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- Obert
Some good comments from the Rams FO at the time. Best one...Warner was exposed to the 1999 Cleveland Browns Expansion Draft and they did not take him. Chalk up another one for the "Factory of Sadness."
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http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_4d9b30d2-7399-5e5e-9821-de71c2c15d0d.html
Thomas: Who knew? Kroenke helped discover Warner
Stan Kroenke's alter ego took over at a news conference held before a small public audience in Inglewood, Calif., on Jan. 15. He laughed, cried, joked — but most surprising of all, he showed up to answer questions. (AP Photo)
Just when you thought the universe of people who helped discover Kurt Warner had long since been exhausted, along comes Stan Kroenke.
Kroenke, who gave zero interviews over the Rams’ last four years in St. Louis, can’t shut up now that the team is in Los Angeles. In his latest escapade, a recent interview with Jarrett Bell of USA Today, Kroenke recalled giving Dick Vermeil advice on Warner in 1998.
“Dick Vermeil asked me my opinion of who the third quarterback should be,” Kroenke told USA Today. “I told Dick, ‘OK, I’ve never even played football but you want my opinion? The kid from Northern Iowa can see. He’s got vision. It’s like a really good point guard (in basketball). Some guys have it. Some guys don’t.”
In 1998, Tony Banks was firmly ensconced as the starter. Steve Bono was acquired in a trade with Green Bay to be the backup. That left Will Furrer and Warner, who was signed as a “street” free agent early that offseason, competing for the No. 3 job.
Exactly how Kroenke came to his conclusion about Warner’s vision is uncertain. For one, Warner was assigned to the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe that spring, so he didn’t participate in the Rams’ minicamps or OTAs.
For another, even back then as Rams minority owner, Kroenke almost never attended practice. And in preseason that summer, Warner threw all of four passes in exhibition play.
So apparently either Kroenke is a quick study in terms of what little he may have seen on the practice field. Or he was grinding out practice tape or NFL Europe film in his spare time.
On Saturday, Vermeil told the Post-Dispatch he doesn't recall having that conversation with Kroenke. "But if he said it, I'm sure it was true," Vermeil said.
Vermeil said Kroenke was almost timid about engaging with the team at that time, perhaps in deference to majority owner Georgia Frontiere. Whenever Kroenke was around, which wasn't often, Vermeil said he tried to update him on what was going on with the team.
Keep in mind, Mike Martz had yet to be hired as offensive coordinator. In 1998, he was working as wide receivers coach for Washington. General manager Charley Armey was around, and he told the Post-Dispatch on Friday that he wasn’t privy to any conversation Kroenke may have had with Vermeil on the subject of Warner.
But Armey did have this to say about keeping Warner that year:
“The decision to keep Kurt Warner was 100 percent Dick Vermeil,” Armey said. “Everybody was lobbying for other people, including the next year when Trent Green got hurt. Some guys wanted Jeff Hostetler and some guys wanted Jeff George. Dick Vermeil stuck to his guns.”
Once the coaches got to see Warner on the practice field over the course of the 1998 regular season, respect grew for him. Armey told a reporter midway through the ’98 season that the team already had a quarterback on the roster who was much better than Banks — Warner.
When Vermeil hired Martz as offensive coordinator after the ’98 season, he told him to take a good look at Warner — both the practice film and NFL Europe tape — because he was the Rams’ scout team quarterback in ’98, and the starting defense had trouble stopping him.
And even though the Rams went 4-12 in 1998, they finished 10th in total defense and third in passing defense that year, so Warner was going against good personnel every day running the scout team.
Warner, in fact, won the offensive service award, as voted on by the coaching staff, as the team’s outstanding practice player in 1998.
Even saying all that, there is this long-forgotten fact about the Rams and Warner: He was exposed on the expansion list for the Cleveland Browns after the ’98 season.
There for the taking. The Browns didn’t claim him, so Warner stayed a Ram for a 1999 season that ended with a Super Bowl championship.
Warner’s response to the Kroenke story was as follows via his Twitter account:
“Trust me, he wasn’t only 1 responsible for discovering me ... Haha all good I don’t care who gets credit!”
