Speaker 1: Hey everybody, Welcome to the first ever Dave Pash podcast.
Speaker 1: I'm your host, ESPN announcer and twenty year voice of
Speaker 1: the Arizona Cardinals, Dave Pash. It's been a long time
Speaker 1: since I have done something like this. As I mentioned,
Speaker 1: I've been with the Arizona Cardinals for two decades. My
Speaker 1: first year was in two thousand and two. Shortly after
Speaker 1: I took the job with the Cardinals, I started working
Speaker 1: for ESPN. So during that time, I've done games, and
Speaker 1: that's all I've done on television and radio, and I
Speaker 1: love doing games. I would never quit my day job.
Speaker 1: It's my passion, it's what I do best. But I
Speaker 1: also loved talking all sports and interviewing guests especially it
Speaker 1: takes me back to some of my years prior to
Speaker 1: coming to the Cardinals. I graduated in nineteen ninety four
Speaker 1: from Syracuse. I worked in Morgantown, West Virginia, for ten months,
Speaker 1: then moved to Detroit, working for an all sports radio
Speaker 1: station there for two years, and then worked for two
Speaker 1: years in Chicago, and part of my duties there was
Speaker 1: hosting a nightly radio talk show on WMAQ six seventy am.
Speaker 1: During the last dance the final run for the Chicago Bulls.
Speaker 1: So when the Cardinals and I came up with this
Speaker 1: idea for a podcast, since there were so many podcasts
Speaker 1: out there, big reason we thought this could be unique
Speaker 1: was because of the guests. So we're going to have
Speaker 1: on guests from all walks of life, former and current players, coaches,
Speaker 1: broadcasters from a variety of sports talking Cardinals, NFL, and
Speaker 1: much more. Of course, the priority at the Dave Pash
Speaker 1: Podcast was making sure that the first edition had on
Speaker 1: an incredible guest. I couldn't think of a better way
Speaker 1: to kick it off than with Hall of Famer Kurt
Speaker 1: Warner coming up. Kurt's going to talk about his days
Speaker 1: with the Cardinals, his proudest moment as an NFL quarterback,
Speaker 1: and who he confided in about his retirement during his
Speaker 1: final season in the NFL. Some stories that maybe you
Speaker 1: haven't heard before. What did Kurt say to the team
Speaker 1: at halftime Super Bowl forty three after the interception by
Speaker 1: James Harrison? What did Kurt tell Larry Fitzgerald the very
Speaker 1: first time they spent time with one another. Kurt will
Speaker 1: give his opinion on whether he thinks Larry is done
Speaker 1: or if he'll play football again in twenty twenty one.
Speaker 1: I got to know Kurt when he was a player
Speaker 1: with the Cardinals. We're going to talk a little bit
Speaker 1: about our relationship, like the time I played basketball with
Speaker 1: Kurt at the YMCA and what he did that had
Speaker 1: me amazed, Also helping Kurt prepare for life after football,
Speaker 1: which turned out to be as a broadcaster, and what
Speaker 1: he told me outside the Cardinals locker room just moments
Speaker 1: after the Super Bowl loss to the Steelers that left
Speaker 1: me absolutely speechless. We'll discuss American Underdog, the Kurt Warner's story,
Speaker 1: Kurt's new movie, which comes out in December, and why
Speaker 1: what wasn't in the movie might actually be the greater story.
Speaker 1: Without further ado, let's get you to the interview. Here
Speaker 1: is Hall of Famer Kurt Warner on the first edition
Speaker 1: of the Dave Pass Podcast. Kurt, I've got so many
Speaker 1: things I want to talk to you, talk with you
Speaker 1: about today. Man. I know you got work to do,
Speaker 1: so I won't keep you too long, but I really
Speaker 1: appreciate you doing this. It's the first time I've ever
Speaker 1: done a podcast. The last time I did any sort
Speaker 1: of talk show was in Chicago in nineteen ninety seven
Speaker 1: ninety eight, when I was just coming out of college,
Speaker 1: and that happened to be the last dance year. So
Speaker 1: I remember all we did was talking about Michael Jordan.
Speaker 1: But all we're gonna do right now is talk about
Speaker 1: Kurt Warner and the life. You weren't talking about arena
Speaker 1: football then, because that's where I was back in nineteen
Speaker 1: ninety seven, playing a little Brena football at the time,
Speaker 1: and then you became a movie star, and here we
Speaker 1: are talking about American Underdog, the Kurt Warner Story. So
Speaker 1: it's going to be released December tenth. And I remember
Speaker 1: talking to you a few years ago and you told me, Hey,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna be doing this movie. How did it come about?
Speaker 1: Who approached you? And at first were you hesitant or
Speaker 1: You're like, this is great, let's do it. I think
Speaker 1: I wrapped my mind around it years ago because when
Speaker 1: I came onto the scene and the first year, the
Speaker 1: Magical Year win, the Super Bowl, win, the MVP, you
Speaker 1: do the Disney commercial, and as soon as that all
Speaker 1: played out, it came down to, oh my gosh, this
Speaker 1: is a movie that's made for Disney, Like this is
Speaker 1: that Disney movie. The way has played out. So early
Speaker 1: on people were talking about that, and obviously there was
Speaker 1: a whole lot of work to do, you know, before
Speaker 1: this would take place, but at least, you know, people
Speaker 1: said it out there like, hey, if this keeps going
Speaker 1: like this, this could be a movie. And so that's
Speaker 1: kind of where you first initially go, Okay, you know,
Speaker 1: we'll see I see what people are saying. And as
Speaker 1: things played out and having the success that I did
Speaker 1: and getting to the Hall of Fame, I think there
Speaker 1: was a big part of us that thought this. You know,
Speaker 1: when you look at other movies that are out there
Speaker 1: that you know, the Rudy movies, you know Invincible and
Speaker 1: you know Michael Ore's movie, those different things, you go, well,
Speaker 1: if those are made into a movie, this one probably
Speaker 1: will be as well, because when you look at the
Speaker 1: entirety of the journey, it's probably greater than any of
Speaker 1: those other ones. So you know, all of that stuff
Speaker 1: goes into it. But you know, it was shortly after
Speaker 1: I retired where people reached out to us and said, hey,
Speaker 1: we want to make this movie. We want to get
Speaker 1: into this. And so now it's been about a decade
Speaker 1: in the making. As we've gone through different writers and
Speaker 1: different things, and Brendan I always said that, yeah, it
Speaker 1: would be great, it would be cool to have a
Speaker 1: movie about your life, but we're not interested in just
Speaker 1: doing a movie. If we're going to do the movie,
Speaker 1: we want to make sure it's done right. And so
Speaker 1: we've been through a number of writers because of that,
Speaker 1: because they, you know, get bits and pieces of it
Speaker 1: where we're like, that's not the story we want to tell,
Speaker 1: and so that's why it's taken so long. But it's
Speaker 1: just funny how God works and the journey and sometimes
Speaker 1: you're like, Okay, why is it taken so long? I
Speaker 1: said that with my career at times, we've said that
Speaker 1: with the movie, and now I'm not sure there could
Speaker 1: be a better time with the idea of the underdog story,
Speaker 1: my underdog story throughout this movie will be a number
Speaker 1: of underdog stories tied into where we are, you know,
Speaker 1: as a country, where we are in the world, with
Speaker 1: everything that's going against us, and so many people that
Speaker 1: have struggled this past year with the pandemic and kind
Speaker 1: of find themselves in a position like I was for
Speaker 1: a long time, like Okay, what's next? How do I
Speaker 1: get back to where I want to go, or how
Speaker 1: do I fulfill my dream with all of these challenges.
Speaker 1: So it's just kind of amazing that I think it's
Speaker 1: coming out at the perfect time as we're getting back
Speaker 1: on track and people are going to need some inspiration
Speaker 1: and some encouragement that hey, no matter where your circumstances
Speaker 1: have you right now, this doesn't have to be where
Speaker 1: it ends. And I think that's a message that our
Speaker 1: country needs right now. So I'm excited for the timing
Speaker 1: of this movie. And now it's just about making sure
Speaker 1: that we get it right. You mentioned Rudy, and I
Speaker 1: know somebody I can't say his name who played with Rudy,
Speaker 1: who said, ah, it was fabricated a little bit. It
Speaker 1: was made for Hollywood that it wasn't like exactly the story.
Speaker 1: Have you seen the finished product and is it really
Speaker 1: the Kurt Warner story. We're not finished yet, Okay. We
Speaker 1: did actually just see us screening about a week ago,
Speaker 1: the first screening that we've seen. And so it's it's
Speaker 1: going through the testing process now where they do a
Speaker 1: lot of these screenings and they get their feedback and
Speaker 1: how does it flow and how does it test and
Speaker 1: all of that stuff. So we saw the first rendition
Speaker 1: of it. It is the Kurt Warner story. That's I
Speaker 1: think the interesting thing about our story is there's there's
Speaker 1: so many layers to it. When you know you tie
Speaker 1: in myself and Brenda's story, and Zach being a part
Speaker 1: of this in his underdog story, and then obviously the
Speaker 1: football journey. You don't have to make a whole lot up.
