Until a few weeks ago, Warner felt as though a shot at assuaging his Super Bowl sore spot might never come. Through all the tough times – his demise in St. Louis, the washout with the Giants, the earlier disappointments in the desert – the deeply Christian quarterback kept telling himself that it was all part of God’s plan, even if he had no idea what that plan was.
His is an all-in philosophy, but it has its limitations. Sitting in his family room after the NFC title game a week and a half ago, I tried to help him get over his Super Bowl XXXVI frustration by giving him a taste of his own faith: Apparently the plan called for him to experience defeat, given that it ultimately led him to Arizona.
“No,” he said firmly. “Losing that game was not part of the plan.”
For the next few seconds, he looked as distraught as Roethlisberger had in the locker room after Super Bowl XL.
Ten days later, as he sat in his room at the Cardinals’ team hotel Wednesday morning, Warner’s edge had been muted, his perspective changed. “I promise you I am not bitter,” he said. “I do believe this is all part of God’s plan, and the ironic part is a lot of that pondering [about Super Bowl XXXVI] has disappeared, because I feel I have a better idea of what God was doing through it all. I still wonder about the situation, but I don’t want to sit here and lay blame. The ultimate conclusion is that I probably wouldn’t be here if not for that game. Though, of course, the fact that we lost still bothers me – a lot.”
