No passing fancy

Warner committed to playing at Hall of Fame level again

The last time we saw Kurt Warner, one play told us everything about him: Dec. 1, at the Vet. Philadelphia leading St. Louis 10-3, with 10 minutes left in the third quarter. Rams ball at the Eagles’ 27, third-and-10. Isaac Bruce streaks toward the end zone, with a step on Troy Vincent. Warner throws for him; the ball slows down. I can still see it, in mid-air, not going as fast through the late-fall chill of Philadelphia as a classic Warner ball goes. Bruce slows slightly. Vincent, obviously, catches up. This pass, it turns out, is not just a whisker off. It is five, six, eight feet off, enough for Vincent to catch up -- heck, a practice squad corner with a bum hamstring could have caught up -- and pick it off. End of a Rams rally. End of game. The final: Eagles win, 10-3.

"The Vincent interception?" Warner mused to me the other day. "Oh, yeah. That game … If I'd made the throws I'm supposed to make, we'd have won that game by 14."

After establishing a Unitasian reputation and winning two MVPs, Warner is five months removed from playing like Spergon Wynn. What are we to make of Warner now? That's the most compelling question heading into the NFL's 84th season. And so, after two hard practices in a minicamp designed to get a look at how Warner is recovering from a hairline fracture at the base of his throwing hand, I asked him.

"I feel great," Warner said. "Physically, I have absolutely no problems. I probably feel healthier than at any time since 1999, and maybe ever. I feel great throwing the ball. No pain in my hand, no feeling of weakness."

Time will tell, of course, but the signs in May are good. Warner, from all accounts, looked very good throwing the ball over the weekend. He was a little scatter-armed, according to one report, and he didn't throw the ball downfield frequently enough to suit some of the coaches. But the mechanics were good, the arm strength was good, and the hand that was such a mysterious problem at the end of the season showed no ill effects from an offseason of rest and healing.

Now, understand that all of this means very little, because the Rams' passing game is one of such precision, and if Warner can't throw the ball into the little windows his receivers got used to him hitting all the time from 1999-2001, he'll lose his job to skinny kid Marc Bulger. So we can't know if Warner's going to come back until we see him in meaningful action this summer. Maybe we can't know, but he sure sounds like he knows.

"There is no question in my mind that I'll be back to being the quarterback I was," he said over a scratchy cell phone. "I have only one expectation, and that's to play well every week. There's no question I will."

Warner is such a positive guy that he always brims with confidence. So it's hard to tell if his attitude is just bravado or if Warner, who turns 32 in June, will play lights-out in September. Though one thing he said to me struck home, that it's hard to judge him on his play in 2002. "I felt I was making better decisions and throwing the ball as well as I ever had through three weeks," said Warner. "Really, when you think about it, I haven't played healthy since Week 3 last year." Warner broke his right pinky early in Week 4 against Dallas, and there are shades of truth and clouds to what Warner says. How can he say he was making such great decisions when, in September, he had all of one touchdown and eight interceptions? But he was on his way to an intergalactic year pitching and catching. He was a 70.1 percent passer -- three points higher than his Hall-of-Fame-precursor's career numbers -- when he got hurt.

Soon after Warner returned, he was diagnosed with what doctors call a Boxer's Fracture. Somehow, and he doesn't know how, his right hand was broken at Washington on Nov. 24. Watching film of the game, he thinks it might have happened when his balled right fist tried to cushion a fall in the first quarter. The hand was sore, but he played the game, practiced the next week, actually looked very good throwing the ball on Friday, and then went out and stunk it up at Philadelphia. "I knew something was wrong, but I never thought it could be broken. Never. I was shocked when they told me it was broken."

That, of course, led to the tempest-in-a-teapot controversy of Warner's wife, Brenda, calling a local sports radio show and saying she had to force Kurt to get an X-ray, and Rams head coach Mike Martz angrily denying it and saying it was he who prompted the trip to get the X-ray. I can tell you there were some very hard feelings left over from that incident, feelings that lasted into the offseason. Which begs the question: How will Martz and Warner get along now?

