and culminated with the Game Day at the Arizona Cardinals Training Facility in Tempe on Saturday March 12th. As one can imagine, it was an amazing event which those in attendance can attest to, and left me with the feeling that next year this is a “can’t miss” event. As mentioned on Kurt’s website (www.kurtwarner.org) the event is a fantasy day giving gridiron fans from the corporate world a once in a lifetime opportunity to play football with the pros.
While I was not a participant in the games, being on the sidelines and chatting with the likes of Baltimore Ravens quarterback Joe Flacco, joking with Kurt about him doing the “dougie” and watching former Dallas Cowboy and Hall of Fame wide receiver Michael Irvin pick up my baby girl like she was his own, I felt like a kid again and was in complete fan mode.
Arizona Cardinal Pro Bowl wide receiver Larry Fizgerald signed a jersey for me, former New York Giant and perennial Pro Bowl defensive end Michael Strahan cracked jokes (like that’s a surprise) and I even gave a hard time to former Oakland Raider and Kansas City Chief quarterback Rich Gannon about a certain Pro Bowl story I heard about from former Cleveland Brown and Arizona Cardinal linebacker Jamir Miller. While Jamir was not a participant, he was one of the many sponsors of the event with his newly launched line of gluten free Crave Chips (www.cravechips.com). Also playing in the tournament were Arizona Cardinals receiver Steve Breaston, former Tampa Bay Buccaneer and Minnesota Viking quarterback Brad Johnson, Kansas City Chief quarterback Matt Cassel and last but certainly not least Green Bay Packer and Super Bowl MVP quarterback Aaron Rodgers.
While the NFL lockout may have been on most of these guys’ minds, you could not tell by their demeanor. The games were a blast to watch and extremely competitive. Even though Rich Gannon’s team ended up as the champions, Kurt showed that he still had it and left many wishing he would lace them up again. As fans we don’t often get to see this relaxed and playful side of the players and rarely up this close as we fans are bombarded with media reports on holdouts, suspensions and even arrests. This day was different. Nobody lost money on the games, there were no season or career ending injuries and nobody got released for their performance. Imagine playing catch with friends but catching passes which tighter spirals, passes that have more zip to them and are thrown by current and former NFL stars. Everyone walks away a winner and while I have some work to do, I plan to suit up next year.
Kurt’s First Things First Foundation is “Dedicated to impacting lives by promoting Christian values, sharing experiences and providing opportunities to encourage everyone that all things are possible when people seek to put first things first.” Check his website for future events at www.kurtwarner.org
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