... was during the summer of '99. It was at the end of the weekend in which the Rams had joint practices with the Colts. The injury to Green was still several weeks in the future.
We were standing around outside when the final practice / scrimmage ended. All the players from both teams can filing outside. Meeting friends and family. Signing autographs. I've never been an autograph person ... so we were just standing there observing.
After awhile ... Warner comes off the field and he's all alone. Completely by himself. Unnoticed.
As I've probably mentioned here a couple of hundred times ... as an Iowan ... I'd been aware of Warner since he was playing high school football. In fact, watched him play several times in the late 1980s at Cedar Rapids Regis. Knew his high school coach quite well at the time. Had followed him at Northern Iowa. The Barnstormers. Spent a couple of years working with his older brother. Yadda, yadda.
Anyway ... for a couple of hot seconds, considered going up to him and saying a few words. About being from the same town. About his brother and coach. Being a fan from way back. Congratulating him on winning the back-up job. Telling him to hang in there. Lots of people pulling for him. All that jazz.
But ... decided against it for some reason. And just watched him wander off towards the locker room. By himself. Completely unnoticed. Virtually invisible.
Six months later ... almost to the day ... watched him stand on the platform after winning the Super Bowl MVP ... as without question the most-talked-about athlete in professional sports at that moment and one of the most well-known people in America.
Have always been struck by the juxtaposition of those two moments. Far more important was the fact that the man, himself, was exactly the same that day in late July 1999 as he was that evening in late January 2000.
