I'm looking forward to nothing but better things in New York."
In fact, Warner hopes to spend the rest of his career in New York, however long that may be. Another red flag: How is he supposed to be this great tutor for Manning when he's looking to play here another four or five years? Manning is the Giants' future, even though Coughlin has decided he'd rather bring him along slowly with a veteran presence like Warner.
Even if Warner plays well, the Giants shouldn't sign him to a long-term contract next year. This might be Warner's team in 2004, but it's Manning's team in 2005 and beyond.
And who knows? If Warner fails to recapture the form that made him football's best player from 1999-2001, it might be Manning's team this year after all.
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