Kurt Warner might have stopped playing professional football in 2010, but the former NFL quarterback has been anything but “retired” during the past 15 years.
He has been a regular contributor on various shows for the NFL Network, including NFL Total Access and NFL GameDay Morning, since he hung up his cleats with the Arizona Cardinals.
NFL network reporter Kurt Warner reporting before a Monday night NFL game between the Cincinnati Bengals and the Dallas Cowboys on Dec. 9, 2024, in Arlington, Texas.
He has also been a lead analyst for Westwood One's Monday Night Football radio coverage. And this year, it was announced he will serve as the lead analyst for YouTube's broadcast of a Week 1 game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers, marking the platform's first foray into live NFL game broadcasting.
From 2015-21, Warner served as a part-time high school coach working with son Kade at Scottsdale Desert Mountain and son E.J. at Phoenix Brophy Prep.
If there’s one thing missing in his life, it’s probably coaching again because Warner loves teaching the game.
“But I want to do it on my terms,” Warner told The Arizona Republic. “I don’t want to work 60 hours a day. I don’t want it to take over my life and I don’t want to miss my kids’ stuff that I’ve missed for so many years. Is that the perfect gig, being a consultant? I do personal training at my house and other quarterback coaches will come and I’ll teach them and do seminars. I created my own teaching and coaching website.
“I always hold out that maybe there’s a perfect consulting position somewhere where I could help create and help teach and I can help design plays and build game plans, because that’s really what I love is that X and O stuff. … It’s got to be perfect. It’s got to be the right thing at the right time.”
At present, Warner said, “retirement” is serving him well.
“You always think about retirement and what would retirement look like and what is retirement all about,” Warner, 54, said. “And I think I’ve found the perfect retirement. I’m busy. I still do things. But everything I do I love to do and I still have great freedom so I can go watch my boys play, I can travel with my wife (Brenda). I’ve got a lot of time at home. I can go see and do the things that I want to do, so I feel like I’ve got the perfect life for this stage.
Kurt Warner, right, and wife Brenda walk on the red carpet at the NFL Honors award show ahead of Super Bowl 58, Feb. 8, 2024, in Las Vegas.
“I’m not going to play golf every day. That’s not who I am and that’s not what I want to do. But I do want to have the freedom to do the things that I want to do, and I have that.”
Warner said he has promised his wife he won’t pursue a full-time coaching role at any level, but he did suggest a possible ideal situation could soon present itself. Kade Warner is in his first year as offensive coordinator at Division II Quincy (Illinois) University and Kurt said Kade “is going to be a star in the business.”
“So, I always hold out that maybe the one chance to consult or to coach would be once he gets a head coaching job and calls Dad and says, ‘Hey Dad, will you be on my staff or will you do something with us?,’ that may be the first and perfect situation to dive into,” Kurt Warner said.
“But who knows? Who knows what the future has in store and where he ends up? I’m just very, very content with the things I’m doing. I enjoy it all.”