Speaker 1: You don't have to you know, design a whole lot
Speaker 1: for the movies or or or put in your movie magic.
Speaker 1: There's just a lot of really really good moments, and
Speaker 1: I think that's one of the hardest things right now
Speaker 1: as we're putting this together. There's so much stuff. Sure
Speaker 1: it's not trying to do too much, but still trying
Speaker 1: to tell the whole story. And so so far, the
Speaker 1: testing has been great. I mean it's been off the charts,
Speaker 1: which is exciting for me. I'm everything I do. I
Speaker 1: want it to be the best. I want it to
Speaker 1: be excellent. So I still want to shape it a
Speaker 1: little bit more because I think there's more potential for it.
Speaker 1: But we're excited about where the movie is right now
Speaker 1: and the team we've got in place for the movie.
Speaker 1: My kids absolutely love Zachary Levi. They love him from
Speaker 1: Chuck Okay and then Shazam, which was a great movie.
Speaker 1: So when and my kids know you, they absolutely love
Speaker 1: your story and so when they found out that Zachary
Speaker 1: Levi was playing you, they were psyched, Like you couldn't
Speaker 1: think of a better person to play Kurt Warner, What
Speaker 1: did you think of the choice And how much time
Speaker 1: have you spent with Zachary talking about you? You know,
Speaker 1: it's funny when you think about these roles. Initially it's like, oh,
Speaker 1: it just gotta be somebody that looks like me. And
Speaker 1: so there's definitely that resemblance. There's times even when you
Speaker 1: see scenes from the movies or pictures that they take
Speaker 1: where my kids will even be like, damn, that looks
Speaker 1: just like you, dad. And then there's the second level
Speaker 1: of it is you get to know Zachary the quality
Speaker 1: of person, and that's always important that I think to
Speaker 1: be able to hit what we want to hit and
Speaker 1: share our story and share who I am, you need
Speaker 1: to find somebody that understands, you know, the things that
Speaker 1: make me take and the things that make me go.
Speaker 1: And Zachary is that quality of person as well with
Speaker 1: his optimism, his positivity, you know, his perspective on life,
Speaker 1: his faith, all of those different things playing into it.
Speaker 1: And so we did get a chance, and we've gotten
Speaker 1: a chance, you know, through this process to get to
Speaker 1: know each other fairly well. And that has been a
Speaker 1: fun process. And it's fun to know that you've got
Speaker 1: somebody playing you that really represents what you're all about.
Speaker 1: And then the last pieces, I think he did a
Speaker 1: great job. I think he did a really really good
Speaker 1: job of playing me and understanding the essence of what
Speaker 1: we're trying to get. So I think we hit a
Speaker 1: home run as well. I mean, I got a superhero
Speaker 1: playing me. Is it getting me better than that? I
Speaker 1: can always tell my kids, right, it took a superhero
Speaker 1: to play me in my movie, but it really has been.
Speaker 1: I think it was a great choice from from so
Speaker 1: many different perspectives. I'm glad that you're happy, because imagine
Speaker 1: if you had somebody you're like, what they cast this
Speaker 1: dude who happens to be like five six and one
Speaker 1: hundred and thirty pounds, you can't throw a ball or
Speaker 1: as a jerk or whatever. So I'm glad you're happy
Speaker 1: with a choice. What about Annipaq. I've watched The Irishman,
Speaker 1: I think now three times. I don't know if you've
Speaker 1: seen it, but it's awesome. It's three and a half hours,
Speaker 1: but it's awesome. But Anna pack One plays Robert de
Speaker 1: Niro's daughter in the movie. She doesn't say anything the
Speaker 1: whole movie until the end. It's really well done. And
Speaker 1: she plays Brenda. Have you had a chance to communicate
Speaker 1: with her at all? What did you think of the
Speaker 1: selection of Anna Paquin to play your wife? Brenda and
Speaker 1: Anna have had a lot more conversation, you know, as
Speaker 1: started the process, she reached out and so they've built
Speaker 1: a nice friendship. Obviously through the process. I've gotten to
Speaker 1: know Anna a little bit, not as much as Brenda,
Speaker 1: but I think again, knowing who she is off the
Speaker 1: screen is what excites you, because they are very similar
Speaker 1: in a lot of ways. They're both very strong. They
Speaker 1: both have that edge to them. They're not going to
Speaker 1: get pushed around, and you know, it's it's that strength
Speaker 1: that always drew me to Brenda, and Anna definitely has
Speaker 1: that as well, and so those things are fun when
Speaker 1: you go, ah, she's got that, so it's going to
Speaker 1: be easy for her to portray some of that on
Speaker 1: the screen, and so I thought Anna did a great
Speaker 1: job as well. I think a lot of you know,
Speaker 1: the casting in this movie. We've got some great stars,
Speaker 1: We've got some great people, and they did a great
Speaker 1: job in their roles. And so, you know, that's kind
Speaker 1: of the unique thing when you watch it because I
Speaker 1: was only on set for maybe six or seven days total,
Speaker 1: so you see bits and pieces and you don't know
Speaker 1: how it's going to play out. So when you actually
Speaker 1: see it on the big screen, you're like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 1: he's awesome or she's awesome, and you played a perfect role.
Speaker 1: And so again, that's the fun part of it is
Speaker 1: that you see all these different storylines coming together, and
Speaker 1: the casting was really great for that. You're still working
Speaker 1: for NFL Network, and I go back to when you're
Speaker 1: thinking about retirement. You're playing with the Cardinals and you said, hey,
Speaker 1: you and I were friends, and you said, can you
Speaker 1: help me get started and broadcasting and kind of showing
Speaker 1: me the rope. So I come up to your house
Speaker 1: and show you how to put together a board, and
Speaker 1: we call some games off to television. But part of
Speaker 1: the right of passage for me to be able to
Speaker 1: do this with you was to go play basketball with
Speaker 1: you at the Why. And the first thing is like,
Speaker 1: I'm like, hey, I'm gonna go play basketball with Kurt,
Speaker 1: like I us hope he doesn't get hurt. If he
Speaker 1: gets hurt, like I wasn't there. And the other thing
Speaker 1: was you put a mouth guard in. I'm like, Okay,
Speaker 1: this dude's serious. Like I knew he's competitive about football
Speaker 1: and now he wants to talk about broadcasting, but now
Speaker 1: we're gonna play basketball. First of all, you're really good player,
Speaker 1: and I wasn't very good at played a couple of
Speaker 1: years in high school. But your competitiveness is what stood
Speaker 1: out to me. We're playing at the Why, I'm like,
Speaker 1: these guys might be out and be like it's Kurt Warn,
Speaker 1: I'm gonna try hurt him. I'm gonna try to take
Speaker 1: him out, but you kept scoring on they couldn't touch him. Well.
Speaker 1: I mean, that's the funny thing is that a lot
Speaker 1: of people when they watched me in between the lines
Speaker 1: on the football field, they never saw that piece. Because
Speaker 1: when you're in that type of leadership role, it's like, okay,
Speaker 1: you don't ever let him see sweat, you know, there's
Speaker 1: a competitiveness that drove me. Obviously, you don't get to
Speaker 1: this point without being competitive, but you didn't see it
Speaker 1: very often. I tried to make sure that you saw
Speaker 1: it when you needed with Todd Haley saw it well, yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean at times, but it was just I was
Speaker 1: much more reserved on the football field. And so a
Speaker 1: lot of people are surprised when they see me in
Speaker 1: other environments and they're like, holy cow, I mean and
Speaker 1: you know, I've always just kind of taken their approach
Speaker 1: that I don't do a lot of things. I don't
Speaker 1: have a lot of hobbies, but everything I do, I
Speaker 1: want to be great at it. So it doesn't matter
Speaker 1: if I'm playing pickup basketball now, it doesn't matter if
Speaker 1: I'm fifty years old. I want to play and I
Speaker 1: want to compete, and I want to get guys that
Speaker 1: are younger than me that are going to push me. Um,
Speaker 1: because that's something that drives me. And it's funny because
Speaker 1: you say that, because my wife will we have a
Speaker 1: little gym at the house now, so, um, my wife
Speaker 1: will walk in and she'll see that intensity and the
Speaker 1: competitiveness going on, and when I'm done, she's like, why
Speaker 1: do you even play? Do you do? You even have
Speaker 1: fun playing? And I have to tell her, and you
Speaker 1: might be able to relate to this, it's just that
Speaker 1: it's not ha ha, Yeah, it's fun to me. Fun
Speaker 1: is being able to compete against someone and having that
Speaker 1: opportunity in a moment to react to what that guy's
Speaker 1: doing and see if I can outthink them or outplay them.
