TAMPA – He leads them with his right arm and his unwavering faith. Now Kurt Warner has another role before he settles in as a re-born quarterback slinging for the upstart Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII.
Warner has to show and tell his team how it’s done.
The popular 37-year-old has flecks of gray in the stubble on his chin, evidence of the miles he has come to get this far. This is his third Super Bowl; he won his first and lost his second, both with the Rams. He wasn’t supposed to get here again and his Cardinals were never expected to come along with him for this most improbable ride. But here they all are, arriving in town today as a 7-point underdog, understudies to the favored and nationally-prominent Steelers.
Once they hop off the team charter this afternoon it will be a long wait until kickoff. Can the Cardinals handle the grind before the game? Warner can help navigate his Cardinals through the minefields up ahead.
“For me, I always listen to what Kurt has to say,” said safety Adrian Wilson, the longest-tenured Cardinals player, in his eighth season. “He’s been on the big stage and just being able to take in the things he’s said leading up to the game. Not getting over-hyped about these interview sessions, not getting overly concerned about the game plan.”
This is a new frontier for the Cardinals franchise, but not completely unfamiliar to several coaches – Ken Whisenhunt won a championship three year ago as the Steelers’ offensive coordinator – and a handful of players. Starting cornerback Rod Hood and backup safety Matt Ware both appeared in Super Bowl XXXIX with the Eagles. Third-string tight end Jerame Tuman and special teams ace Sean Morey were with the Steelers when they beat the Seahawks in Super Bowl XL.
Warner has already imparted advice he hopes will help.
“Enjoy the moment,” he stressed. “There is a lot of stuff that goes on that can be a distraction. To deal with the media or deal with the fans when you go out, having to sign autographs. You don’t want to shut yourself off and look at everything as a negative and affect your preparation. Understand what it is and prepare for the fact that you’re going to be asked for autographs when you’re at the hotel. Prepare that you’re going to get a million questions from the media and they’re going to be the same ones. Don’t get frustrated by it. Let it be and enjoy the moment.”
Other than Warner, all of the prominent Cardinals players are novices when it comes to knowing what to expect for a long, wild week leading up to the biggest game of their lives.
“I can’t say that we are going to be ready for it,” said Gerald Hayes, a linebacker who was drafted by the Cardinals in 2003. “You can’t prepare for it because we have never been there. Act like you have been there. Coaches have told me that for the longest time. You can’t take it to the point where you just throw yourself out of control. You have to be calm and cool.”
There’s no doubt the personable Warner will handle it well. This will be a global coming-out party for star receiver Larry Fitzgerald, but he’s polished off the field and shouldn’t have a problem. The other starting receiver, Anquan Boldin, is sure to be under the microscope after his antics during (a shouting match with offensive coordinator Todd Haley) and after (skipping out on the celebration) the 32-25 victory over the Eagles in the NFC Championship Game.
“There are a lot of things you have to experience yourself for the first time,” Whisenhunt said. “A lot of times when you have been there before, like the Steelers have, if there are issues that pop up or questions that maybe are not football related, they have a process that they are used to dealing with those things. These are things that we are all experiencing together for the first time. It is not a bad problem to have.”