TAMPA, Fla. – This was Tuesday, at media day, when Kurt Warner spent the full hour dispensing usable sound bites about football, about fatherhood, about love and redemption and Jesus and growing old, and there was a moment when someone asked Warner to let his mind wander.
He did that. He rewound the tape to February of 2002, to the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XXXVI, the frantic comeback he’d led the Rams on, the helpless feeling of watching Tom Brady lead the Patriots down the field, the almost surreal angst of having to watch Adam Vinatieri boot the game-winning field goal of a 20-17 game that, at the time, had people shouting about the greatest Super Bowl of them all.
“I hated everything about that game,” Warner said, “mostly because I tend to dwell on that Super Bowl more than the one we won. It shouldn’t be that way, you should be able to enjoy wins more than you suffer over losses. But I can’t help it.”
Maybe that is the consolation Warner will take away from this game, this 27-23 Steeler victory over the Cardinals in Super Bowl XLIII, a game so tense, so exciting, so astonishing it makes that game seven years ago feel like a six-TD blowout.
Maybe he’ll never have to lose another ounce of sleep over the Patriots.
Because this may well be the game that invades his dreams now. Warner was mostly magnificent, completing 31 out of 43 passes for 377 yards and three touchdowns, guiding two fourth-quarter scoring drives – just like seven years ago – only this time his final scoring toss, 64 yards to Larry Fitzgerald, had put the Cardinals within sight of a most improbable victory.
“It’s always disappointing when there’s a chance at the end and you’re leading late in the game,” Warner said, looking every bit as philosophical as his words sounded.
“We gave ourselves a chance. We made the plays to put ourselves ahead and they turned around and came right back. That’s what championship teams are all about.”
Still, gracious as Warner is, magnanimous as he wanted to sound, Warner knew very well that he will keep one play closest to his heart for however long he stays around the game. The Cardinals were driving late in the second quarter, down 10-7. They were sitting first-and-goal at the Steeler 1, 18 seconds left, enough time for three shots in the end zone and, at the least, a chip-shot, game-tying field goal.
“You couldn’t ask to be in a better place,” Warner said.
Only the Steelers tricked him. Warner expected James Harrison to blitz, mostly because he has Harrison’s tire tracks all over his back and shoulders from how often Harrison pounded him. But Harrison faked, then drifted back, right to where Warner was hoping to hit Anquan Boldin with a quick zip pass. Harrison intercepted – then ran 100 yards the other way.
“I thought I had Anquan for a second, but James jumped out there and made a play, and then I couldn’t bring him down when I had a chance to tackle him,” Warner said. “He made a spectacular play.”
Instead of 10-10, instead of 14-10 Cardinals, it was 17-7 Steelers. Warner led one more desperate comeback, just short, and as a result he may find himself coming up similarly short when Hall of Fame voters decide his legacy in the years to come.
“I’ll worry about that when I have to worry about that,” Warner said. “For now, all I feel is disappointment about this game.”
