St. Louis Rams star uses fame to share Christ

Kurt Warner, the St. Louis Rams quarterback who was named most valuable player in the Jan. 30 Super Bowl, plans to use his newfound fame as a platform to share his Christian faith.
   
Warner led his team to a 23-16 victory in Super Bowl XXXIV with a record-setting performance, completing 24 of 45 passes for 414 yards and two touchdowns, including a 73-yard play that broke a 16-16 tie with less than two minutes remaining in the game.
   
But commanding even more attention than his performance in the Super Bowl is Warner’s rapid rise from obscurity. Five years ago he was stocking shelves at a supermarket and dreaming of an NFL career. Warner was signed as a free agent by the Green Bay Packers, then released. He played arena football for the Iowa Barnstormers, then signed with a Rams-owned club in Amsterdam, where he led the NFL Europe in passing. Warner signed with the Rams this year as a backup, earning $254,000, but got the starting job when Trent Green suffered an injury.
   
Warner attributes his success to the support he receives from his wife and teammates, and to his faith in Jesus Christ.
   
Speaking at a Billy Graham crusade in St. Louis last fall, Warner told a crowd of 40,000 people, “Who am I? I am a devout Christian man. I am not a football player. That is what I do. When I throw a touchdown pass now, my thoughts are on how I can use this success on the field as a platform to glorify and praise my Lord Jesus Christ. People often ask the secret of my success as a football player. It has nothing to do with how I work out in the off-season or my diet. The secret of my success is simply Jesus Christ.”
   
Warner became a Christian four years ago after his wife Brenda — then his girlfriend — lost her parents to a tornado. Impressed by the grace with which she handled the tragedy, Warner became a Christian three months later. Today the family attends St. Louis Family Church, and pastor Jeff Perry leads a Bible study in the Warners’ home during the football season. (EP)