Rams quarterback Kurt Warner is determined to return to MVP form.

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Another Day, Another Dollar
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ST. LOUIS - Somehow this just doesn't seem right. Kurt Warner has been through too much, overcome too much, achieved so much and done it all with such a shiny smile and touching determination that he shouldn't have to start all over again.
But realistically, that's exactly what he is doing this offseason, trying to show the Rams and himself that everything he once was in the NFL he soon will be again.

It isn't easy being Kurt Warner again, because the standard he established from 1999 to 2001 was so lofty it may have excluded any other quarterback who ever played in the league, glowing as it does with two Most Valuable Player awards, a Super Bowl victory, remarkable statistics and long-distance completions that grow more impressive with time.

It isn't easy being Kurt Warner again, because so much has changed since he became a refreshing folk hero in 1999.

His was a story we couldn't resist, full as it was with heartbreak, love of a woman, family sacrifice and tragedy, spirituality and a happy, happy ending that thrilled us by reinforcing the romantic notion that stirring grit can still overcome long odds.

The man sitting in the Rams' practice facility this late spring afternoon hasn't changed much outwardly since then. He still has that perpetual one-day growth and the engaging, nice-guy grin and a sort of naive, boyish enthusiasm about all things sports and life.

But what was so simple in 1999 has slowly become more complicated, as things in life tend to do. The layers around him have increased, the demands have deepened, the expectations have heightened. His body has betrayed him, his wife has defended him, his credibility has been questioned, even his starting position has been challenged.

Now he is chasing the player he used to be in a world that is far more judgmental and less forgiving than four years ago. He grabs at the swirl, tries to wash it away with positive thoughts.

In his mind, it will be better as soon as that first pass this September is complete, the first victory secured, the first winning streak begun. Then everyone will see the Kurt Warner we admired hasn't gone anywhere; he just has been temporarily betrayed by the physical cruelty of the game.

The prime example of that cruelty hangs at the end of his right arm. His throwing hand has absorbed all manner of abuse in such a short time: his first broken finger early in 2000, two more last season, ligament damage around his thumb in 2001 that was aggravated in Super Bowl XXXVI. He hasn't been truly healthy since late October 2000, an excruciating, frustrating stretch.

His hand has generated all types of intriguing speculation about both his future and about how much it affected his past play, particularly the early part of the 2002 season, when he put up most un-Warner-like numbers - ugly stuff, eight interceptions around just one touchdown pass in three-plus nightmarish games.

It was an inconceivable collapse, coupled as it was with a 0-5 beginning by the Super Bowl-favorite Rams. And when he returned after missing most of seven games because of the first broken finger of 2002, he labored through two more dreadful starts, also both losses, looking even more tentative in the pocket, more indecisive on his reads. It was as if an impostor, not Warner, had played.

Warner says that guy has vanished.

"I might be better now physically than I've ever been since I've been here," he says, flexing his hand absent-mindedly. "When I first got here in 1999, I had a lot of tightness in my shoulder, especially toward the end of the year. Then the next year, stuff with my hand started. Now I've gained some weight since last year, I feel stronger, my arm feels stronger than it ever has, I have no pain, and there is no hindrance whatsoever in my hand. My injuries are not going to be an issue of any kind."

If only it were that easy. If only the sincerity in his voice and the gee-whiz spirit that makes him so darn likable could devour the shadows that stalk him.

But things changed so much last year.


Bonds tested

For the first time, his relationship with coach Mike Martz was strained. The bond between Warner and his teammates was tested. And what happens if he is injured again, and he says it's not that bad? Will anyone - the organization, fans, media - believe he is being truthful? Will his wife, Brenda, once again become his public voice?

But to think he can't touch magic again would be inappropriate and inaccurate. You ask Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, one of the league's elite quarterback coaches, about Warner's future, and he quickly dismisses any doubts about his comeback.

"As long as he is healthy, he can do things no other quarterback in this league can do," says Shanahan. "He is a special, special player. I have studied him closely, and he has had some games that I have never seen anybody have throwing the football. He makes throws that only the great ones like [John] Elway, [Dan] Marino, [Joe] Montana can make. And how consistently he did it over a three-year period, well, no one had those ... stats before. And he did it dropping back and winging it. His feel for the game is just unbelievable."

That's why it was a no-brainer for Martz to name Warner his starter and return Marc Bulger, last year's feel-good story - what is it with these Rams? - to reserve status.

As good as Bulger was in 2002, when he clearly outplayed Warner and won his first six starts, you don't bench a two-time MVP on the basis of some flimsy, injury-influenced statistical evidence. Really now, who do you think gives the Rams the best chance of winning a Super Bowl this year - the Warner who still ranks No. 1 in NFL career passing rating or the Bulger of last season? Have we forgotten how incredible this guy has been?

"I watch him in practice now, and he is himself again," says Martz. "He has made some throws this spring that he hasn't made for a while. He is sticking the ball into tight little spaces that very few guys can do. When he does that, he gets excited. He doesn't have a grip issue; his arm is strong. He really enjoys it again, and that was the missing piece for a while. I think he wasn't having as much fun playing the game as he used to."

Nor was Martz having as much fun coaching the game.

This upcoming season is about him, too - it is difficult, if not impossible, to consider one man without the other.

Last season's stunning tumble caught Martz unprepared. He never anticipated the magnitude of injuries - at one point, five Pro Bowlers were sidelined. Neither did he find players to properly replace departed free agents Az-Zahir Hakim and London Fletcher. The team he thought could win the Super Bowl a year after the Patriots surprisingly snatched away the trophy simply fell apart.

