Kurt Warner on Edmonds-McKernon Show

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I cant say I blame him. After the team, the media, and the fans ran him out of town he found a home where he felt wanted and appreciated.

What's chilling to me is that "the team, the media, and the fans" are getting closer to doing same to Bradford.
 

kurtfaulk

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So plenty of teams would have been interested in a trade, but the Rams were just so evil that they threw away a valuable resource rather than profit from it? That doesn't sound silly to you?

what team would trade for him after martz, through his lapdog bernie, spent the whole year attacking his character. told the world he was damaged goods, finished, beyond repair?

this was as personal as it could get.

.
 

kurtfaulk

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I think that's a big part of the Warner/Bulger debates. The perception by many(most?) was that Bulger was continuing to play like he did when he came in for an injured Jamie Martin in 2002. Those first 5 games were somewhat magical but it wasn't about Bulger as much as it was about Martz restoring some balance to his gameplans. I don't recall if Faulk was injured in 2002 but Martz and the Rams went a little overboard with their passing game. The percentages were extreme and the team was starting to suffer for it. I believe the games Warner started from 2002 until he left were approaching 80% pass plays. Once the Rams were forced to start their 3rd stringer at QB in 2002, Faulk finally started to get the ball again and the Rams went on a winning streak.

100% correct. at the time martz had so much trust in warner that he put it all on his shoulders. but kurt wasn't the same. i remember the tampa game things looked like getting back on track but then faulk got injured in the 1st qtr and it was all downhill form there. then kurt got injured on the first throw of the next game. in his comeback game against the skins he started like a house on fire but then hurt his hand again mid game and that's where the trouble started.

martz had so much trust in kurt he would rather him play the eagles with a broken hand than use the other qbs. the story in the leadup to the game was that kurt's hand was like a catcher's mitt. naturally kurt bombed big time in that game. then brenda couldn't help herself and threw martz under the bus when she phoned the radio station and told them she told kurt to go and get his hand x-rayed. it was all over for kurt in st louis from that moment forward. martz is nothing if not vindictive.

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Zaphod

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I'll never understand the logic of arguing to draft a quarterback because your offensive turned him into a head case.

Ok, if that's truly the case and your current QB is truly ruined, then ride him until the wheels fall off while you rebuild that o line.

To me it's almost like saying... waste another high pick on a QB to ruin!
 

Boffo97

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what team would trade for him after martz, through his lapdog bernie, spent the whole year attacking his character. told the world he was damaged goods, finished, beyond repair?

this was as personal as it could get.

.
I'm trying to get out of this topic... but now not only did Martz and the Rams waste a high value resource for no other reason than mustache twirling evil.... but now Martz is to blame for Bernie's typical nonsense? Really? AND teams would be scared off from a trade by Bernie, and not Kurt's huge salary at the time, and knowing that he'd likely be cut and they could get him for MUCH MUCH cheaper?

I understand it's a very emotional topic, and opinions on it are pretty much set in stone... but certain arguments really need to be discarded as silly.
 

kurtfaulk

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martz and the previous rams fo making sound football and business decisions?

haha, thanks for the laugh.

.
 

Boffo97

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.

martz and the previous rams fo making sound football and business decisions?

haha, thanks for the laugh.

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Not quite so much... just any theory that relies on one party being evil AND stupid at the same time for no reason other than being evil and stupid... it's just something you see in bad movies rather than real life.

No one, repeat no one, repeat NO ONE was going to take Warner at the salary the Rams were currently paying him. Thus, a trade wasn't possible. And unless I'm remembering completely wrong, Warner requested a cut once Bulger was named starting QB. He wasn't going to get what the Rams were paying him anyway, and with a cut, he could pick his own situation.
 

LesBaker

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Not quite so much... just any theory that relies on one party being evil AND stupid at the same time for no reason other than being evil and stupid... it's just something you see in bad movies rather than real life.

