Retirement for Warner? Don’t Buy it

Much has been made about a report that came out yesterday that Kurt Warner was contemplating retirement last week after the Jets game, largely due to the Anquan Boldin hit that took place with about 30 seconds left in the game.  Warner admitted that he sent a text message to his wife, Brenda, asking if he should retire. She claimed that he meant retiring last week, he clarified and said he meant after the season.

Let me tell you, if I sent my wife a text message asking if I should retire and didn’t mention in 4 months instead of now, she’d assume I meant now.  I’ve got to believe Warner had serious thoughts about retiring last week.  He came out and said the right things, that is more to get a persepective about the future not his current status.  The report itself somehow was leaked to the media and once it got out, more than likely Warner had to save a little face.  He claims it had to do with Boldin’s hit.  However, you need to remember that he just came off the worst loss in his three plus seasons as an Arizona Cardinal.  He turned the ball over 6 times – in one game.  That’d have a lot of people thinking about quitting.  I certainly would think about it.

No matter what the intent was though of the text message, it got out there and surely his teammates have heard about it.  Was Warner ready to give up on his teammates?  I’m not so sure it was about that because he’s not that type of person, one to give up on his team.  He sounded more like a person giving up on himself.  He’s started 5 games this season and for all intents and purpose, has had only one bad game.  Even in the one bad game he had several shining moments.

I understand the guy is 37 years old.  That’s old in football years.  He’ll be done in a year or two at most.  I’m 35 and I will probably be working till I’m 90, God willing I live that long.  So, I can’t begin to understand what goes through a player’s mind as they grow closer to retirement from the NFL.  What I do understand though is that Warner is playing his best football overall since his Super Bowl season.  He redeemed himself against Buffalo.  I just hope with  the next loss, whether it be this week against Dallas or next month against the Giants, either way, he needs to hang in there.  If for nothing else, to show young gun Matt Leinart the ropes and give him a mentor to learn from.  If Warner were to quit mid-season, he not only would damage his reputation, but his standing with fans and most importantly, a young quarterback who is trying to learn everything he can in order to take the reins from him in a year or two.

If he decides to retire in the off-season, I’m ok with that.  Right now though, he just needs to focus on getting his team to 4-2 and moving forward towards their first NFC Divisional title.  I imagine if things go well this season and he leads the team to the playoffs, then he will be back next season to try to lead this team to the NFC Championship or the Super Bowl, something even mentioning previously in Arizona was unfathomable.

Go Cards!

Scott Allen

AZScott