Kurt Warner holds the title of being one of the most remarkable comeback stories in NFL history. He went from being an undrafted free agent in 1994 to playing in the Arena Football League to eventually winning a Super Bowl with the Rams, turning into a two-time All-Pro and two-time NFL MVP.
It was the Rams who gave him a shot after the Packers gave up on him in 1994, signing him as a free agent in 1998 after he spent three years in the AFL. But his Rams career almost never happened – and it may not have if not for a bug bite.
It sounds ridiculous, but Warner has a true story to tell, and he shared it on Pardon My Take this week. In short, a bug bite prevented him from working out with the Bears before he signed with the Rams in 1998.
Here’s how he told it, which sounds like something out of a book.
“So I’m playing Arena Football and obviously I’m waiting for my chance. So the Bears call me and said, ‘Hey, we want to bring you in for a workout.’ As soon as I get off the phone, I go running into my wife and I’m like, ‘Honey, the Bears, they’re bringing me in for a workout this Friday. I’m flying, I’m going right now.’ And my wife just kind of gave me this look and I’m like, ‘What’s the problem here? Why are you not excited for me? We’ve been working for this forever.’ And she goes, ‘Dude, we’re getting married on Saturday.’ Blew off my whole wedding, didn’t even think about it because I just wanted to work out for the Bears. So I had to call the Bears back and say, ‘OK, sorry, I know it sounds stupid, but forgot all about my wedding. I can’t work out this Friday, but any other time.’”
Warner and the Bears decided that he would work out the next week in Chicago, but Warner’s wife gave him a look again after rescheduling because they would be on their honeymoon. So while on his honeymoon, he and the team rescheduled again for a time when they got back from Jamaica.
This is when things get crazy.
“The night before we left, I woke up the next morning and my throwing elbow was swollen about the size of a grapefruit,” he continued. “To this day, we still don’t know what it was that bit me. They said it was maybe a centipede or a spider. They really don’t know. Of course, I had to call the Bears back again and go, ‘OK. You’re not going to believe this. Yes, the first time it was my wedding, the second time it was my honeymoon. And now, I got bit on my throwing elbow by something in Jamaica,'” Warner said. “And you can only imagine what was going on on the other end of the line, going, ‘Who is this dude? Like, we’re trying to give him a chance to make it in the NFL and this is what he comes up with three times?’
“And so, basically, after that, they hung up and they never called back and I never got the workout. And then about two weeks later is when I got the call from the Rams and flew in and did the workout and they ended up signing me.”
As you’d imagine, the story is better when told from Warner’s perspective, which you can see below.
The reason @kurt13warner's career never made a stop in Chicago is very unfortunate for Bears fans. pic.twitter.com/P8lxRDJDAQ
— Pardon My Take (@PardonMyTake) February 5, 2021
Warner turned out to be a Pro Football Hall of Famer and became one of the greatest players in franchise history with the Rams, and they have a mysterious bug to thank for it. Of course, there’s a chance the Bears wouldn’t have signed him and he would’ve gotten a chance with the Rams anyway, but you just never know.
The Rams are just thankful he did wind up in St. Louis and helped win them a Super Bowl.