Arizona Cardinals: Kurt Warner Talks About Being a Back Up

Former Arizona Cardinals quarterback, Kurt Warner, talks about what the hardest part about being an NFL quarterback.

In an article for Sporting News, Kurt Warner opened up about what the hardest part about being a quarterback was. Warner says that the toughest part was “sitting behind the ‘future of the franchise.”

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Kurt Warner with every NFL team he played for had to sit behind, and mentor the team’s franchise quarterback. In St. Louis with the Rams he backed up Marc Bulger; in New York with the Giants he backed up Eli Manning; and finally here in the desert with the Cardinals, he backed up Matt Leinart.

In his article, Warner talks about 2 current quarterbacks who are in the same position of having to possibly sit behind the the future franchise quarterbacks:

"Zach Mettenberger in Tennessee is competing against Marcus Mariota, and Mike Glennon in Tampa Bay is going head to head with the No. 1 overall pick, Jameis Winston. Mettenberger and Glennon will have to figure out the balance between competing to start and achieving personal success, and being the kind of mentor and teammate that makes those around them better."

Kurt Warner mentions that no one teaches you how to handle this type of situation, and that it’s always been that the best player would get the job. Rather than just openly accept his position as the back up, Kurt Warner did something else:

"I went out every day and competed. I played with the mindset that no matter where someone had been drafted, how much money they were being paid or how many people were determined to play the other guy, my actions and my play would speak for itself. I believed and acted on the premise that the best man would get the job."

It turns out the best man did get the job, as former Arizona Cardinals Head Coach Ken Whisenhunt named Kurt Warner the starter for the 2008 season. And in arguably the most Cinderella fashion, Kurt Warner lead the Arizona Cardinals to their first Super Bowl appearance (it could have been their first Super Bowl win too, but Bruce Arians, had other plans.)

In the closing paragraphs, Kurt Warner shines some light on the possibility of being the back up to the franchise quarterback:

"It’s not an easy balance but it can be done, and in the end, it will make them more valuable to their current team and quite possibly their next. Who knows, maybe what they learn will be the catalyst that leads to new levels of success in their future."

Speaking of new levels of success, there has been talk, going back to last season, of the Arizona Cardinals possibly trading for Mike Glennon. So it is possible that the future starting quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals is currently backing up Jameis Winston.

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