**************************************************************************************************************************
http://www.stltoday.com/sports/foot...cle_4d9b30d2-7399-5e5e-9821-de71c2c15d0d.html
Thomas: Who knew? Kroenke helped discover Warner
- By Jim Thomas St. Louis Post-Dispatch
- May 7, 2016
Stan Kroenke's alter ego took over at a news conference held before a small public audience in Inglewood, Calif., on Jan. 15. He laughed, cried, joked — but most surprising of all, he showed up to answer questions. (AP Photo)
Just when you thought the universe of people who helped discover Kurt Warner had long since been exhausted, along comes Stan Kroenke.
Kroenke, who gave zero interviews over the Rams’ last four years in St. Louis, can’t shut up now that the team is in Los Angeles. In his latest escapade, a recent interview with Jarrett Bell of USA Today, Kroenke recalled giving Dick Vermeil advice on Warner in 1998.
“Dick Vermeil asked me my opinion of who the third quarterback should be,” Kroenke told USA Today. “I told Dick, ‘OK, I’ve never even played football but you want my opinion? The kid from Northern Iowa can see. He’s got vision. It’s like a really good point guard (in basketball). Some guys have it. Some guys don’t.”
In 1998, Tony Banks was firmly ensconced as the starter. Steve Bono was acquired in a trade with Green Bay to be the backup. That left Will Furrer and Warner, who was signed as a “street” free agent early that offseason, competing for the No. 3 job.
Exactly how Kroenke came to his conclusion about Warner’s vision is uncertain. For one, Warner was assigned to the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe that spring, so he didn’t participate in the Rams’ minicamps or OTAs.
For another, even back then as Rams minority owner, Kroenke almost never attended practice. And in preseason that summer, Warner threw all of four passes in exhibition play.
So apparently either Kroenke is a quick study in terms of what little he may have seen on the practice field. Or he was grinding out practice tape or NFL Europe film in his spare time.
On Saturday, Vermeil told the Post-Dispatch he doesn't recall having that conversation with Kroenke. "But if he said it, I'm sure it was true," Vermeil said.
Vermeil said Kroenke was almost timid about engaging with the team at that time, perhaps in deference to majority owner Georgia Frontiere. Whenever Kroenke was around, which wasn't often, Vermeil said he tried to update him on what was going on with the team.
Keep in mind, Mike Martz had yet to be hired as offensive coordinator. In 1998, he was working as wide receivers coach for Washington. General manager Charley Armey was around, and he told the Post-Dispatch on Friday that he wasn’t privy to any conversation Kroenke may have had with Vermeil on the subject of Warner.
But Armey did have this to say about keeping Warner that year:
“The decision to keep Kurt Warner was 100 percent Dick Vermeil,” Armey said. “Everybody was lobbying for other people, including the next year when Trent Green got hurt. Some guys wanted Jeff Hostetler and some guys wanted Jeff George. Dick Vermeil stuck to his guns.”
Once the coaches got to see Warner on the practice field over the course of the 1998 regular season, respect grew for him. Armey told a reporter midway through the ’98 season that the team already had a quarterback on the roster who was much better than Banks — Warner.
When Vermeil hired Martz as offensive coordinator after the ’98 season, he told him to take a good look at Warner — both the practice film and NFL Europe tape — because he was the Rams’ scout team quarterback in ’98, and the starting defense had trouble stopping him.
And even though the Rams went 4-12 in 1998, they finished 10th in total defense and third in passing defense that year, so Warner was going against good personnel every day running the scout team.
Warner, in fact, won the offensive service award, as voted on by the coaching staff, as the team’s outstanding practice player in 1998.
Even saying all that, there is this long-forgotten fact about the Rams and Warner: He was exposed on the expansion list for the Cleveland Browns after the ’98 season.
There for the taking. The Browns didn’t claim him, so Warner stayed a Ram for a 1999 season that ended with a Super Bowl championship.
Warner’s response to the Kroenke story was as follows via his Twitter account:
“Trust me, he wasn’t only 1 responsible for discovering me ... Haha all good I don’t care who gets credit!”