Speaker 1: And that's fun to me. And my wife doesn't quite
Speaker 1: understand that. She thinks fun should be just laughing and
Speaker 1: giggling and having a good time. It's a different kind
Speaker 1: of fun, but it is something that I've tried to
Speaker 1: apply to everything, even as I've got into broadcasting. It's like, Okay,
Speaker 1: how can I be different? How can I bring something
Speaker 1: unique to the table, and how can I be great
Speaker 1: at this? Because when you retire, and when we had
Speaker 1: that conversation, I'm thinking, I've spent my whole life playing football.
Speaker 1: I don't know if there's anything else I can do.
Speaker 1: I don't know if I can be good at anything else.
Speaker 1: And so that's a whole new challenge when you enter
Speaker 1: retirement and you decide to go down a different path.
Speaker 1: But it's been a great challenge and that's I think
Speaker 1: one of the things that helps you from being Brett
Speaker 1: Farve and coming back every other year is you dive
Speaker 1: into something else and go, Okay, here's a new challenge
Speaker 1: in a new way, and you can sink your teeth
Speaker 1: into it, and you try to apply a lot of
Speaker 1: the things that you applied when you were playing to
Speaker 1: off the field kind of ventures. You do studio and games,
Speaker 1: and I've worked with so many different coaches, former players,
Speaker 1: and everybody that I do a game with, they always
Speaker 1: say the games are better because it feels like you're
Speaker 1: part of it. Those competitive juices flow. There's a rush
Speaker 1: when you're calling a game. And I don't know when
Speaker 1: you and I were talking twelve years ago and you
Speaker 1: and I were going through it, if that's something you
Speaker 1: thought about. But now that you've had a chance to
Speaker 1: call games, do you feel that Do you feel like
Speaker 1: you're still kind of a part of it when you're
Speaker 1: in that environment as opposed to just being in a
Speaker 1: studio because you're doing TV games and then you do
Speaker 1: you know, Monday night football. For West would want the
Speaker 1: best part of playing the game and playing live sports
Speaker 1: is having to react to what happens in front of
Speaker 1: you can I react in three or four seconds to
Speaker 1: what the defense is thrown at me and what our
Speaker 1: play is and get the ball into the right guy's
Speaker 1: hands and do all of that stuff. Now, when you're
Speaker 1: calling games, obviously you get a little more than three
Speaker 1: or four seconds. But that, to me is the part
Speaker 1: that I love. If I go into the studio, which
Speaker 1: I love my studio gig and we have a blast,
Speaker 1: but they're telling me the topics the day before and
Speaker 1: I get a chance to do research and think about
Speaker 1: it and all that stuff, and it's great. I mean,
Speaker 1: we have a great time and it's a fun challenge.
Speaker 1: But you know, in the moment, if you're the play
Speaker 1: by play guy and something huge happens, you've got two
Speaker 1: seconds to figure out how you're going to call this
Speaker 1: with your excitement. As a color guy, you know, I
Speaker 1: got thirty seconds to be able to break down everything
Speaker 1: I saw on that play. And so that's what I
Speaker 1: love so much about calling games is I have to react,
Speaker 1: you know, And that's the dynamic that I always loved,
Speaker 1: and playing was the reaction piece. And so you'll never
Speaker 1: find anything that's quite like playing, you know, in a
Speaker 1: Super Bowl and playing at the highest level. But that's
Speaker 1: why to me, it's the next best thing is calling games,
Speaker 1: because I do I have to see something, i gotta
Speaker 1: put it all in there, and then I've got to
Speaker 1: regurgitate it to somebody that may not know what I
Speaker 1: know and make it make sense to them and make
Speaker 1: myself sound smart and all of that good stuff, which
Speaker 1: is what I love about games. On top of you're
Speaker 1: in the environment, sure, you're with the fans. All of
Speaker 1: those things that add pieces to the puzzle that you
Speaker 1: know are better than just you know, going into a
Speaker 1: cold studio with your three or four guys. The energy
Speaker 1: is always so much better at calling a game. So
Speaker 1: we had that when you were here with the Cardinals,
Speaker 1: that period of time when you were thinking about broadcasting
Speaker 1: the year before that, the Super Bowl year. And we're
Speaker 1: going to get into all the details of actually what
Speaker 1: happened and playing, but I do want to talk about
Speaker 1: our relationship a little bit because I'm curious a couple
Speaker 1: of things. You started coming over to our house for
Speaker 1: a Bible study. We had about twenty or thirty guys
Speaker 1: over at the house. I think Jeremy Urban came and
Speaker 1: maybe a couple other guys, but you came over, and
Speaker 1: I remember one time you had had a meeting with
Speaker 1: then President Barack Obama, and so you were a little
Speaker 1: late and there was a new guy there, one of
Speaker 1: my neighbors, and I think we met for like two
Speaker 1: hours that night, and shockingly, you talked a lot during
Speaker 1: those two and it was funny because afterwards, my neighbor said, man,
Speaker 1: who was that dude? I swear I've seen that guy
Speaker 1: before him, Like, that was Kurt Warner? You got, I'm
Speaker 1: sitting next to Kurt Warner for two hours. I had
Speaker 1: no idea it was him. And he's talking about this
Speaker 1: meeting with Barack Obama, and I had no idea, Like,
Speaker 1: who's this dude? Do you remember what? You forget the Bible? Say?
Speaker 1: What did you say to Barack Obama? Do you remember that?
Speaker 1: You know? I actually had a couple interactions with him,
Speaker 1: you know. The first one was after the super Bowl.
Speaker 1: I remember, you know, talking to Mark Dalton as I
Speaker 1: was coming home and I was driving on the interstate
Speaker 1: and got a call from Mark saying, Hey, you're gonna
Speaker 1: get a call in a couple of minutes from you know,
Speaker 1: an unknown number of block number. Make sure you pick
Speaker 1: up it's gonna be, you know, President Obama. And so
Speaker 1: that was the first time that we talked. After the
Speaker 1: super Bowl. He just kind of congratulated me on his
Speaker 1: career and basically we had some fun that you know,
Speaker 1: he was cheering for me because I was an old
Speaker 1: guy like he was and playing in the super Bowl.
Speaker 1: But that was our first interaction. Then he came back
Speaker 1: through Arizona to speak and we had the good fortune
Speaker 1: of me and my my wife and my daughter meeting
Speaker 1: him the airport and getting a chance to just sit
Speaker 1: down with him. It was a nice conversation early in
Speaker 1: his presidency where the conversation was just you know, how
Speaker 1: can we pray for you? You know, how can we
Speaker 1: be there for you from a distance. And you know,
Speaker 1: I'll never forget that, you know comment he made is
Speaker 1: pray that I get it right is all he said.
Speaker 1: And you know, I thought that was pretty cool that
Speaker 1: it was important to him to just get it right,
Speaker 1: whatever that looks like, because you know, as you go
Speaker 1: into that kind of role, you never know what getting
Speaker 1: your right looks like as you're faced with a lot
Speaker 1: of different things. But you know, that's how it came about.
Speaker 1: It is just knowing that he was coming to town.
Speaker 1: And I think our goal is always to support our
Speaker 1: leaders in our country and do what we can to
Speaker 1: make a difference. And so it was a nice brief
Speaker 1: conversation to Um, you know, kind of compliment the call
Speaker 1: after the Super Bowl, and you know, it was kind
Speaker 1: of nice to be able to follow him and know
Speaker 1: what the heart of the man was all about. Look,
Speaker 1: I've always appreciated your faith, how willing you've been to
Speaker 1: talk about your faith, and how positive you always are.
Speaker 1: I'll never get this moment after we lose the Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: coming down the elevator from the press box. And for me,
Speaker 1: you know, because I work at ESPN, I'm doing so
Speaker 1: many national games, Like for me, this is a labor
Speaker 1: of love. It's a chance to root for a team.
Speaker 1: This is my team. Is my twentieth year doing this.
Speaker 1: I love doing the Cardinal games because I get to
Speaker 1: be a fan. So I was distraught, furious after the
Speaker 1: Super Bowl. I'm coming down the elevator, I'm walking through
Speaker 1: the tunnel in Tampa. And I've always kind of had
Speaker 1: this rule. I don't know if anybody else has or
Speaker 1: it's just me, like after a loss, don't look at
Speaker 1: the players, like, just walk straight ahead, keep your eyes down.
Speaker 1: I did it one time when Emma Smith before you
Speaker 1: got here, when we returned to Dallas, and Roy Williams
Speaker 1: lit him up and he separated his shoulder, so I
Speaker 1: had to look as we were going on the plane,
Speaker 1: and Emma was like dead asleep. I don't know if
Speaker 1: he's really asleep or he just didn't want anybody bothering him.
Speaker 1: The other time was you after the Super Bowl. I'm
Speaker 1: walking through the tunnel and I'm like, okay, I think
Speaker 1: I see Kurt out of the corner of my eye
Speaker 1: outside the locker room. I'm like, don't look at Kurt,
Speaker 1: like they just lost the Super Bowl. He's probably furious.