"It wore on him," says defensive coordinator Lovie Smith, Martz's closest friend on his staff. "He was as down as you can get as a coach. There was a period when he was too hard on himself. But we all have short memories. That time is over."

Martz has never successfully masked his emotions. He thrives on finding the edge, on demanding of himself and his team maximum performance, on clawing at whatever obstacles he conjures up. He should be better brushing off setbacks and criticisms, but he's not. Never will be. This pugnaciousness drives him and his players, yet he knows 2002 affected him more than he could have imagined.

"I probably changed last year," he says. "I was very frustrated. What happened upset me, and I can't let it. There are things I can't control, and I have to understand that. We lost some of the team chemistry we had. We just didn't have the pizazz, and maybe that was because of me.

"We were affected more by the loss to the Patriots than I realized. It would never go away, and I didn't do a good job of addressing it. I enjoy my job right now, but last year at this time, I'm not sure I could tell you that. I had gone through a long contract negotiation, and I was pretty worn down, and I was not real happy about anything."

But now he can hardly restrain his eagerness about this team. Martz stops after saying, "We can be good, really good," but the buzz within Rams camp is stronger. After an offseason of staff changes, personnel switches and the return of Warner to good health, they think they can be very special - better than any of their Super Bowl squads.

Still, it is not the same. Last year altered the mix and feel of the organization. Warner and Martz once had been so very close. They had soared to the top together, the former offensive coordinator-mad schemer and his unheralded ex-Arena League quarterback. Martz devised this high-octane offense, and Warner boldly executed it.

But by last January, you wondered if Warner's Rams days might be over. Warner certainly did, and said so.

By then, the gap between the two men was Bush-Clinton wide. The always insecure Warner was affected by Martz's glowing, and accurate, praise of Bulger's performance. Then, before a game against the Eagles in December, Warner told the coaches his hand, which he had hurt again the previous week against Washington, was healthy enough for him to start in place of the ailing Bulger. But it wasn't, and he played horribly.

And when Martz said the next Monday he had directed Warner to have the hand X-rayed, Brenda Warner called a local radio station and said that was incorrect, that she, not Martz, had decided it was time for an X-ray, which revealed a new broken bone. He would not play again.

Martz was furious, and Warner, who is allergic to controversy, was caught between two strong personalities. Brenda never has apologized to Martz, who says now, "The thing with his wife created a little problem with me as a head coach. I can deal with that. He has to deal with that."

In January, Martz said he had hoped Warner would apologize to the team for the disruption caused by his wife. Warner still hasn't; he believes Brenda's actions were misinterpreted. Those close to Martz are certain he will react very unfavorably to any future outbursts from Brenda.

Nor do the two men view injuries in the same universe. Martz understandably feels the coach should make final decisions regarding a player's ability to perform. But Warner, while not disagreeing with this tenet, still believes he can judge his own fitness better than anyone.

"I didn't play well against the Eagles, and maybe I shouldn't have played, and if Marc had been healthy, I probably wouldn't have played," says Warner, knowing that quarterback Jamie Martin was ready for the game. "The finger hurt, but no coach who watched me in practice came up and asked, 'What is wrong?'

"There is kind of a double standard. When you are winning and everything is good, people aren't really worried about how injured you are. But as soon as it doesn't work out in your favor, everyone is questioning why you played, that you hurt the team. The line gets a little grayer the more competitive you are, but I still feel like I am in a position to know whether I should or should not play."


Unfinished business

But the Warner injury debate spreads far beyond St. Louis. Speculation over whether he has ever revealed the whole truth about his hand and throwing arm is a favorite topic around the league. Many personnel men are convinced Warner's problems have been a lot worse than he ever has admitted, that his shoulder has been damaged, his velocity reduced, his hand a chronic situation.

"I'm not sure if his shoulder isn't worn out," says an NFC scout who has studied Warner. "The way he played last season, you have to wonder, 'Is he done?' It's not a slam dunk he will be as good as ever."

Warner hears this and glares.

"Let them doubt me," he says.

He admits he hasn't always been candid about what ails him. He also reveals, finally, that his downfield fastball hasn't been the same since that initial broken finger in 2000.

But he maintains - and Martz agrees - that grip problems, not anything shoulder-related, are the culprit. Just to be safe, however, the Rams had his right shoulder and hand examined and cleared before giving him a $6 million roster bonus in the offseason.

Since January, the two men have talked frequently, doing damage control. They admire each other greatly, and both say all's right between them. Warner appreciates Martz's quick endorsement as the 2003 starter.

"It meant a lot to me," he says. "It's like going to war with someone. You have your buddy with you, and he has saved your life a couple of times. You will take that guy every time as opposed to somebody who hasn't been there, who you don't know. I am not making that analogy to put anyone down. I am making it to show why we believe so strongly in each other."

Now Warner can focus on other unfinished business from 2002. He must restore his role within the locker room - a major challenge. Players gravitated toward the unassuming Bulger last season; they performed with more gusto under his guidance than Warner's.

And published stories related how teammates were angered by Warner's policy that he would not autograph items for them. The Warner camp said that was untrue, that it applied only to Rams personnel, not players.

"This is not about me and Marc," Warner says. "I was the happiest guy around when Marc played well last year. I thought he was terrific. He isn't an issue one bit with me. The issue is me, how well I play. If I play to the level I am capable, I am as good as anyone in the league. I have to win games, and I didn't last year. That is what I have to change from last year."


http://www.sunspot.net/sports/football/bal-sp.warner06jul06,0,6116923.story?coll=bal-sports-football
 

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