Kurt Warner had a Hall of Fame career in the NFL, but now his son E.J. Warner is looking to continue his dad's legacy for the Temple Owls.
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Hasn't Warner done enough for the game of football? Along with being a talented sports analyst for the NFL today, Warner was enshrined into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017 as one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history.
The former Rams and Cardinals quarterback has paid another gift to the sport, or rather two — his athletic sons, E.J. and Kade. Temple Owls fans have had a front-row seat to E.J.'s growth as a quarterback over the last year, and there is much anticipation amongst the program for his first full season as the starter in 2023.
E.J. Warner Is Ready To Be a Full-Time Starter
Sitting here in awe of how my son @elijah13warner sees field as freshman (considering I didn’t even know what Cover-4 was when I went to college), I love hearing him tell me WHY he made each decision… I watch every NFL game each week & some of those guys don’t see it as well!
— Kurt Warner (@kurt13warner) October 2, 2022
As his old man pointed out in a tweet, Warner is a gifted quarterback. He was the starting QB for most of his freshman season last year and is slated to be the starting QB for the 2023 season as a true sophomore.
That is a tremendous amount of responsibility for such a young man. This shows that the coaches trust him and believe in his ability to grow. It also requires a healthy dose of skill and talent.
E.J. Warner gearing up for a throw (Robert Joseph Cruz/The Temple News).
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In E.J.'s final game of the season (as a true freshman), he completed 45 out of 63 passes, threw for five touchdowns, and had 527 passing yards. Some of those stats can be attributed to that quarterback greatness he inherited from his dad.
Kurt "Chachi" Warner
As a quick refresher, Kurt Warner is that guy. After all, he got his nickname Chachi from Brett Favre, who was inspired by the show "Happy Days". Warner overcame a tremendous number of setbacks while pursuing his NFL career and responded with tenacity and hard work.
Kurt wasn't drafted by the NFL at the end of his collegiate career at I-AA Northern Iowa in 1994. He signed onto the Packers practice squad that season, but he had to compete against Brett Favre, Mark Brunell, and Ty Detmer for a quarterback gig. Unsurprisingly, he didn't make the final roster and became a stocker at a local grocery store.
Never one to give up, Warner played in the Arena Football League for three seasons. The money wasn't great, and each year that went by made the dream of being an NFL quarterback a little bit less attainable. Then, before the 1997 season, he got a tryout with the Bears, but life got in the way again, and an injury from a spider bite kept him from attending.
After a year in Amsterdam with the now-defunct NFL Europe, Warner would get the third-string slot at the QB position in 1999 with the St. Louis Rams. He did not start for them until 2002. So close, yet so far.
Things turned out alright (sarcasm implied) for Kurt career-wise considering he became a Super Bowl champ, a Super Bowl MVP, a 4-time Pro Bowler, a Walter Payton Man of the Year award recipient, and a two-time NFL MBP. He had a 12-year career with the Rams, Giants, and Cardinals, retiring when he was 38.
Other Warner Talent
E.J. isn't the only Warner kid to succeed on the gridiron. His older brother, Kade, played wide receiver at the collegiate level and signed with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers earlier this year.
Kade Warner as a Kansas State Wildcat last year (Emily Starkey/K-State Athletics).
Will E.J. follow his brother and father to the NFL? Only time will tell.
