June 3, 2004
East Rutherford, N.J. - The Giants today acquired the veteran quarterback they sought by signing Kurt Warner, a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player and the highest-rated passer in league history.
Warner, who spent his first six NFL seasons with the St. Louis Rams, has a career passer rating of 97.2, the best in NFL history among quarterbacks who have thrown at least 1,500 passes. Steve Young is second at 96.8.
QB Kurt Warner is the highest-rated passer in league history.
The acquisition of Warner is the latest and potentially one of the most significant steps in the Giants' offseason roster restructuring. He is the 21st veteran they have added through free agency or a waiver claim since Tom Coughlin became head coach. Warner will team with Eli Manning - the first pick in this year's draft, who was acquired by the Giants in a trade with San Diego - to give the Giants a prolific, high-profile tandem at the game's most significant position.
"When you have an opportunity to stockpile talent at the most important position in football, you do it," said Giants general manager Ernie Accorsi. "I only have to look back on my own history with the quarterback position to see how important it is to have quality depth there. We have the best of both worlds right now, a blend of championship experience and youthful promise."
Warner, who was released by the Rams yesterday, became one of the greatest success stories in NFL history in St. Louis, rising from NFL Europe and the Arena Football League to become a Super Bowl champion and MVP and one of the most prolific passers in NFL history. He was the league's MVP in 1999 and 2001 and a three-time Pro Bowler. Warner's 66.41 career completion percentage is the highest in NFL history and his
average of 8.56 yards per pass attempt is second behind Otto Graham (8.63). Warner has led the NFL in completion percentage and average gain per attempt three times apiece, has had the highest quarterback rating and led the league in touchdown passes twice, and has finished first in passing yardage once.
His career totals are 1,121 completions in 1,688 attempts for 14,082 yards, 102 touchdowns and 65 interceptions.
"The presence of Kurt's veteran leadership is going to be a great benefit to this team, especially our young quarterbacks," said Giants head coach Tom Coughlin. "As a young quarterback, you can learn an awful lot by watching how a guy like Kurt practices and prepares. It is a great learning tool. Kurt is a guy who is a two-time league MVP and has taken his team to two Super Bowls and won one. For somebody with those credentials to express the kind of desire he has to be here is only going to be a huge benefit to this team and this organization.
"Our young quarterbacks will benefit from his veteran leadership and his work ethic on the field. He will work with Eli and Jesse and our young quarterbacks and direct their focus on how the game is played at this level. Kurt has a unique ability to read secondary coverages and get the ball out quickly in blitz situations and create an up-tempo attack."
Warner's breakout year was 1999. He entered the season with 11 career passes and was thrust into the starting job when Trent Green suffered a knee injury in a preseason game. Warner earned his first MVP award by leading the Rams to a 13-3 regular season record and a victory over Tennessee in Super Bowl XXXIV in Atlanta. That season, he completed 325 of 499 passes for 4,353 yards, 41 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. His 109.2 rating was a league and career high and was the fifth-highest rating in NFL history. That year, Warner led the league in touchdown passes, completion percentage (65.1), third down passer rating (137.3), fourth quarter rating (116.0) and was second in the league in passing yards. He capped his season by passing for a Super Bowl-record 424 yards, including a game-winning 73-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Bruce with 1:54 to play. Warner was voted the game's MVP.
A broken pinky limited him to 11 games in 2000, but he still played in the Pro Bowl after piling up gaudy statistics. Warner completed a league-leading 67.7 percent of his passes (235 of 347) for 3,429 yards, 21 touchdowns and 18 interceptions. His 9.88 yards-per-attempt were an NFL and career high.
Warner again led the Rams to the Super Bowl and won his second MVP award in 2001, edging teammate Marshall Faulk by one vote. He led the league in completions (375, on 546 attempts), completion percentage (68.7), passing yards (a career-high 4,830), touchdown passes (36), yards per attempt (8.85) and passer rating (101.4). Warner tied an NFL record for 300-yard passing games in a season (nine). He became the fastest player to reach 10,000 passing yards in NFL history, accomplishing the feat in his 36th game on Nov. 11, 2001. In Super Bowl XXXVI against New England, Warner directed two fourth-quarter touchdown drives that tied the score before the Patriots won the game on Adam Vinatieri's last-second field goal.
In each of the last two seasons, Warner's playing time was limited by injuries. In 2002, he played in seven games with six starts, missing five games with a finger injury and the final four contests with a hand injury. Warner completed 144 of 220 passes (65.5 percent) for 1,431 yards, three touchdowns and 11 interceptions.
Warner's only start of the 2003 season was, ironically, against the Giants in Giants Stadium in the season opener on Sept. 7. He threw for 342 yards while completing 34 of 52 passes, but was sacked six times and fumbled six times. After the Giants' 23-13 victory, it was revealed that Warner played much of the game with a concussion. Marc Bulger took over as the Rams' quarterback the following week, and Warner did not play again until the regular season finale in Detroit on Dec. 28, when he completed four of 11 passes for 23 yards. St. Louis subsequently made a long-term commitment to Bulger and decided to release Warner.
"In going through this process," said Warner, "I kept hearing great things about the Giants organization. This is a great opportunity for me. This team is built for success. There are a lot of pieces in place to make a run for the championship now. It was that combination that made me excited about this opportunity."
Giants Stadium is the latest stop on Warner's remarkable pro football journey. He entered the NFL as a non-drafted free agent with the Green Bay Packers in 1994, five years before he got a real chance to play in the league. Warner was released later that year and joined the Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena League. He passed for 10,486 yards and 183 touchdowns in three seasons (1995-97) with the Barnstormers (now the New York Dragons).
The Rams signed Warner on Dec. 26, 1997 and allocated him to the Amsterdam Admirals for the 1998 NFL Europe season. Warner started all 10 games for the Admirals and led the league in passes (326), completions (165), passing yards (2,101) and touchdown passes (15). Upon his return to the Rams, Warner was the third quarterback for the first 14 games of the season. When Tony Banks suffered a season-ending knee injury, Warner became Steve Bono's backup for the final two games of the season. He saw his first NFL action in the fourth quarter of the season finale against San Francisco on Dec. 27, completing four of 11 passes for 39 yards. The next summer Green was hurt and Warner stepped up to make history.
Warner started as a senior at Northern Iowa, but it was a memorable year. He was the Gateway Conference Offensive Player of the Year and led the league in total offense and passing efficiency.
Warner played football, basketball and baseball at Regis High School in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he was a Des Moines Register all-state selection as a senior. He and his wife, Brenda, have five children: sons Zachary, Kade and Elijah and daughters Jesse and Jada. Warner was born on June 22, 1971 in Burlington, Iowa.
To make room on the roster for Warner, the Giants waived quarterback Kurt Kittner, who was awarded to the Giants off waivers on May 20. Kittner had been waived by the Cincinnati Bengals on May 10, just 11 days after he had joined them as a waiver claim. Kittner was released by Atlanta, the team he led to a victory over the Giants last season, on April 27.
http://www.giants.com/news/index.cfm...ive_module.cfm
Warner a Giant
