December 25 is a day to celebrate the hope found in Jesus. This year families across the nation can celebrate another kind of hope by watching the new movie release “American Underdog.”
It is the story of Kurt Warner and his rise from stocking shelves to becoming one of the best quarterbacks in the National Football League.
Starting as an undrafted player, Warner later became a two-time NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP. He also is the only player ever inducted into both the Pro Football Hall of Fame and the Arena Football Hall of Fame.
However, Warner’s focus in life is not football — it is his faith. He attributes his achievements to God working in his life and says, “First things first — faith and family — is my formula for success.”
Though “American Underdog” tells the story of Warner’s rise to stardom, the film is not just about football — it’s about struggles in everyday life.
Single mother
Before Kurt met and married his wife, Brenda, her son became disabled at a young age. She was told he would never walk or talk. Two years later and eight months pregnant with her second child, Brenda discovered her husband was cheating on her. She left him and became a single mother with a newborn and a child with a disability.
“The person sitting in that chair watching this movie is going to relate to those times in my life,” she said. “I am not special in that way. I don’t have superpowers. I am just a person doing the best I can. [This movie] is going to show … that I’m a flawed person.”
Warner later adopted Brenda’s children and said he learned more about his own mother, also a single parent, as a result.
“[My mom] didn’t get to live the life that I know she wanted because of some of those stereotypes and things that went with [being a single mother],” he realized.
Jon Erwin, director of American Underdog, said, “I love the idea that Kurt Warner first became a champion off the field before he became a champion on the field. It was him discovering his faith, a relationship with Jesus Christ. It was him embracing his role as a husband, as a father, and realizing life was bigger than he was.
“So many of us think, ‘Well, I’ve made some mistakes in my life. God can’t use me because of the mess I made,’” Erwin said. “Brenda felt that way. She had been told when she was very young by someone in church, ‘Hey, God’s gonna do something great with you.’ She thought that ship had sailed because of the choices she’d made and the things she’d messed up.”
‘Crazy dream’
Erwin said he put himself in the same category but noted that if Warner “can accomplish His dream and endure, and they can stay together as a couple, maybe we can, too. Maybe my crazy dreams are not as impossible as I once thought.”
Erwin said he is living proof of fulfilling a “crazy dream.” A native of Birmingham, a city not known for filmmaking, Erwin didn’t attend college. Now he’s directing major motion pictures.
“So many people give up too early. You never know when that breakthrough moment that God has for you is right around the corner,” Erwin encouraged. “If you give up too soon, you’ll never experience it. If God calls you to something, even when everyone in your life says it’s crazy, maybe the great lesson is just to never ever quit — remembering that success is long obedience in the same direction.”
Team effort
The team making American Underdog had to persevere to get the movie completed. COVID-19 erupted just as production was supposed to start, then a major blizzard hit the Midwest during filming. Erwin called it a “blizdemic.”
One morning Erwin received a call from the hotel clerk who said, “There’s a guy out shoveling snow in the parking lot and getting cars out. We’ve investigated, and it’s NFL legend Kurt Warner.”
“[Warner] said, ‘I’m from Ohio; I can do this!’ There was that level of commitment,” Erwin said, to which Warner responded, “We had a movie to make!”
Andy Erwin, Jon’s brother, partner and co-director of “American Underdog,” noted, “I’ve never been as satisfied by a film, and that’s not because of something Jon and I did. Really good filmmakers can try their hardest to make the film you want, and it just doesn’t work out.
“But when you get the right people in the room, with the right story, you need to just sit back and watch magic happen,” Andy Erwin said. “I’ve never been so proud of a story, so, in my mind, that is a success. I can’t wait for people to see it Christmas Day.”
EDITOR’S NOTE – Reviews of films, books, music or other media that appear in TAB are intended to help readers evaluate current media for themselves, their children and grandchildren in order to decide whether to watch, read or listen. Reviews are not an endorsement by the writer or TAB Media.
