Warner unsure of his place in Rams’ history with move to L.A.

Before he became a Valley sports legend by leading the Arizona Cardinals to the Super Bowl, Kurt Warner was a legend in another NFL city.

And when the history of the St. Louis Rams is written, Warner will go down as one of its greatest players ever.

But on the day after the NFL announced the St. Louis Rams are no more and are heading back to Los Angeles, where they played from 1946-1994, Warner has mixed feelings.

He told Arizona Sports 98.7 FM’s Doug and Wolf Wednesday morning how it’s difficult and is not sure where his place will be with the L.A. Rams.

“So many great things happened for me and my family in St. Louis due to the people and the support of the community and just that period of time and watching that community come together,” Warner said. “We will always have a special place in our heart.”

Warner’s career took him from stocking groceries to the Arena Football League, and then, in 1999, with the help of some lucky breaks, Warner became an NFL legend.

When starting quarterback Trent Green went down in the preseason, Warner finally got his opportunity and promptly took full advantage of it.  He threw for 4,353 yards and 41 touchdowns while leading what was billed at the time as the “Greatest Show on Turf,” to a 13-3 record and a thrilling 23-16 win over the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXXIV. It was the Rams’ only championship in St. Louis.

Warner’s Rams would return to the Super Bowl two years later as a 14-point favorite over the New England Patriots and an unknown quarterback named Tom Brady, who went on to lead a fourth quarter comeback that was capped off by Adam Vinatieri’s 48-yard field goal that won the game as time expired.

“I definitely don’t associate myself with the L.A. Rams and what does that look like as part of the Rams family being from here on out, it will be something that I’m completely unfamiliar with from the organization,” Warner said. “I’m very interested in seeing how this all plays out and how you feel as a member of the Rams family, but a member of somewhere else and something different — how that feels and what that looks like going forward.”

If the Rams do decided to retire Warner’s No. 13 jersey, it will hang from a stadium in a city that Warner has no connection with. It will be similar circumstance that another Rams great faced for the last 21 years when Eric Dickerson’s No. 29 hung from the rafters of the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis, despite him playing for the Los Angeles version of the Rams from 1983-87.

On Tuesday night, Dickerson tweeted two simple words regarding his former team returning to L.A., “Welcome Home!”

“It would definitely be strange to be at a completely different building and kind of go through that process,” Warner said of being associated with the Los Angeles version of the Rams. “Again, only time will tell what this means for former St. Louis Rams and what that looks like moving forward.

“Maybe it’s not that big of a deal as I think. You’re just proud to be associated with the Rams organization regardless of where they are. So I really don’t know. It’s just kind of a wired feeling to think that a huge part of my career and some great memeories were established in St. Louis and now I will probably never go back to see another Rams game in St. Louis and be a part of that. It will be strange.”