No one, repeat no one, repeat NO ONE was going to take Warner at the salary the Rams were currently paying him. Thus, a trade wasn't possible. And unless I'm remembering completely wrong, Warner requested a cut once Bulger was named starting QB. He wasn't going to get what the Rams were paying him anyway, and with a cut, he could pick his own situation.

You're wrong. He wanted to compete for the job and flat out said so, Martz cut him instead.

Martz has admitted he effed up. I'm not sure why the idea that Bulger wasn't as good long term as Warner would have been is so hard to digest for some people. The Rams made a mistake, they should have kept Warner. Oh well, they didn't and the story had a happy ending for him and not so much for the Rams. That'sd the way it goes sometimes.
 

Boffo97

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You're wrong. He wanted to compete for the job and flat out said so, Martz cut him instead.

Martz has admitted he effed up. I'm not sure why the idea that Bulger wasn't as good long term as Warner would have been is so hard to digest for some people. The Rams made a mistake, they should have kept Warner. Oh well, they didn't and the story had a happy ending for him and not so much for the Rams. That'sd the way it goes sometimes.
Even if you are right, which I don't think is the case, it's really not that much difference. Either he wanted to be cut or wouldn't accept the role the team wanted. Either way, you've got to cut him.

Now Warner did end up being better long term than Bulger, sure. But on the Rams, that's just your opinion and I highly doubt it.

It took him YEARS to get back up to that level again AND as Faulk even agreed with in the article Prime Time posted, with the offensive line issues we had, he may NEVER have gotten there again. And unless he agreed to a major pay cut (and I don't think he would have), those two factors doom any storybook fantasy of him taking our teams of the time back to the Super Bowl in the late 00's (what does one even call that decade)?

EDIT: Actually, I was wrong. I found an article (http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/rams/2004-04-20-warner-cut_x.htm) that says the Rams informed Warner he'd be cut (thus letting him negotiate with other teams). While it doesn't say he didn't request the cut, I'll grant some benefit of the doubt there. But as I said above, I don't see it being some huge difference, and still don't think he could have been traded.

And while Martz might regret certain aspects of how the whole thing was handled (and I've admitted certain things WERE mishandled), I don't think that translates into keeping Warner, nor do I think Warner could have come back to being as good as he was in St. Louis.
 
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moklerman

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Even if you are right, which I don't think is the case, it's really not that much difference. Either he wanted to be cut or wouldn't accept the role the team wanted. Either way, you've got to cut him.

Now Warner did end up being better long term than Bulger, sure. But on the Rams, that's just your opinion and I highly doubt it.

It took him YEARS to get back up to that level again AND as Faulk even agreed with in the article Prime Time posted, with the offensive line issues we had, he may NEVER have gotten there again. And unless he agreed to a major pay cut (and I don't think he would have), those two factors doom any storybook fantasy of him taking our teams of the time back to the Super Bowl in the late 00's (what does one even call that decade)?

EDIT: Actually, I was wrong. I found an article (http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/sports/football/nfl/rams/2004-04-20-warner-cut_x.htm) that says the Rams informed Warner he'd be cut (thus letting him negotiate with other teams). While it doesn't say he didn't request the cut, I'll grant some benefit of the doubt there. But as I said above, I don't see it being some huge difference, and still don't think he could have been traded.

And while Martz might regret certain aspects of how the whole thing was handled (and I've admitted certain things WERE mishandled), I don't think that translates into keeping Warner, nor do I think Warner could have come back to being as good as he was in St. Louis.
You're implying that Warner wouldn't have found his groove again with the Rams because it took him years to get back to that form elsewhere. While that may be an important aspect to the conversation, the reality is, Warner and Martz had irreconcilable differences and that would prevent Warner from ever regaining his form more than anything else. They simply couldn't co-exist anymore and in retrospect, that seems to be on Martz. It's very debatable whether Warner would have tried the gloves any sooner if Martz was still on his side, there was no in-fighting in the front office and if Warner didn't feell his job was being threatened.

