There aren't many Cinderella stories in the NFL that can live up to the one written by Kurt Warner. Undrafted out of college, he's gone on to have a long and successful career that just may land him in the Hall of Fame.
Starting only one season at Northern Iowa, Warner found himself unwanted at the NFL level and headed for the Arena Football League. After tearing up that league as the quarterback for the Iowa Barnstormers, he attracted the attention of the St. Louis Rams, who signed him before the 1998 season.
In 1999, Warner was slated to be the backup to free agent signee Trent Green. But when Green fell to a preseason injury, Warner took over and had one heck of a coming out party, throwing for 4,353 yards and 41 touchdowns. His season ended with the Rams winning a thrilling Super Bowl XXXIV, and Warner was named MVP of both the regular season and the Super Bowl.
Warner continued to orchestrate the Greatest Show on Turf offense in St. Louis until 2004, when he was released and found himself on the New York Giants. Once he lost the starting job to a young Eli Manning, it looked like the storybook ride might be over.
As it turned out, there was still another chapter. Warner signed with the Arizona Cardinals in 2005 and re-signed on 2006, ostensibly to keep the QB job warm for Matt Leinart. However, the offense consistently performed better when Warner was at the helm, and he was named the starter again heading into the 2008 season.
Showing much of his old form, Warner earned his fourth Pro Bowl invitation by tossing 30 TDs and racking up over 4,500 yards. More importantly, he led the Cardinals to their first ever NFC Championship, taking down the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers in successive weeks.
Whenever Warner's story finally ends, an invitation to Canton almost certainly awaits. That will be welcome news for collectors who stockpiled his 1999 rookie cards and held onto them through his mid-career struggles. Though he has just over a dozen official RCs - as card companies scrambled to get him into late-season sets - he does have one autographed issue, his Playoff Contenders SSD # 146.
1999 Kurt Warner Rookie Cards
- Bowman's Best # 110
- Collector's Edge First Place # 201 - #'d to 500
- Collector's Edge Masters # 157 - #'d to 2000
- Collector's Edge Odyssey # 123
- Crown Royale # 116
- Donruss # 188
- Fleer Focus # 140
- Leaf Rookies and Stars # 288
- Pacific # 343
- Playoff Contenders SSD # 146 - autographed, #'d to 1825
- Playoff Momentum SSD # 144
- Score Supplemental # S57
- SkyBox Molten Metal # 93
- Upper Deck Encore # 139