"Everybody wants to point to that incident and there being a problem," Warner said, "but I can tell you there's not. There was a lot of pressure on me to play great last year, a lot of pressure on Mike to win, and our relationship was tested a little bit. But our relationship's great now. We both have our fire back."

Now the question is whether Warner will have his old accuracy and efficiency back. This might be the most telling, and the most frank, thing he said to me: "When I play right now, the faster the game moves, the narrower the window is -- the window you've got to throw the ball into. Then, as I play more and more, and get more confidence, the window gets bigger. You feel like you can put the ball in wherever you want. That's what I have to get back."

I wonder if he will. I hope he will, because at his best there aren't more than five quarterbacks who were better than Kurt Warner. In 2000, I saw him shred a good Chargers defense 57-31 with the most accurate and explosive display of passing I'd ever seen; afterward San Diego safety Rodney Harrison sat shaking his head in a truly stunned locker room. "No one can stop him," Harrison told me. "I don't care if you get 11 all-pros out there on defense. He's playing like one of the all-time greats."

"I only know one level," Warner told me, "and I'll be back there this year. I know it."

Football-watching America hopes so.

... With tight end Alge Crumpler of the Falcons, 90-plus percent of whose roster is participating in their offseason workout program, on exactly what an NFL player does during the offseason.

MMQB: What do you think of the term "offseason?"

Crumpler: It's very short. If you're not in great shape the first day of training camp, the coaches will hold it against you. You don't go to camp to get in shape anymore. Last year, I wasn't in great shape on the first day of training camp, and I learned I would never do that again.

MMQB: What's your offseason program like?

Crumpler: About two weeks after our last game last season, I jumped on the treadmill at a health club near my house and about passed out. Then, about the middle of February, I started doing some high-repetition stuff to get back into it. The offseason program started March 31. Basically, I go in from 8 to 11 in the morning. We go in three-week phases, then a week of recovery. [Crumpler spoke Friday.] This week's the third week of our second three-week phase, and next week we'll be into recovery. We still do most of what we'd normally do, only at lighter weights and reps. I might normally squat 380 pounds, and in recovery week I'd squat maybe 275. And they bring in a massage therapist. We work Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Mondays and Thursdays are our primary running days, Tuesday and Fridays our primary lifting days. We still lift on the running days, just not as much. On running days, we'll do about a 45-minute lift. We'll do 30 minutes of nothing but pass routes at full speed. We'll run eight 60s [eight 60-yard dashes]. We'll do six to 10 hills. It seems like a mountain, but it's really about a 30-yard hill at our facility.

MMQB: There'll be a lot of competition for the ball this year, with Peerless Price added to the mix, and Michael Vick having lots of options. Where will the tight end come in?

Crumpler: The reason I've made such a big emphasis on being in shape this year is I want to be on the field for every play this year. Last year, I was on the field, off the field, on, off. We've got a lot of weapons, and I want to be one of them on every play.

The recruit in line to replace departed Maryland star linebacker and NFL draftee E.J. Henderson is named D'Qwell Jackson.

D'Qwell is the son of Willie and Debra Jackson, both of whom have pretty normal names. I would love to know the answer to a question that is absolutely none of my business, and that I posed plaintively when I learned the Patriots had signed a wide receiver named Shockmain Davis a couple of years ago: What causes a parent or parents to gaze lovingly at the little bundle of joy they've just brought into the world and say: "Oh, what a beautiful child! We shall name him D'Qwell!"?

Most of you seemed interested in the draft analysis column last week, when I reviewed teams' drafts of 1998. In fact, faithful reader/PR maven Doug Kelly from Sacramento tells me I should do this every year, and I think he's right. Next year I'll examine the Class of '99 and see how teams did with that year's selections. Anyway, on with this week's missives.