Speaker 1: Just don't look. So I kind of looked out of
Speaker 1: the corner of my eye and did a double take
Speaker 1: and looked again, and you were smiling. So I figure, okay,
Speaker 1: he's looking at me and he's got a smile on
Speaker 1: his face. I guess I should engage. I came over
Speaker 1: to and I'll never forget. You said it was so
Speaker 1: amazing the things that God did with our team this year,
Speaker 1: and you also talked about I felt like, you know,
Speaker 1: I did everything that I could this year, and you
Speaker 1: had such a positive attitude at a time where I'm
Speaker 1: sure most people, including me at the time and I
Speaker 1: didn't even play in the game, were still in shock
Speaker 1: over what had just happened. As you look back, do
Speaker 1: you still have that same view of that year, or
Speaker 1: are there things about that gamer, about that season that
Speaker 1: you still play over and over in your mind of Man,
Speaker 1: I wish I would have done this differently. I think
Speaker 1: you always have that. You know, when you don't get
Speaker 1: the end result that you want, you're always going to
Speaker 1: think and relive things. And obviously, now that I'm in
Speaker 1: the media and cover the Super Bowl every year, they
Speaker 1: forced me to have to think about some of those
Speaker 1: things you know each and every year. But here's the
Speaker 1: thing is that, unfortunately, in our culture and in our sport,
Speaker 1: we've come to the point where we feel like you
Speaker 1: can only win if you have more points on the scoreboard.
Speaker 1: And something that I've learned in life is that you
Speaker 1: can win when you lose. And that, to me, was
Speaker 1: what that journey was all about for me and for
Speaker 1: that team. Was what we accomplished that year and where
Speaker 1: we were when I got here, and the mindset of
Speaker 1: everybody in the locker room and the organization, and there
Speaker 1: was no belief, There was no hope, and we could
Speaker 1: have said whatever we want it. There was nobody that
Speaker 1: believed we would ever have success even as we were
Speaker 1: going through that journey, and we were the worst playoff
Speaker 1: team in the history. You know, people talking about things
Speaker 1: like that, and to watch a group of guys come
Speaker 1: together and start to believe that they can do something
Speaker 1: that a short period of time before they never believed
Speaker 1: and to watch that run and to watch us get there,
Speaker 1: and again going into halftime, everybody in the locker room
Speaker 1: we're saying, oh, we got no chance. Kurt just lost
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl for us. Game over, blah blah blah.
Speaker 1: Here we are two and a half minutes to go.
Speaker 1: We take the lead in the Super Bowl, and now
Speaker 1: everybody once again are going, see, we've got a team
Speaker 1: that can win the Super Bowl. We got a team
Speaker 1: that can do anything we want to do and accomplish
Speaker 1: anything we set our mind to. And again it doesn't
Speaker 1: work out that way because we've got some great players
Speaker 1: on the other side that make great plays, and they
Speaker 1: win the Super Bowl. You tip your hat and you
Speaker 1: say well done to them. That's what the super Bowl
Speaker 1: is all about. But we won that year. I won
Speaker 1: that year, And you know, I think that is a
Speaker 1: great message that we lose sight of way too often,
Speaker 1: is that win doesn't have to be having more points
Speaker 1: on the scoreboard. That team and what was accomplished and
Speaker 1: this organization, this organization is on a different trajectory now
Speaker 1: because of what we accomplished that year or those three years,
Speaker 1: and what we did when we were going good. And that,
Speaker 1: to me is what life is all about. Because unfortunately
Speaker 1: we don't all end up on the top of the
Speaker 1: mountain when it's all said and done, But that doesn't
Speaker 1: mean we didn't get close, or we didn't go way
Speaker 1: beyond what we thought we could, or we didn't accomplish
Speaker 1: what we set out to accomplish. And that, to me
Speaker 1: is what I think about with that story. And you know,
Speaker 1: we talked about the movie earlier, and you know, you
Speaker 1: got the first chapter where we win the Super Bowl,
Speaker 1: and it's kind of how everybody expects the movie to end.
Speaker 1: And I, you know, I have a lot of people
Speaker 1: that always come up to me and go, man, I
Speaker 1: think the second half, the second chapter might even be better.
Speaker 1: And I think, what a great movie that would be
Speaker 1: where in the end, you don't win the game, but
Speaker 1: you still win. And the message that that shares with
Speaker 1: people because we do we beat ourselves up because I
Speaker 1: wouldn't have any you know, enough points on the scoreboard.
Speaker 1: But there was you know, there was a time in
Speaker 1: that game where everybody in the world said, the Arizona
Speaker 1: Cardinals are going to be Super Bowl champions. I mean,
Speaker 1: has it ever been uttered before? No, And nobody in
Speaker 1: that locker room ever believed it. So that to me
Speaker 1: was what that journey was all about. And that was
Speaker 1: the lesson that I learned along the journey is that, man,
Speaker 1: there's different ways to win in life, and we need
Speaker 1: to make sure that we keep the proper perspective on that.
Speaker 1: I'll never forget. When Larry is running into the end zone,
Speaker 1: it was towards us where our booth was. We had
Speaker 1: a weird angle. It was kind of in the corner
Speaker 1: about the ten yard line. Larry's running into the end zone,
Speaker 1: looking up at the scoreboard. They're playing the music that
Speaker 1: we play at the stadium when the Cardinals score, and
Speaker 1: we're going nuts in the booth and I look over
Speaker 1: and there's a booth right next to us. Full of
Speaker 1: NFL people only, and they're dying, laughing and cheering. I mean,
Speaker 1: to your point, I think that was the moment everybody said,
Speaker 1: my goodness, the Arizona Cardinals are gonna win the Super Bowl.
Speaker 1: And obviously it didn't end the way we all wanted
Speaker 1: it to. I am curious what you said at halftime,
Speaker 1: because I remember throwing my headset off, not just because
Speaker 1: of the play, but because I screwed up the call.
Speaker 1: I thought it was William Gay instead of who at
Speaker 1: the interception? Oh my goodness, in my head out Dames Harrison,
Speaker 1: and I remember you found out. I'm like, dude, you
Speaker 1: mistook James Harrison for William Gay. And I think I
Speaker 1: think I said, you mistook James Harrison Frank Jan Bolder.
Speaker 1: But anyway, what did you say at halftime, because you
Speaker 1: just said, guys in the locker room like, oh, here
Speaker 1: we go, We're not gonna win. Here's the thing, I
Speaker 1: didn't say anything. Sometimes in life, as a leader, there's
Speaker 1: nothing to say that can convince anybody what you're trying
Speaker 1: to convince them of. What I knew when I walked
Speaker 1: into the locker room, I knew what everybody was thinking.
Speaker 1: I knew, you know, the idea was, Man, we had
Speaker 1: a chance to go ahead in the Super Bowl. Now
Speaker 1: we're down ten points, We've got no momentum. This thing's over.
Speaker 1: And you know, I could have given some rob Ross speech,
Speaker 1: Oh we're gonna What I said was, as a leader,
Speaker 1: my goal is going to be what do I do
Speaker 1: in the first drive of the second half. They're gonna
Speaker 1: watch me when I walk into that huddle. All eyes
Speaker 1: will be on me, like, dude, you just blew us
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl? Now, what are you gonna do? And
Speaker 1: so my job wasn't to try to motivate them then
Speaker 1: in the locker room. My job was to go, hey, guys,
Speaker 1: I ain't giving up. We got a chance, give me
Speaker 1: the ball. We'll find a way to do this. We
Speaker 1: got this far. I believe in you, guys. I want
Speaker 1: you to believe in me. And so I really didn't
Speaker 1: say anything at halftime and just knew that was going
Speaker 1: to be my goal in the second half was to
Speaker 1: prove to these guys, no matter what went against us
Speaker 1: all year long, or been against us at any point
Speaker 1: in time, we're gonna let that go and we're gonna
Speaker 1: go play our brand of football and we're gonna show
Speaker 1: people that we belong here. And that's exactly what we did.
Speaker 1: And you know, it was that process that we make
Speaker 1: a play and make a throw. And now you start
Speaker 1: seeing guys going, oh, we're so through the interception, but
Speaker 1: he's not given up. But he's not. He doesn't think
Speaker 1: this thing's over. And that's when you start to get
Speaker 1: those guys back. So leadership looks a lot of different ways,
Speaker 1: and sometimes you got to know when to say something
Speaker 1: and when it's more about action. Tim Hightower scored the
Speaker 1: go ahead touchdown at State Farm Stadium to win the
Speaker 1: NFC Championship on a pass that you threw, obviously, And
Speaker 1: I remember him telling me, and I think you may
Speaker 1: have told me the story as well, that he always
Speaker 1: would look at you and say to himself, and I
Speaker 1: think he even said it to you audibly, there's something
Speaker 1: about you. I don't know what it is, there's just
Speaker 1: something about you. And he said one time he just
Speaker 1: was like walking up and down the sideline looking at you,
Speaker 1: like there's just something about you that and I think
Speaker 1: what he was trying to communicate was there's a reason
Speaker 1: people follow you. And I can't quite put my finger
Speaker 1: on it, but you make us better, And obviously you've
Speaker 1: realized that's a big reason why you're in the Hall
Speaker 1: of Fame is because you get people to believe and
Speaker 1: follow and to do things that maybe they didn't think
Speaker 1: they were capable of. That IT factor that it's hard
Speaker 1: to find. Not a lot of guys have that. Is
Speaker 1: that something you had to cultivate or is that always there?
