Are you ready for some football? Kurt Warner's comeback from abuse & poverty

Today marks the 43rd time that 2 teams from the NFL meet up to take (American) football’s biggest prize: the Super Bowl. As millions of people, world-wide watch the game (and the pre/post game activity), probably half will cheer for the Pittsburgh Steelers and half, for the Arizona Cardinals. Whoever you cheer for, know this: many of the players that we are watching today have come up from nothing but a dream...

Throughout this blog, I’ve talked about poverty and its direct link with lack of education. I’ve shown how people growing up in poverty have a lesser desire or ability for desire toward education; and I’ve also shown how those who’ve had little education or lack of opportunity to education, have often ended up living in poverty.

Merriam Webster’s dictionary defines poverty as the state of one who lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. According to our societal beliefs, poverty is the lack of the basic necessities of life: food, shelter and clothing. I’d like to argue (I know – those of you who know me are simply shocked) that the definition of poverty should be extended beyond the tangible and include a definition describing lack of hope, opportunity and ability to seize chances.

Malcolm Gladwell, in his book

Outliers, argues that society may have its “heroes” concept a little backwards. Many of our real life “heroes” are those who’ve overcome insurmountable odds to achieve a dream, a fantasy that many of us have imagined, if only once in our lives. But according to Mr. Gladwell, where we may be mistaken is that these heroes have been given opportunity: they’ve been in the right place at the right time; and that’s not something we are all blessed with. Maybe these heroes had one coach, one mentor, one teacher who saw the potential and gave them their big break... Or, maybe they were born on the right date to make the cut off for the team. Mr. Gladwell does acknowledge though that sometimes, these heroes really broke all the moulds to make their own destiny. And so, I’d like to introduce you to Kurt Warner – the Arizona Cardinals’ 37-year old quarterback...

Kurt Warner grew up with his mother, Sue and brother, Matt in northern Iowa... When his parents divorced, Kurt blamed his mom and in order to hurt her, he would hurt himself – often holding his breath until he would pass out. Sue remarried in 1981 to a man who was abusive to the kids and to her. Choosing her children over her new husband, Sue divorced and the three-some lived in poverty – struggling to keep the lights on!

Kurt turned to sports – football, in particular. He worked his way through flag football leagues, and when he got to 7th grade, he told his mother he would be a wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys. He was heartbroken when his coach told him he was over the weight limit for his dream position, so he played the offensive line – and hated it. Rather than quitting, he stuck it out and learned – hoping for his big break.

After a great high school career, Kurt waited for scholarships – they never came. He lowered his sights and accepted a partial scholarship at Northern Iowa University – but was only back up until his senior year. He wasn’t invited to NFL try-outs...

In his last year of college, he met his future wife, Brenda – an ex-marine who grew up in an abusive household and who had a previously abusive marriage. She had 2 children – one of whom had brain damage from being dropped on his head when he was younger. Choosing to focus on his love and new family, Kurt moved back to Iowa to live with Brenda and her parents. In order to help with the bills, Kurt worked at the local Hy-Vee grocery store stocking shelves for $5.50 an hour.

Kurt’s football career was brought back to life with the Iowa Barnstormers, an Arena Football League team asked him to play for them in 1994. His AFL career was marked with brilliance until 1996 – before the season started a tornado ripped through Waterloo, Iowa and killed Brenda’s parents. Kurt’s ’96 season was a fog – and he was benched after 5 straight losses.

Now, let’s fast-forward Kurt’s career through a resuscitation of his AFL career, a stint in Amsterdam with NFL Europe and a plethora of teams as starter and back up QB: Warner is in his 3rd Super Bowl appearance today as the Cardinals’ starting QB. (FYI – Kurt got the starting position only after the number 1 QB, Matt Leinart, got injured.)

No matter how hard Kurt Warner had to work to achieve his dreams – he never gave up hope. Despite his hardships, Kurt was always wealthy with hope. And, he always promised to give back. Warner’s foundation:

the First things first foundation shares experiences and provides opportunities to encourage everyone that all things are possible when you put first things first.

On behalf of Lemonheads – we wish Warner the best for Super Bowl XLIII... If it were up to me, we’d make Kurt an honorary Lemonhead!

Now – to go back to Malcolm Gladwell’s concept of heroes being blessed by opportunity... Since not everyone is blessed with these opportunities, I encourage you to always share opportunities.

Be the change you want to see in the world.

Mahatma Ghandi