ABOUT YOUR DRAFT RATINGS … From Scott Heller of Morristown, N.J.: "Thank you for finally and publicly rating an NFL draft the only way it can be done with any real accuracy -- in retrospect. I always chuckle when I read the instant analysis of the incredible job each team thinks it did in the draft. Much as I enjoy the pre-draft print and TV analysis, I think it would be even more fun (or sobering) if each spring just before the upcoming draft we were to read or hear the comments that each columnist/reporter made following the draft five years previous. I realize, of course, this has as much chance of happening as politicians reminding us of the campaign promises they made four years ago just before an upcoming election."

Thanks. It was fun to do, and educational for me as well.

THE DRAFT IS OVERRATED. From Tom Beck of East Windsor, N.J.: "Did you notice that two of the teams that finished near the very bottom of your review of the '98 draft, New England and Baltimore, also won two of the last three Super Bowls? Not that this in and of itself invalidates your exercise, but does it not show there is a far more complex relationship between drafting well and winning than a simple one-to-one correspondence? (Not that you didn't know that already.) You need talent on an NFL team to win, of course, but there are other ways to acquire it than simply via draft. If you don't draft well, you have to do it some other way, such as free agency. Clearly, the Pats and Ravens must have been as good in those areas as they were poor in the draft."

Good point, Tom. Very good point. The Patriots, in fact, signed 17 free agents who made their team prior to their Super Bowl-winning season two years ago … because, basically they HAD to. They'd done such a poor job drafting in the late '90s that they needed an infusion of competent, Mike Vrabel-type free agents to carry them in 2001. But I would also say to you that if you screw up in the draft often enough, it'll show. Big-time. One draft can't be blamed for the total success or failure of your team.

YOU HAVE TO BE TOUGHER ON BOB RYAN. From Brian Osborn of San Diego: "The irony of your Bob Ryan opinion immediately following both Mother's Day and your beautiful article on Mary Beth's softball game makes me question even more what prompted you to ask me to forgive Ryan. You ask us to not throw him 'under the bus,' but wouldn't you throw anyone who thought it was OK to 'smack' the women you love under the bus? If he is the person you claim he is, and he truly deserves a second chance, can you please provide me with the information that you've based your decision to forgive upon? I've trusted your word for many a column, and I'd like to continue to be able to do so."

One of the best sportswriters in America says something extremely stupid about wanting to smack a woman he considers annoying. He repeats it in a macho way. Later, realizing he has screwed up, he apologizes. His newspaper suspends him without pay for a month. I'll make a wild guess and say that cost him $15,000, plus the national embarrassment then and in the future that such a dumb comment will mean to him. I never asked for Ryan not to be punished. I asked only that after he serves his time that he be allowed to return and be a sportswriter and commentator again. It's up to him to earn his way back into his readers' and viewers' good graces. What would you have happen? That he get fired and not work again in the media? That punishment, in my mind, would be incredibly severe for the crime. I received a lot of e-mail taking me to task because I would dare forgive a man and say that after a month's suspension and public flogging he should be able to return to work. Please, people. Pick something else to be outraged about.

DID YOU CONTRADICT YOURSELF ON LARRY JOHNSON? From Glen of Bayonne, N.J.: "You say the Bears 'fell for the ol' Penn State running back trap and took Curtis Enis with the fifth pick overall. ... The Larry Johnson pick might be the smartest selection any team made two weeks ago.' What makes you think Johnson (a fine college back) isn't going to be the next in a long line of Penn State running back busts? Why give K.C. props for that pick after trashing Chicago a few graphs earlier?"

Simple. If Larry Johnson is a bust as the 27th pick in the draft, that's quite different from being a flop as the fifth pick. Millions of dollars different. Larry Johnson was picked right where he should have been picked, right where Mike Rumph, whom I believe to be a pedestrian NFL corner, was picked in 2002. No one has a right to expect Larry Johnson to be one of the great ones after getting shunned by 26 teams.