Speaker 1: Is that one of the reasons why you went from
Speaker 1: where you were playing an arena football to being one
Speaker 1: of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. It's the elusive question,
Speaker 1: right the IT factor? Where does it come from? Who
Speaker 1: has it? How do you get it? I don't know,
Speaker 1: But what I think when it comes to the IT factor,
Speaker 1: I think there's a lot of factors that go into it. Obviously,
Speaker 1: you're good at what you do, and there's things that
Speaker 1: you do that can be unique. But I've always believed
Speaker 1: the IT factor and getting other guys to follow you
Speaker 1: has as much to do with inner confidence as anything else.
Speaker 1: And so I truly believe that I've never had a
Speaker 1: confidence problem that first and foremost. But I believe my
Speaker 1: journey when you go through the journey that I went through,
Speaker 1: and there were so many times to go, Okay, you're
Speaker 1: not good enough, you can't do this, it's not gonna happen,
Speaker 1: blah blah blah. There's so many times that you can
Speaker 1: lose that confidence. But once you get through it, you
Speaker 1: start saying to yourself, there is nothing that I cannot do.
Speaker 1: There's nothing that I can accomplish, and specifically when there's
Speaker 1: a ball in my hands, because that's where I felt
Speaker 1: at home. I felt like that was what I was
Speaker 1: born to do. And I believe that is what kind
Speaker 1: of trickles off of you when guys are watching you,
Speaker 1: and guys are seeing you and they're wondering what's different.
Speaker 1: What's different is that I never felt like I was shaken.
Speaker 1: Whether I was benched three times in the NFL. You know,
Speaker 1: whether you lose a Super Bowl, you win a Super
Speaker 1: Bowl where you working in a grocery store. I never
Speaker 1: lost that confidence of who I was, what I was
Speaker 1: capable of, and even like in the Super Bowl, I
Speaker 1: didn't care if the other ten guys believed or not.
Speaker 1: It wasn't gonna shake me. And I'll do it by
Speaker 1: myself if I had to do. And so, but that
Speaker 1: was always my mindset and I think that's something when
Speaker 1: you talk about the IT factor, and though as guys,
Speaker 1: that's what they have is they have an inner confidence
Speaker 1: that says, nothing will stop me from getting where I
Speaker 1: want to go. And when other guys see that, it's like,
Speaker 1: I don't know what it is, but I'll just follow
Speaker 1: that guy. Because that guy, you know, Tom Brady, I
Speaker 1: think is a great example, is that you know there's
Speaker 1: times where you go, man, I don't know if he's
Speaker 1: playing great football, but you talk to the people in
Speaker 1: Tampa last year, and every one of them said, when
Speaker 1: he came in, we automatically believed. We just saw him
Speaker 1: and we saw the way that he worked, and he
Speaker 1: instilled something in us that was different. And I think
Speaker 1: that's the ultimate factor when we talk about the it
Speaker 1: It's not how hard you throw a football or how
Speaker 1: many wow plays you can make, it's do you enter
Speaker 1: that environment with a level of confidence that says, follow
Speaker 1: me and we'll go where we want to go if
Speaker 1: you just believe along with me. And I just I
Speaker 1: think that was what I had. And whether it was
Speaker 1: partly in eight, partly because of the journey, or you know,
Speaker 1: some you know ratio out side of that, I do
Speaker 1: believe the journey had a big part of being able
Speaker 1: to shape that. So, man, I you know, I remember
Speaker 1: you probably remember when we opened this building. Um, you know,
Speaker 1: third game of the year, I got booed out of
Speaker 1: the stadium, you know, I got benched after that, and
Speaker 1: I running off the first time in my life I
Speaker 1: had run out of a stadium getting booed, you know,
Speaker 1: and that, you know, that's shocking for anybody, I think,
Speaker 1: especially when I had had success and you believe that
Speaker 1: you still can play at a level. And uh and
Speaker 1: I remember running out of here going my gosh, you know,
Speaker 1: how do we get to this point? M so, But
Speaker 1: you have moments like that, And never once did I
Speaker 1: go they just don't see it, you know, they just
Speaker 1: don't know. And I never held it against the fans
Speaker 1: because I understood what was happening on the field. I
Speaker 1: understood what the their perception was. But I never let
Speaker 1: that become My perception is like they're just missing it.
Speaker 1: You know, we'll be back and we'll have another shot
Speaker 1: and we'll show them that, you know, because when I
Speaker 1: came here, a lot of people had best years are
Speaker 1: behind him. You can't really anymore. And this is just
Speaker 1: you know, validation of that. For me, I always knew
Speaker 1: what was inside there, and just sometimes circumstances don't play
Speaker 1: out exactly like you want to. But it's even in
Speaker 1: moments like that where I just you know, for me,
Speaker 1: it was like, all right, I get it, I understand it.
Speaker 1: I can see it from a realistic standpoint, but it
Speaker 1: never once made me waver in what I could be
Speaker 1: or what was inside of me? Was it harder to
Speaker 1: take the Cardinals to the super Bowl as a proven player,
Speaker 1: albeit a proven player who as you just said, people
Speaker 1: started a question, will he you know? Was it a
Speaker 1: flash in the pan with the Rams? Because it didn't
Speaker 1: end well there and then things didn't go great in
Speaker 1: New York and you just talked about how things started
Speaker 1: here with the Cardinals. Was it harder to take the
Speaker 1: Cardinals to the super Bowl as a proven guy yet doubted?
Speaker 1: Or was it harder to take the Rams as a
Speaker 1: guy that nobody knew about or you don't know what
Speaker 1: you don't know? Yeah, I mean it was definitely harder
Speaker 1: to take the Cardinals where we went. To me, it
Speaker 1: was as much about mindset where this organization was, what
Speaker 1: the lack of belief was when when I got here,
Speaker 1: not just in me but within the organization as much
Speaker 1: as anything. So that struggle to change perception was a
Speaker 1: lot harder, you know, obviously there was you know, there
Speaker 1: were some things when I first came on the scene,
Speaker 1: and all of those questions and living up to a
Speaker 1: certain expectation of playing that was hard. But I was
Speaker 1: I was surrounded by great talent. I had guys around
Speaker 1: me that that carried me, you know, or could carry
Speaker 1: me at any point in time. And as you said,
Speaker 1: at that time, I didn't know what I didn't know,
Speaker 1: you know. I That's the funny thing is when people
Speaker 1: look back at my journey and they talk about the story, right,
Speaker 1: the things they hang on to Dave or a He
Speaker 1: sat on the bench for four years in college, and
Speaker 1: then he went to Green Bay, and he got cut
Speaker 1: after a couple of weeks in Green Bay, and he
Speaker 1: worked in a grocery store, and then arena football in
Speaker 1: Europe and all this negative stuff. And what I always
Speaker 1: tell people is the ironic thing is that all I
Speaker 1: remembered about my journey was, Oh, I got to play
Speaker 1: one year in college. I was the player of the
Speaker 1: year in our conference. I got to play three years
Speaker 1: in arena football, and I was in the championship game
Speaker 1: two of those three years and was the best player
Speaker 1: in the league all three years. The same happened in Europe.
Speaker 1: So when everybody else is looking at the things that
Speaker 1: I had an accomplished or the things that went against me,
Speaker 1: I was always going, oh, but wait, when the ball
Speaker 1: was in my hands, I've never not been successful. So
Speaker 1: when I got there, it was like, oh, this is
Speaker 1: just football. Like it's oh, yeah, it's the NFL. I
Speaker 1: get it, and you know this might be my last chance. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but I got a football in my hand. I got
Speaker 1: a football in my hands. I will play good football
Speaker 1: and we'll do what we do. I mean, I remember
Speaker 1: even that first year where we're kind of setting the
Speaker 1: league on fire, and I remember thinking myself, why are
Speaker 1: we planning three times a game? Because I'm coming from
Speaker 1: the arena league, where you don't punt, you score every
Speaker 1: time you touch it. And so that was my expectation
Speaker 1: that nobody else realizes because all they see is, oh
Speaker 1: my god, this guy's coming from a grocery store and
Speaker 1: he's in the NFL. How is this even possible? My
Speaker 1: mindset was completely different. It was much harder when I
Speaker 1: got here to Arizona A, because not only did I
Speaker 1: have to change the perception within an organization of what
Speaker 1: they could accomplish, I had to change people's perception about me.