My point is, there was LOT going on that makes this more than a clinical/fiscal decision by the Rams. Instead of Martz, imagine Vermeil in charge and how he might have handled Warner's various hand injuries. I'm compelled to think that he would have exhausted every option before deciding to move on from Warner. Martz was all too eager to prove that his system was what deserved praise and moving on to Bulger seems like what he wanted to do. But I think it's questionable to say that Warner, if...IF healthy and using the gloves couldn't have found success with the 2003-2006 Rams teams.
 

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Don't want to make any enemies here but Bulger was playing as good as any QB in the league his first 2 years as a starter. His decline coincidentally begins at the same time Martz leaves. ALso look at the team Bulger played for the last few years. It wasn't a good team. I think almost any QB would have looked bad with the Rams during that period.
 

moklerman

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Don't want to make any enemies here but Bulger was playing as good as any QB in the league his first 2 years as a starter. His decline coincidentally begins at the same time Martz leaves. ALso look at the team Bulger played for the last few years. It wasn't a good team. I think almost any QB would have looked bad with the Rams during that period.
I'm not your enemy but this really isn't true. Bulger had a fantastic...perhaps more accurately, surprising start to his Rams career. Those first 5 games and the big win on MNF helped catapult him to fan favorite but I think Faulk's contributions in those games are often forgotten. When Faulk went out and started to have trouble staying on the field during the 2nd half of that season, Bulger threw a pedestrian 4TD/3INT his last two starts. Then he really struggled for most of 2003. I'd hardly say that he was playing as good as any QB in the league during that span. He certainly had some high points but as it seemed back then, you seem to be giving him credit that he doesn't actually deserve. Bulger's decline didn't really begin until 2007 IMO. That was 2 years after Martz left.
 

-X-

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I'm not your enemy but this really isn't true. Bulger had a fantastic...perhaps more accurately, surprising start to his Rams career. Those first 5 games and the big win on MNF helped catapult him to fan favorite but I think Faulk's contributions in those games are often forgotten. When Faulk went out and started to have trouble staying on the field during the 2nd half of that season, Bulger threw a pedestrian 4TD/3INT his last two starts. Then he really struggled for most of 2003. I'd hardly say that he was playing as good as any QB in the league during that span. He certainly had some high points but as it seemed back then, you seem to be giving him credit that he doesn't actually deserve. Bulger's decline didn't really begin until 2007 IMO. That was 2 years after Martz left.
If I'm not mistaken, he was one of the fastest to 10k yards QBs in NFL history.
 

PhxRam

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Don't want to make any enemies here but Bulger was playing as good as any QB in the league his first 2 years as a starter. His decline coincidentally begins at the same time Martz leaves. ALso look at the team Bulger played for the last few years. It wasn't a good team. I think almost any QB would have looked bad with the Rams during that period.

I have forgiven you for this sin a long time ago.
 

RamFan503

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What's chilling to me is that "the team, the media, and the fans" are getting closer to doing same to Bradford.
Seems that the team shouldn't be included here.
 

moklerman

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If I'm not mistaken, he was one of the fastest to 10k yards QBs in NFL history.
I think that's right but not sure of the point. The Rams(Bulger) threw the ball a lot and piled up yards between the '20's. His relatively low TD's, red zone troubles and interceptions take away from my opinion of him. But moreso, he never seemed that interested in playing football. He turned down multiple offers to be a starter or at least compete for a job but instead, retired when was 32. Just didn't seem to have the fire that I admire in a QB.
 

-X-

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I think that's right but not sure of the point. The Rams(Bulger) threw the ball a lot and piled up yards between the '20's. His relatively low TD's, red zone troubles and interceptions take away from my opinion of him. But moreso, he never seemed that interested in playing football. He turned down multiple offers to be a starter or at least compete for a job but instead, retired when was 32. Just didn't seem to have the fire that I admire in a QB.
Yeah, he wasn't everyone's cup of tea. I'm not really that invested in rehashing anything Bulger/Warner related. I was just sayin'. He was pretty damn good his first few years, and feel as though that should be acknowledged. After that, meh. I don't think many people have him registered in their mental football annals of greatness.