ONE MORE POINT ON WILLIS MCGAHEE. FOR OLD TIME'S SAKE. From Tom Fields of Eden, N.Y.: "Were you living in a closet since the free agency period began? Maybe you haven't realized it but the Bills addressed several of their defensive needs either during free agency or slightly before it, with the signings of Keith McKenzie and Marcus Jones. Yes, I know they are injured, but NFL players have come back from injury before. Then the Bills added Jeff Posey and Takeo Spikes to shore up the LB corps, and Sam Adams to plug up the middle of the line. Face facts. Odds are that McGahee recovers from this injury and even at 90 percent he's better than a lot of the backs in the NFL right now. Who else with the kind of raw, natural skill that McGahee has was available at 23? This pick was a steal for Tom Donahoe."

Well, not to beat a dead draft issue, but you brought it up. You make good points. Donahoe did a good job of addressing defensive needs in the offseason. But this team had miles to go on defense. McKenzie and Jones have a combined total of 53.5 career sacks in what amounts to 15 NFL seasons between them. You're counting on them to give the Bills the pass-rush the team hasn't had? This still looks like a mediocre pass-rush to me. And tell me that in a year, if Travis Henry runs for 1,589 yards and makes his second straight Pro Bowl, you're going to be happy to see him dealt for the 13th pick in the draft while you count on a guy who had three knee ligaments repaired and missed the entire 2003 season? I'm not saying this won't turn out all right. It very well could. It's just not the decision I would have made. Which is probably why you're glad I'm not the GM of your favorite team.

1. I think the most interesting team to watch come September will be Miami. Fans are already chiding Jay Fiedler, reminding him that Brian Griese's just around the corner. You have all these Pro Bowlers trying to mesh together on defense. You have the pressure on Dave Wannstedt to win now. As good a record as he's had at Miami during the regular season, Wannstedt had better do more than finish 11-5 with a first-round loss -- or Wayne Huizenga might give him a nice golden parachute. I like the fact that Junior Seau has already brought his unique hatred-of-losing style to the Fish. In one minicamp practice, the defense was charged with stopping the offense in the red zone. The offense didn't score. Seau came off the field livid. The problem? Seau felt, and made it known, the defense did nothing to stop the offense; the offense stopped itself. There was nothing to be proud of. You don't see a lot of that in minicamp practices. Maybe from Ray Lewis. Maybe from Carl Banks a few years ago. But most guys just want to get through minicamp without getting hurt. Junior Seau wants to win minicamp.

2. I think the toughest decision this year for the people who pretend to know what they're doing while predicting the order of finish in the NFL (such as me) will be to pick Nos. 1-4 in the AFC East. I can honestly say that, beyond Miami going No. 1 or 2, I'm totally clueless. I might pick Buffalo. I might pick the Pats. I might pick the Jets. Really, how do you know?

3. I think Carson Palmer, despite the patience being preached in Cincinnati right now, will start his first NFL game around Nov. 1. He'll digest what he needs to know, the Bengals will be losing, and Marvin Lewis will say, "Why not?" If he thinks Palmer can take the heat -- and I think he will be able to -- I think Lewis will play Palmer sooner rather than later.

4. I think it's a good thing the NFL owners will not vote to expand the playoffs to 14 teams this week when they meet in Philadelphia. It wouldn't have bothered me much, mind you, because 14 of 32 teams is just about the same as 12 of 28, which is what the NFL expanded from in the playoff derby a few years ago. And it also wouldn't bother me to see only one team get a bye in the Wild Card round. That would put a major premium on winning the conference. But there's no need for the extra two playoff games to be ramrodded through. Other than those who enjoy the fun of having two tripleheaders on Wild Card weekend (12:30 p.m., 4 p.m., 8 p.m., on both Saturday and Sunday), I don't hear anyone crying out for two more playoff teams per conference.