Speaker 1: Sure is that, yeah, they knew I was good way
Speaker 1: back when, but when I got here, I mean, you
Speaker 1: can talk to Todd Haley and I mean they just
Speaker 1: felt his best years are behind him. He can't He's
Speaker 1: not that same guy anymore. So when I was coming
Speaker 1: in here, it was kind of like, oh, he's a
Speaker 1: seat filler until we get the next guy. And so
Speaker 1: a big part of this process was also convincing everybody
Speaker 1: just give me a shot here, like I can still
Speaker 1: play if you give me that opportunity and you allow
Speaker 1: me to showcase what I'm capable of doing, and we
Speaker 1: build an offense around what I'm capable of doing, I
Speaker 1: can still play really good football. So having to do
Speaker 1: both of those things and again you get benched and
Speaker 1: now it's like, Okay, I get it, I understand why.
Speaker 1: But I got to convince these guys again that we
Speaker 1: can be better and collectively and me personally can be
Speaker 1: better and we can do some things here. That was
Speaker 1: the hard part of the process. When you talk about
Speaker 1: changing perception or changing culture, that is much harder. Um,
Speaker 1: you know, doing what we did in Saint Louis wasn't easy.
Speaker 1: I mean what we did for three years and what
Speaker 1: we accomplished, and you know the expectations that were there.
Speaker 1: You know, there were some challenges in that, but there
Speaker 1: was nothing like coming here and having to change this
Speaker 1: culture and perception from both of those standpoints. That that
Speaker 1: at the end of the day. You know, people always
Speaker 1: asking me, you know what parts of your career, what
Speaker 1: was the best time of your career, what are you
Speaker 1: most proud of in your career? And without a doubt,
Speaker 1: what I'm most proud of is what we accomplish here
Speaker 1: and where I left the organization compared to where it
Speaker 1: was when I got here is probably thing in my
Speaker 1: career that I'm most proud of. And yes, I won
Speaker 1: the Super Bowl and that was great, and the MVP
Speaker 1: and all of that. I'm very proud of the things,
Speaker 1: especially in the first year. Yes, but there's something different
Speaker 1: because we talk about leadership and you talk about legacy.
Speaker 1: There's something different when you go and you change a
Speaker 1: perception of an organization and you change the perception that
Speaker 1: a person has about themselves. There's something powerful in that,
Speaker 1: and at the end of the day, it's probably what
Speaker 1: I'm most proud of in my career. Just two more
Speaker 1: questions on you and then we'll get into the twenty
Speaker 1: twenty one season. There was a fateful night in two
Speaker 1: thousand and three. It was the last day of the
Speaker 1: regular season and Josh McCown, who is the quarterback for
Speaker 1: the Cardinals, throws a pass that's caught by Nate Pool
Speaker 1: for a touchdown to win the game in the regular
Speaker 1: season finale. That win knocked the Cardinals out of the
Speaker 1: number one spot in the NFL Draft, where they would
Speaker 1: have taken Eli Manning. Instead, they take Larry Fitzgerald because
Speaker 1: they dropped to number three. Eli Manning goes to New York.
Speaker 1: You're in New York and obvious they had plans for Eli.
Speaker 1: So you were just with the Giants that one year.
Speaker 1: Then you come to Arizona and it's year two for
Speaker 1: Larry Fitzgerald. Larry was twenty years old when he came
Speaker 1: into the NFL. He had incredible talent, but he was young.
Speaker 1: He has said many times, Look, I needed to mature,
Speaker 1: I needed to grow. How did your relationship impact him,
Speaker 1: do you think and when did you know that Larry
Speaker 1: could be elite? Well, I don't think it was hard
Speaker 1: to see when you first got here and you see
Speaker 1: Larry on the field that he's got the ability to
Speaker 1: be elite. You know. It's funny that one of my
Speaker 1: favorite stories about Larry goes back to really the first
Speaker 1: weekend that I was here in Arizona and we were practicing,
Speaker 1: and I invited some of the guys over for dinner,
Speaker 1: just to kind of get to know guys and connect
Speaker 1: with them a little bit, and Larry came over. And
Speaker 1: I remember when we were sitting down for dinner and
Speaker 1: my wife she said, just promise me no football talk,
Speaker 1: all right, We're just here to get to know the guy.
Speaker 1: I don't want to talk football. My wife's not a
Speaker 1: big football fan, so she just wanted to kind of
Speaker 1: get to know everybody. And so Larry came over and
Speaker 1: somewhere in the middle of the dinner, there was just
Speaker 1: something that happened in practice that was kind of, you know,
Speaker 1: on my mind because I kept looking and talking to him,
Speaker 1: and so at some point I was just like, hey,
Speaker 1: Larry in practice today, And of course my wife kicks
Speaker 1: me under the table, like, come on, we're not going here.
Speaker 1: But you know, I just told him about something that
Speaker 1: practiced and I'm like, man, if if you just do this, man,
Speaker 1: you were going to be unstoppable on that route. And
Speaker 1: I remember Larry kind of looking back at me, and
Speaker 1: you know, that kind of a smile on his face
Speaker 1: and you gave me this look and he's like, okay, Kurt.
Speaker 1: But you know, I think that the mindset was kind
Speaker 1: of simply I'm the last person you need to worry about.
Speaker 1: And he mentioned in the in the conversation, he's like,
Speaker 1: you know, I'm good enough right now. And again, I
Speaker 1: think the idea was not in arrogance, but simply when
Speaker 1: you're looking at the rest of the guys, you know,
Speaker 1: I'm probably not where you need to start in terms
Speaker 1: of what we're trying to build here. And I remember
Speaker 1: looking back at him and I'm like, Larry, at the
Speaker 1: end of the day, do you just want to be
Speaker 1: good enough? And we just kind of left it there.
Speaker 1: So you know, as we progress and as we see
Speaker 1: things and as we build our relationship, you know, you
Speaker 1: watch Larry and you watch him start growing, and you
Speaker 1: watch him start evolving, and you're watching the work that
Speaker 1: he's doing, and when you talk to him and you
Speaker 1: have a conversation, he was always willing to apply those
Speaker 1: things on the field to become great. And you just
Speaker 1: watch the ascension of Larry Fitzgerald to one of the
Speaker 1: greatest players that the league has ever seen, and I'll
Speaker 1: never forget. Fast forward to two thousand and nine. So
Speaker 1: Larry was my closest friend on the team, so he
Speaker 1: knew before anybody else that I was going to retire.
Speaker 1: I had told him, we had talked about it throughout
Speaker 1: the middle of the season that I was going to
Speaker 1: be done. And I can't remember where we were going,
Speaker 1: but we had gotten on a jet together and had
Speaker 1: a conversation and I remember him looking at me and
Speaker 1: he goes, Kurt, you remember that conversation we had, you know,
Speaker 1: that first weekend that you were in town. And I'm like,
Speaker 1: of course, I remember, he goes, I just want you
Speaker 1: to know that I never forgot that conversation and that
Speaker 1: idea that from that point forward, I never wanted to
Speaker 1: just look at things as being good enough. I wanted
Speaker 1: to be the best. And that to me speaks to
Speaker 1: who Larry Fitzgerald is is that he was one of
Speaker 1: our best players. He would have been one of our
Speaker 1: best players through the length of his career without a doubt,
Speaker 1: because of his talent level, the kind of young man
Speaker 1: he was. But you know, I mean, you know, Larry,
Speaker 1: he's kind of ahead of his years. He was more
Speaker 1: mature than most guys that come in at his age,
Speaker 1: and he made that commitment very early on from that
Speaker 1: one conversation to go, Okay, I see what kurtse trying
Speaker 1: to say here. He sees in me something special. Now
Speaker 1: I need to tap into it and be great. And
Speaker 1: we've seen that throughout his career, and I think one
Speaker 1: of the greatest examples of that was when Bruce arians
Speaker 1: came here. When I was here, we tried to move
Speaker 1: Larry inside numerous times, and Larry was just like, I'm
Speaker 1: not having it. I'm good out here, I'm comfortable out here.
Speaker 1: I don't have to think as much. Just let me
Speaker 1: be me out here, and we tried, and we just
Speaker 1: could not get him to buy in. Then obviously Bruce
Speaker 1: comes in, and I don't think Bruce really gave him
Speaker 1: a choice, but I remember talking to him numerous times
Speaker 1: through that sequence and He's like, gosh, I hate it
Speaker 1: in here. It's fast. I'm not comfortable. I don't like it,
Speaker 1: you know, I don't want to be here playing inside.
Speaker 1: But to his credit, he bought in, and he bought
Speaker 1: in and he became a blocker, and he started to
Speaker 1: understand the inside, and maybe statistically from a catchstandpoint, he
Speaker 1: has his greatest year with Bruce Arians when he's inside
Speaker 1: catching a hundred passes, and talk to him just a
Speaker 1: couple of years ago, and I remember him going and
Speaker 1: they're using me outside too much. You know that he
Speaker 1: got so comfortable back inside. But to his credit that
Speaker 1: he had the ability to evolve and work to be
Speaker 1: great no matter what his role was. And those are
Speaker 1: the things that I'll remember on why Larry Fitzgerald is
Speaker 1: one of the greatest that we've ever seen. It's not
Speaker 1: because of those great spectacular catches we saw back in
Speaker 1: seven and eight and oh nine. It's because of his
Speaker 1: ability and his work ethic to go. I'm not satisfied.
