Friday, January 30, 2009

Kurt Expected To Be Here

On Sunday afternoon in Tampa Bay, Florida 37 year old Kurt Warner will step onto the field to play for the NFL Super Bowl Championship. Leading a team of relatively unknowns, Kurt has successfully landed his Arizona Cardinals, the once lame ducks of the NFL, to the biggest game ever. Given the bantering I have had over the years with a good friend and die hard Cardinals fan who is undoubtedly smiling ear to ear as he walks into his office today, I can indeed tell him that hell is in fact freezing over as I write this post.

I don't write this post for him however, but rather to acknowledge a man from which many of us can learn from and be inspired by.

To hear Kurt talk about Sunday's game it seems he does not believe that he or his teammates have done the impossible. Though I know a bajillion football fans who may disagree with him. No, he simply believes that he is following the plan that has been laid out before him and is executing it with full faith and belief that he is exactly where he is supposed to be. And should he stay the course and follow the plan the outcome has already been decided.

I am a big fan of Kurt Warner's not because of what he does on the field but because of what he does off the field. He is a man of tremendous faith and courage. He is both humble and of good heart. He leads kids that are 10-15 years his junior and he inspires them with his leadership, his words and his drive. When other quarterbacks, including his backup, are worried about image, parties and the spotlight, Kurt shuns all of that and focuses on getting the job done. He leads with quite confidence, real commitment and insatiable determination and hence why he is playing for yet another Super Bowl title.

On Sunday when he walks out on that field, regardless of the outcome, Kurt has already won a championship far greater than any Super Bowl trophy could acknowledge. Kurt has already proven to himself, his teammates and the world, that if you believe and have faith anything, and I do mean anything, can and will happen.

We all have a little bit of what drives guys like Kurt Warner inside of us. The question is, are we going to let it out?

Ripple On!!!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for your column today about Mr. Warner. He's the real deal and his story is pretty amazing. Plus he's from my home state of Iowa! Kurt Warner Rocks!! Go Cardinals!!

Tom Magness said...

Hey Ripple Dude. Sorry I have been such a stranger. But I'm glad I stopped by to read this post! I am a huge Kurt Warner fan and happened to be in Phoenix the day they beat the Eagles to advance to the Super Bowl. I can tell you that while Kurt is completely at ease with himself and fully confident in his abilities and his own leadership, the city had no such belief! They simply did not even know how to act as they never believed in their own team!

I love Kurt Warner's story. He wasn't even drafted and spent several years in the Arena Football League before making it to the NFL. But the best part about him is that whether in the AFL or the NFL, whether winning or losing, he does not change. He is who he is. Humble, faithful, selfless.

What a great example. For his sake, and for the sake of those Arizona Cardinal fans who have suffered for so many years, I hope they win!

Thanks for the Ripple, my friend! TM