| | Associated Press
MACOMB, Ill. -- Kurt Warner's story is complete -- rags to
unimaginable riches. The grocery clerk-turned-NFL MVP has a
seven-year contract worth $46.5 million.
"I don't know if I've ever seen that many zeros before," the
St. Louis Rams quarterback said Friday, a day after agreeing to a
deal that makes him the highest-paid player in franchise history.
|  | | Kurt Warner's decision to make training camp on time pays off as St. Louis deals in good faith. |
He has come a long, long way from a few years ago when he was
stocking grocery store shelves and he and his wife, Brenda, needed
food stamps to get by.
His $11.5 million bonus is also a franchise record, eclipsing
the $7 million Marshall Faulk received as part of a seven-year, $45
million deal he signed last year.
"There were times I remembered praying that no matter what I
had to do, just praying that the Lord would give me a job that I
could take care of my family," Warner said. "I didn't care if I
had to work till I was 90."
Brenda Warner, who attended a Friday news conference to announce the
signing, remembers the no-frills days.
"We loved each other and he loved the kids, so our dates really
involved him playing with the kids," Warner said. "So it was a
cheap date."
Now, there are riches beyond their wildest dreams.
"We just laughed," Brenda Warner said. "Our first two kids
were born in poverty and our next two kids are born with, you know,
riches. It's kind of a different world."
The Warners and young son Kade went to a restaurant Wednesday,
the players' only night off this week.
|
Kurt Warner's raise
|
|
Year
|
Salary
|
Bonus
|
|
1999
|
$250,000
|
$500,000
|
|
2000
|
$5,000,000*
|
$11,500,000
|
|
Increase
|
1900%
|
2200%
|
|
Grocery store clerk
|
|
|
|
Estimated average salary
|
$20,000
|
$100
|
|
After same percentage increases
|
$400,000
|
$2,300
|
| |
*Average annual salary over seven years, minus $11.5 million signing bonus for Warner, who was a grocery store clerk not so long ago.
|
"Kade was so loud," Brenda Warner said. "He wanted to pay for
everybody's meal. The next day, we could pay for everybody's meal.
It's funny how that works."
Warner's base salary is $358,000 this season, the two-year
veteran's minimum he signed on July 21 so he could practice while
negotiations continued. The Rams have a $6 million option,
basically a second bonus, to pick up the final four years of the
contract.
Warner and his wife are relieved at having the deal done. Brenda
Warner didn't even ask about the final numbers.
"He just called and said 'It's done,' " she said. "It's taken
so long that the joy was kind of taken away from it."
Kurt Warner, who threw 41 touchdown passes last year, said it
was difficult to block out the six months of sometimes frustrating
negotiations that followed.
"When I was off the field, it was difficult," he said.
"Contacting my agent a lot, him contacting me, trying to do some
talks and trying to get this thing resolved quickly."
The signing is a bonus for the St. Louis Family Church, which
the Warners attend. They plan to tithe, giving 10 percent of every
paycheck.
"I just called our pastor last night and said how thrilled I am
going to be to write that first tithing check," Brenda Warner
said.
Kurt Warner said he felt a bit different when he hit the
practice field Friday.
"I think there was a little bit of a weight taken off my back
that this thing was resolved, this thing is over," he said. "I
know I'm going to be here and I'm excited about that."
Trent Green, whose knee injury in the 1999 preseason opened the
door for Warner, congratulated his teammate.
"That's excellent, I'm happy for him," Green said. "He
deserves it."
Other teammates felt the same way.
"That's a lot of loot, but that's the way it should be,"
safety Keith Lyle said. "You throw 40 touchdown passes, that's not
a fluke. What you put in, you should get out, that should be the
golden rule of the NFL." | |
ALSO SEE
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AUDIO/VIDEO
 Kurt Warner talks with ESPN's Stuart Scott about his new deal.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Warner is excited to stay with the Rams.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
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