Speaker 1: What is it? You know, I remember a time that
Speaker 1: Todd Haley challenged him to be a better blocker downfield.
Speaker 1: You know a lot of times it was catch, get
Speaker 1: down or to run after catch, and every time somebody
Speaker 1: challenged him, he goes, Okay, let me show you I
Speaker 1: can do this. I can do that. But all those
Speaker 1: things and that mindset of his is really what's catapulted
Speaker 1: him to the place where you know, he's a legend
Speaker 1: of the game. He's one of the greatest that we've
Speaker 1: ever seen. And I think all the way back to
Speaker 1: that conversation and how that stuck with him and that
Speaker 1: imparted something on him that he wanted to be great.
Speaker 1: When I talked to Larry or text with Larry, I
Speaker 1: don't talk football with him, usually asking about the sons
Speaker 1: or other things, in part because I know he doesn't
Speaker 1: want to be asked about retirement. And my gut, and
Speaker 1: I've said this from the middle of last year, as
Speaker 1: I think he's done, I would be surprised if he
Speaker 1: plays again. Are you in the same boat, would you
Speaker 1: be surprised if we see Larry on a football field again.
Speaker 1: I won't say I'll be surprised with it playing out
Speaker 1: as long as it has. I think there's there's a
Speaker 1: little part of me that goes, why would it play
Speaker 1: out this long? If he didn't, If he isn't thinking
Speaker 1: possibly about coming back and looking at the roster and
Speaker 1: looking at what they've built here, because the only thing
Speaker 1: that he's playing for anymore is to win a championship.
Speaker 1: Is that, you know. I've texted him numerous times and
Speaker 1: just man, I'm sorry I didn't get you that championship
Speaker 1: because his greatness has been so great that I just
Speaker 1: feel like it needs to be anchored with a championship.
Speaker 1: And I know, you know, although that will not define him,
Speaker 1: and you know, and he's much bigger than that, I
Speaker 1: know he still wants that, and you know, it's one
Speaker 1: of the reasons he's talked about retirement with me for
Speaker 1: the last three or four years. I don't know, we'll see,
Speaker 1: you know. Can I be an integral part of what
Speaker 1: we're doing? But most important, does this team have a
Speaker 1: chance to compete? And I really feel like this team
Speaker 1: is in a position with the guys they brought in,
Speaker 1: assuming they play up to their potential and stay healthy
Speaker 1: and all that stuff, to compete. And so that part
Speaker 1: of me just has me thinking there may just be
Speaker 1: one more run. But the one thing that I would
Speaker 1: say is this isn't like Larry. If Larry was going
Speaker 1: to come back and play, I kind of expected him
Speaker 1: to be here day one, you know, not a guy
Speaker 1: like Shoh. You guys go through the first couple of
Speaker 1: weeks and then I'll show up in typical Larry fashion.
Speaker 1: What I kind of believe is that, you know, he
Speaker 1: hates the limelight and that he's going to kind of
Speaker 1: wait for this thing to get going where thirty two
Speaker 1: teams are practicing and there's all these new storylines, and
Speaker 1: then he's going to sneak in and go, hey, I'm retiring,
Speaker 1: I'm done. So nothing is about him in that situation.
Speaker 1: So yes, everything in me says I think he is done.
Speaker 1: But I've just been really surprised that it's played out
Speaker 1: this long without us knowing that it just keeps kind
Speaker 1: of that wind of opportunity open that he maybe what
Speaker 1: you said is exactly how I felt all along, knowing
Speaker 1: Larry that he doesn't want to talk about it. So
Speaker 1: in the five year I mean, he's going to be
Speaker 1: in the Hall of Fame that five year clock. Whether
Speaker 1: it starts in August or February, it doesn't matter. I've
Speaker 1: always thought he's not going to say anything, or if
Speaker 1: he does, it's just going to be he's going to
Speaker 1: drop it in some interview in the middle of November. Oh, like, yeah,
Speaker 1: I'm done. Yeah, I'm done. I'm onto something else. I
Speaker 1: don't want to bury the lead because you just said
Speaker 1: something that caught my attention, and that's you think that
Speaker 1: this Cardinal team has a chance, would you say their
Speaker 1: championship caliber or is that a stretch? Where do you
Speaker 1: view given the division, how tough this division is, Where
Speaker 1: do you see the Cardinals in twenty twenty one? Well,
Speaker 1: I mean, I think it all is going to start
Speaker 1: with Kyler? Is that you know, I've always been a
Speaker 1: firm believer that that position dictates whether you're a good
Speaker 1: team or a championship team. And there's no question that
Speaker 1: we've seen Kyler do some really really special stuff in
Speaker 1: his early career. We just haven't seen the consistency level
Speaker 1: yet to make me say, based on what I've seen
Speaker 1: the past, just by adding these pieces, they're definitely a
Speaker 1: championship contender. I need to see more and I need
Speaker 1: to see consistency from him, because what you know, especially
Speaker 1: now with the playoffs the way they are and the
Speaker 1: extra team in there, you got to beat some really
Speaker 1: really good teams week in and week out to get
Speaker 1: to a super Bowl. You don't fluke your way into
Speaker 1: a super Bowl. You know, we found our way, you know,
Speaker 1: stumbling through that one, we stumbled through another one. Now
Speaker 1: we're in the super Bowl. It doesn't happen like that.
Speaker 1: So that, to me is the biggest question is where
Speaker 1: does he go in year three? I mean, we've talked
Speaker 1: about it. I mean, he was one of the front
Speaker 1: runners for the MVP halfway through the season last year.
Speaker 1: So he has been extremely productive. But I still look
Speaker 1: and say to me, to be a championship caliber quarterback,
Speaker 1: you have to be able to do it inside the
Speaker 1: pocket over and over and over again. Yes, you're going
Speaker 1: to give us some special. I get that, but I
Speaker 1: don't think you can win consistently with just the special.
Speaker 1: You got to be more consistent. So that's where I
Speaker 1: believe it starts. If you get that from Kyler, and
Speaker 1: then I saw the second piece and these guys stay healthy. Yeah,
Speaker 1: you know, because AJ we know he's a great player.
Speaker 1: JJ been a great player. Rodney Hudson a really good
Speaker 1: player in this league. You know, three big signings that
Speaker 1: they had all have been kind of bouncing around, dealing
Speaker 1: with injuries, haven't been healthy. But I think if those
Speaker 1: guys stay healthy, you've got a collection of talent here
Speaker 1: that can compete with anybody in the league. How it meshes,
Speaker 1: how it comes together, all of that stuff, the quarterback play,
Speaker 1: of course, So I don't know, but yeah, I mean
Speaker 1: I look at this team and see where they were
Speaker 1: last year, and I say, this is a better football team,
Speaker 1: without a doubt, this year than they were last year.
Speaker 1: And so because of that, I have to believe they're
Speaker 1: going to Pete. You're right, division's gonna be tough. San
Speaker 1: Francisco is gonna be much better. Question healthy rams you
Speaker 1: assume they're going to be better with Matthew Stafford or
Speaker 1: still gonna be really really good. Seattle's always there. I mean,
Speaker 1: you know, we probably look at them right now and
Speaker 1: go they're the least exciting team, but they won the
Speaker 1: division last year and won twelve games. So it's a
Speaker 1: really really And that's when I talk about consistency, Right.
Speaker 1: You don't have a break, So you don't have two games,
Speaker 1: especially when you're playing in this division where you go, oh,
Speaker 1: if we don't play well, we can sneak a couple
Speaker 1: of wins here. No, you're gonna have to show up
Speaker 1: and play every week, and so this team could be
Speaker 1: better than they were last year and have a worse
Speaker 1: record because the other teams that they're gonna be playing
Speaker 1: are better in their schedules. Tough, but I do believe
Speaker 1: if Kyler makes that jump and you know, grows in
Speaker 1: that position at least a little bit, this team has
Speaker 1: a chance to, without a doubt, compete for the playoffs
Speaker 1: and possibly win the division. The offense, what do you think,
Speaker 1: Because you talked about Kyler, but in terms of scheme offensive,
Speaker 1: what do you think we need to see? What changes
Speaker 1: do the Cardinals need to make for them to take
Speaker 1: that next step and be a playoff team and be
Speaker 1: a championship caliber club. You know, I think Cliff coach
Speaker 1: Kingsbury is coming into his own as well. I think
Speaker 1: part of the process over the last couple of years
Speaker 1: is figuring out how to call plays at the NFL level.