5. I think these are my non-football thoughts of the week:

a. This is what's wrong with the Major League Baseball schedule, among other things: Tampa Bay and Baltimore finished their fourth series of the season yesterday. It's mid-May. The Rays have played 42 games now, and four of the get-togethers have been with the same lousy team. Grim.

b. The is what's right with Major League Baseball: The Mets have the second-highest payroll in history, but it took a lineup populated by Jason Phillips, Ty Wigginton, Vance Wilson, Joe McEwing and Raul Gonzales to win two straight in San Francisco over the weekend. The game may be Moneyball to some, but you'd better spend your money the right way, not on fading veterans with name value.

c. I watch about 15 minutes of the NBA every year, but I will say that Jason Kidd finishing ninth in the MVP voting this year strikes me as being about as fair as the end of the Giants-49ers playoff game in January. In every game the Nets win, Kidd's the catalyst, and every game the Nets win is one more than they would have won without him.

d. I wonder if the New Jersey Devils are the most underappreciated great team of the last 10 years. Sure seems that way to me.

e. Montclair (N.J.) High Softball Note of the Week: This class of Mounties hadn't beaten rivals Belleville, Paramus or Paramus Catholic until this spring, when upsets of each team were sprung. Now they'll face another nemesis, on the nemesis' home field: Bloomfield, at 4 p.m. Tuesday, in the first round of the New Jersey state tournament. Jersey plays its playoff games in sections -- north, central and south -- and last year MHS won the large-school north section. This class of Mounties hasn't beaten Bloomfield, either. Lefty hurler Mary Beth King has tossed 2-1, 2-0 and 4-0 losses to the Bengals, a very solid defensive team with a very good pitcher and equally good clutch hitting. Great opportunity for our 16-8 group of girls. They'll give it everything they have. They always do.

f. Why do I think that today is the last day the Red Sox will have a sniff of first place all year?

g. Because I'm maturing, I think.

h. Coffeenerdness: A request, please, to every place such as 7-Eleven, and all highway rest stops that brew coffee and try to say it's fresh: If you're going to advertise "fresh coffee," don't allow the coffee to sit for three hours and then charge $1.49 for a cup. Especially when the coffee is being sold to desperate people trying to stay awake while they drive, people who would rather drink paint thinner than the stuff just brought to them. Thank you.

6. I think, as was forecast right after the draft, the Patriots would like to play Ty Warren and Richard Seymour as bookend ends in their new 3-4. And they will give undersized Dan Klecko (is that a permanent adjective for that poor kid?) a chance to play the nose. But I still think Warren will spend one year at the nose before the Patriots get a more conventional wide-body to play the spot. I see Klecko rotating on the line this year, though, as well as being a key special-teamer.

7. I think the saddest note of the week is Jamir Miller retiring because he couldn't get his severed Achilles back to normal. Too bad. Really good guy, and an excellent player in 2001 when Butch Davis arrived to try to turn around the Browns.

8. I think the strangest note of the week came via e-mail at 12:41 p.m. ET Saturday, from the 49ers public relations department. "The San Francisco 49ers have waived the following player: Cade McNown (QB, 6-1, 210, 5th years, UCLA)." The 49ers and McNown were a bad fit all along. San Francisco needed a pinpoint quarterback; McNown is a 57 percent passer with great athleticism. The 49ers thought they might be getting a raw Steve Young when they picked McNown up after he served stints in Chicago and Miami. But what they got is a guy who is just not accurate enough for their system. That's why he never fit in San Francisco.

9. I think one of the most interesting stories to follow over the next few months is the Peyton Manning contract situation. He's entering the final year of his deal with the Colts. He'll look at the inability of the team to build a consistent defense. He'll look at the resources in shaky Indianapolis. He'll look at the shaky ownership. He'll look at the stadium problems there. Perhaps he'll think: Why should I commit to this team for the next eight or 10 years when I have no idea when I'm committing to? Now, Manning will never, ever come out and question any of that publicly. But actions speak louder than words. If the Colts and Manning don't have a deal done by midseason, you know what he's thinking.

10. I think, if you care about the NFL moving back to Los Angeles (and I think this is one of those issues that, over time, will be proven a boondoggle; fans there just don't care), the key is going to be whether San Diego and the Chargers can get together by the end of the summer on a new stadium deal. I don't see it happening. The Chargers, I think, are the most likely candidate to move to the Los Angeles area.

Sports Illustrated senior writer Peter King covers the NFL beat for the magazine and is a regular contributor to SI.com. Monday Morning Quarterback appears in this space every week. Click here to send him a comment.

 

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