PFW/PFWA awards '99: Most Valuable Player

Bursting into the picture: MVP award completes QB Kurt Warner’s Cinderella season

By Robert Neely, Associate editor
As published in print Jan. 17, 2000

Rams QB Kurt Warner

Everybody knows the story by now. Kurt Warner, a guy from Nowhere, Iowa, by way of Arena Football and NFL Europe, gets forced into action when the starting quarterback blows out his knee in a preseason game.

Warner goes on to have one of the best seasons by a quarterback in NFL history, becoming only the second player to throw 40 or more TD passes in a season (he finished with 41) and recording the fifth-best passer rating (109.2) in league history. And oh, by the way, he also leads his team, which had been a measly 4-12 the previous season, to a 13-3 record, an 8-0 division record and the top seed in the NFC playoffs.

Warner’s story is so improbable that even Cinderella would have trouble believing it. The Rams’ QB came out of nowhere more than the plot twist in "The Sixth Sense."

But let’s be honest: The whole Cinderella story loses its appeal if the glass slipper fits on some snobby socialite’s foot first. No fairy-tale ending, no fairy tale.

For Warner’s Hollywood story to be complete, he has to get the big prize at the end of the movie.

Roll credits.

Warner has won the Pro Football Weekly/Professional Football Writers of America Most Valuable Player award for the ’99 season. Warner beat out teammate Marshall Faulk for the honor.

"Beyond amazing," Rams head coach Dick Vermeil said of his quarterback’s astonishing season. "I don’t know if you (have) ever been able to write a story about a guy that has come from where he has to do what he … has accomplished.

"If I had known he was this good, I would have started him last year."

How good is "this good"? TE Roland Williams figured it out in Week 13 when the Rams were playing at Carolina.

"I was running a ‘four’ route, which is like a 15-yard in route," Williams said. "I ran it on a linebacker. When I was running the route, I didn’t see myself as open. In fact, I wasn’t, but I knew I was coming open late.

"On the film, you see Kurt release the ball before I even came out of my break and was only remotely open. And he put the ball low and away, which is the only place you can throw that ball, and we completed it for a touchdown.

"That play right there put me in the mind that Kurt Warner not only knows how to throw the ball accurately, he also knows how to anticipate where the ball needs to be and exactly where the ball needs to be thrown. That was a great play."

The know-how Warner displayed throughout the season may be the most impressive thing about his performance, considering he had less than one quarter of NFL experience before starter Trent Green’s injury. Warner says the reps he got in the Arena League and in Europe helped him in that regard.

"I never played at this level, but I have played a lot of football over the past few years, having three seasons in the Arena League, a season over in Europe," Warner said. "Over that span, I probably played as much football as anybody around.

"So to say that I haven’t played and haven’t fine-tuned my skills is kind of crazy."

Despite those experiences, Warner still faced an adjustment when he became the starting quarterback. Now he is unquestionably one of the Rams’ leaders.

"He’s evolved a lot in the huddle," Williams said. "When he first came in, he sort of got in, wanted to get his job done and wanted to make sure that we all were feeling good about him being in the huddle.

"Now, Kurt’s developed a lot more confidence, and now he’s taken charge of the huddle, and he pretty much dictates everything we do. I think his demeanor has changed. He’s a lot more assertive right now, which is what he needs to do in order to get us where we need to go."

In the huddle nowadays, Warner is "real calm," said WR Az-Zahir Hakim. "He takes control of the situation."

Warner’s savvy reveals itself in other ways as well.

"He’s a heady guy," Williams said. "He’s somebody that tries to do things to the letter and follow (the) directions of what (offensive coordinator) Mike Martz wants, and he’s been able to flourish in it."

One reason Warner and the Rams’ offense flourished was that the QB was able to take advantage of all the weapons at his disposal. Five different receivers — Faulk, Williams and WRs Isaac Bruce, Hakim and Torry Holt — caught at least five TD passes from Warner this season.

"Our offense is designed to have many options, but obviously, Kurt Warner being the field general, he’s the one that decides where the ball goes, and that’s where he has the exceptional knack," Williams said. "He knows how to find the open man, (and) he knows how to throw accurate balls to get it there."

It’s not just acumen that made Warner a success this season. His arm has drawn compliments too.

"He makes all the throws," Hakim said. "Every throw with him is a good throw. He puts the ball where it needs to be in every situation."

Warner’s accuracy still makes teammates shake their heads.

"I swear he could throw a ball through a tire from 50 yards back," Williams said. "He’s able to catch receivers coming out of their breaks.

"I think that’s the thing that makes him special, because everybody can throw an accurate ball every now and then. But I don’t know a lot of people that can do it under pressure from defenses, consistently hitting receivers and doing it throughout a whole 16-week season."

It’s hard to call Warner’s season a fluke when you consider how consistent he was throughout the campaign. He threw a touchdown pass in every game and at least two in 14 contests. He had nine 300-yard passing games and five more games of 200 yards or more. He finished the season with 41 TD passes, just 13 interceptions, 4,353 passing yards and a 65.1 completion percentage.

Perhaps the most surprising thing about Warner’s season is that it didn’t surprise him at all.

"I expected myself to play well," Warner said. "I expected myself to do the things I have done. I played a lot of football and have high expectations (for) myself, and when I go out on the football field, I expect to make the plays I am capable of making. I think that is what I have done this year."

Others saw the same potential in Warner.

"He always showed the capabilities, even on the practice field," Hakim said.

That’s enough to make you wish you had been able to see more than just the Hollywood ending to Warner’s story.

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Editor's note: To read about the many other awards voted by PFW and the Professional Football Writers of America — including Defensive MVP, All-NFL team, Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year, Defensive Rookie of the Year, All-Conference teams, All-Rookie team, Comeback Player of the Year, Executive of the Year and Assistant Coach of the Year, plus PFW’s own Golden Toe Trophy — get the Issue 29 print edition of Pro Football Weekly at your local newsstand or subscribe today.

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