Speaker 1: Designing plays for success is that, you know, a lot
Speaker 1: of the stuff that we've seen. I've seen a lot
Speaker 1: of college esque type stuff, the quick throws, the bubble screens,
Speaker 1: all of that stuff, which is great. You're gonna get
Speaker 1: yards in this league because of the rules by doing
Speaker 1: that and so you can put up a lot of yards,
Speaker 1: what really wins games for you is what you do
Speaker 1: in the red zone, and they've kind of struggled in
Speaker 1: the red zone outside of where Kyler becomes the dual
Speaker 1: thread and he runs and passes. The ability to create
Speaker 1: opportunities in the red zone and easier opportunities and better
Speaker 1: opportunities for their offense to be consistently good down there,
Speaker 1: I believe is going to be you know, the biggest
Speaker 1: issue with this football team. I'm not worried about them
Speaker 1: moving the football. I'm not worried about Kyler making a
Speaker 1: lot of plays. I'm not worried about him being able
Speaker 1: to score some touchdowns and doing the zone reads in
Speaker 1: the red zone. But that to me is where I've
Speaker 1: seen the biggest questions with this team is it comes
Speaker 1: to play design, and great design and great playmaking in
Speaker 1: the red zone is something that they've lacked and something
Speaker 1: that I think has held them back a little bit.
Speaker 1: So that's probably the key piece from an offensive standpoint.
Speaker 1: Then I'm watching for from Kyler and from coach going
Speaker 1: into this year. We started this podcast talking about the movie,
Speaker 1: talking about your work as an analyst for NFL Network,
Speaker 1: and Westwood One. But there's much more to Kurt Warners.
Speaker 1: Everybody knows than work. Talk about ministry and charity work
Speaker 1: that you have gone on right now before we wrap up, Well,
Speaker 1: the biggest thing that we're doing right now is our
Speaker 1: passion is our Treasure House. And so Treasure House is
Speaker 1: a community living facility for young adults with intellectual and
Speaker 1: developmental disabilities. All based off of my son who's thirty
Speaker 1: two now, but suffered brain injury when he was four
Speaker 1: months old, and once he kind of got through high school,
Speaker 1: we always wondered what was next, what was his future,
Speaker 1: what's his purpose? What can he accomplish? And I know
Speaker 1: that there's a lot of families out there with children
Speaker 1: like like Zach that wonder what's next, what do they have,
Speaker 1: what kind of life, and what are the possibilities for them?
Speaker 1: How do we dream for our child with the disabilities.
Speaker 1: So we created Treasure House about five years ago and
Speaker 1: it's out in Glendale, it's not too far here from
Speaker 1: the stadium, out on seventy fifth Avenue. We just filled
Speaker 1: up our first Treasure House. We've got a waiting list
Speaker 1: now and so that's kind of where our passion is
Speaker 1: right now is we want to make sure that every
Speaker 1: family like ours, that has a child with challenges like ours,
Speaker 1: has the opportunity to dream bigger and believe in the
Speaker 1: possibilities of what life can be even amongst those challenges.
Speaker 1: You know, we say all the time, we've got seven kids,
Speaker 1: as you know that all of our kids have disabilities.
Speaker 1: They all have unique realities, but they all have disabilities
Speaker 1: and it's just a different way of seeing those things.
Speaker 1: And so Zach there's certain things that he has challenges
Speaker 1: to do, but there's also unbelievable potential and unbelievable impact
Speaker 1: that he has. And so Treasure House is designed to
Speaker 1: be able to allow that peer group to come together
Speaker 1: and impact one another. It's, you know, designed to allow
Speaker 1: these families and these kids to dream in a way
Speaker 1: that they've never dreamed before and open up the possibilities.
Speaker 1: And there is such a huge need not just here
Speaker 1: in the valley, but around the world, around the country
Speaker 1: for facilities like this, and so that's where our passion
Speaker 1: lies is that we're trying to get this one right.
Speaker 1: We're trying to figure out all the pieces and then
Speaker 1: we want to branch out and we want to build
Speaker 1: Treasure houses and every neighborhood. So there is no family
Speaker 1: that has to wonder what the next steps are, what
Speaker 1: the what the big picture purposes for their child. And
Speaker 1: so that's our greatest passion right now. That's where we're
Speaker 1: driving a lot of our emphasis from a charity standpoint,
Speaker 1: and it's been incredibly rewarding, even though it's been incredibly
Speaker 1: tough as you figure out these new worlds and what
Speaker 1: you have to do, but hearing parents come up to
Speaker 1: you and say how life changing it was to hear
Speaker 1: these kids talk to their parents when their parents are like, Hey,
Speaker 1: you're gonna come home for the weekend, and they're like, well,
Speaker 1: this is my home. Treasure house is my home now
Speaker 1: exactly what we wanted to create for our son and
Speaker 1: for these families, and it's been it's been a labor
Speaker 1: of love. QB Confidential Yeah dot com. Yes, QB confidential
Speaker 1: dot com. Um. You know what I've realized over the
Speaker 1: years is that, man, I want to be able to
Speaker 1: have a larger impact. I want to be able to,
Speaker 1: you know, to use my skill and knowledge and experience
Speaker 1: to be able to impart that on the next generation,
Speaker 1: whether it's coaches or players. Because I just think I
Speaker 1: have a unique knowledge of this game and a way
Speaker 1: to be able to share that. So I've always felt, well,
Speaker 1: it's limited. You know. I've got my three or four
Speaker 1: high school quarterbacks, I got my few guys that I
Speaker 1: work with every summer. But man, there's all these kids
Speaker 1: out there that want to learn and want to play
Speaker 1: at the next level and all of this stuff, and
Speaker 1: there's a lot of guys out there, quite frankly, that
Speaker 1: don't really know what they're coaching. And I always feel
Speaker 1: bad for these guys that whatever they're paying however much
Speaker 1: money to go work with these gurus. And I look
Speaker 1: at these gus and I go, what the heck is
Speaker 1: he teaching him? And so I bought a camera, touchscreen,
Speaker 1: video monitor, and I hold up in my office for
Speaker 1: a number of hours and started building this. And I
Speaker 1: think it's really incredible. I don't think there's anything else
Speaker 1: out there like it. From a quarterback perspective. It's one
Speaker 1: of those things where we get in the classroom and
Speaker 1: I talk on the blackboard and kind of teach him
Speaker 1: football IQ. We of course go on the field because
Speaker 1: technique is so important to me, and we go and
Speaker 1: we do some of that. We open up the playbook
Speaker 1: because I'm so passionate about play design and play understanding
Speaker 1: and knowing what you're doing on every play. There's a
Speaker 1: mindset piece that I call outside the box. A huge
Speaker 1: part of this process is do you have the right mindset?
Speaker 1: And then the last piece is kind of a film
Speaker 1: study where I'm able to dive into NFL film and
Speaker 1: talk about what I've been talking about in the rest
Speaker 1: of the platform and kind of show it on the
Speaker 1: big screen and show people how to watch tape and
Speaker 1: what I'm looking at. And so it's got so many
Speaker 1: different facets to it, and now it's a way to
Speaker 1: be able to reach the masses with this platform and
Speaker 1: with my experience. Kurt, You're awesome. You continue to inspire
Speaker 1: me and so many people. I when we came up
Speaker 1: with this idea to do the podcast, You're the first
Speaker 1: person I thought of, So I really appreciate you helping
Speaker 1: me launch this thing. But again, I just admire your faith,
Speaker 1: your integrity, and your willingness to tell your story because
Speaker 1: you know how it can impact others and change lives.
Speaker 1: So thanks, brother, appreciate my good luck with this whole thing.
Speaker 1: All right, Kurt, Thanks so there you have it. Hall
Speaker 1: of Famer Kurt Warner on the first ever Dave Pass Podcast.
Speaker 1: We won an hour. We could have gone an hour
Speaker 1: and a half, maybe two hours. Kurt had NFL network duties,
Speaker 1: or we certainly could have told a lot more great
Speaker 1: stories about his days in the NFL and much more.
Speaker 1: Hopefully you got a ton out of that. There was
Speaker 1: so much great stuff there. How about what Kurt said
Speaker 1: to the team at halftime of Super Bowl forty three
Speaker 1: nothing right? He said he had to get the team
Speaker 1: to believe again through his actions, not his words, by
Speaker 1: starting off the second half with a great drive. Kurt,
Speaker 1: like me, thinks Larry Fitzgerald will retire and do it quietly.
Speaker 1: And I loved how Fits years later told Kurt that
Speaker 1: he never forgot the advice that Kurt gave him during
Speaker 1: their very first meeting. Hope you enjoyed the first ever
Speaker 1: Dave Pash podcast, So glad you're along for the ride.
Speaker 1: We have some great guests coming up, all pro safety
Speaker 1: Buddha Baker, Cardinal's head coach, Cliff Kingsbury, outstanding ESPN NFL analysts,
Speaker 1: Mina Kimes, and many more. For all the updates on
Speaker 1: the Dave Pash Podcast. You can follow us on Twitter
Speaker 1: at pash pod or also my personal account at Dave Pash.
Speaker 1: Thanks again for listening. Hope you enjoyed the first edition
Speaker 1: of the Dave Pash Podcast with Hall of Famer Kurt
Speaker 1: Warner