Kurt Warner’s son might not have gotten the start he deserved in the NFL, but it turns out he is making his own way and following a different path. And in this journey, his father is right beside him.
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“We do love some Warner football in St. Louis. Would you want to see E.J. Warner land with the Battlehawks in the 2027 UFL Draft?” St. Louis Battlehawks posted on X.
To this, E.J. Warner’s father, Kurt Warner, replied and said, “IDK about anyone else, but I would!!!!”
After going undrafted in 2026, E.J. Warner received invitations to try out at rookie minicamps with both the Kansas City Chiefs and Denver Broncos. However, neither team offered him a contract. Despite earning praise from Broncos head coach Sean Payton for his performance, Warner did not secure a spot in Denver, according to KUSA-TV’s Mike Klis.
So, taking another path to the UFL makes sense. Plus, E.J. Warner is a solid player. Across his college career, he has recorded 10,844 passing yards, 71 touchdowns, and 48 interceptions.
But with a chance of moving to the UFL, Warner will also have to tackle the issue that made it hard for him to get into the NFL.
“E.J. Warner had stops at three schools: Temple, Rice and Fresno State,” Billy Heyen of The Sporting News reported in May 2026. “He actually started for all four of his college seasons, and his big issue was interceptions: He had the highest INT total in his conference in all four of his years.”
The UFL has become a pathway for players hoping to earn another chance in the NFL. According to NBC Sports’ June report, 23 players from the 2026 UFL season had signed with NFL teams after the spring league ended. This shows that E.J. Warner can also use opportunities outside the NFL to improve his game, gain experience, and work his way toward a roster spot.
Interestingly, Kurt Warner’s NFL journey didn’t arrive easily. Warner played college football at Northern Iowa but went undrafted in 1994. He later attended the Green Bay Packers’ training camp but failed to make it to the team.
With his NFL dream still alive, he took a job stocking shelves at a Hy-Vee grocery store in Iowa while continuing to look for football opportunities. He eventually joined the Iowa Barnstormers in the Arena Football League before playing for the Amsterdam Admirals in NFL Europe.
His big break came in 1997 when the St. Louis Rams signed him as a free agent. Warner initially served as a backup quarterback, but his opportunity finally arrived in 1999. Starting quarterback Trent Green suffered a knee injury during the preseason, ruling him out for the season. This gave Warner the chance to take over as the Rams’ starting quarterback and prove himself in the NFL, and the rest is history.
His confidence in his game pushed him through tough times.
“I wasn’t ready to give up playing football. I probably would have kept playing Arena football for a while because it was fun and it was a great living and I was taking care of my family,” Warner said on PFT Live back in 2017. “But it was like, who’s really going to give a 28-year-old rookie a chance to play in the National Football League? It’s hard enough to develop a quarterback the way it is, so when you’re that late in the game, who’s going to do that? So I had moments like that when I thought I’m just not ever going to get that true opportunity.”
Now, his own kid is facing this situation all over again, but just like a supportive father, he is right there to support him.