It wasn't surprising when Valley sports celebrity and Dancing wth the Stars veteran Kurt Warner wound up hosting a reality show on the USA network. A virtual twinkle-toes on the popular ABC dance-off, the retired Arizona Cardinals Super Bowl quarterback became the face of The Moment, a program he's highly qualified to do. The show's about second chances, and Warner's the ultimate comeback kid. At one time out of professional football and bagging groceries, he got back into the National Football League in a big way — eventually leading the St. Louis Rams to a Super Bowl title (he was named the game's MVP). His career waned again when he was backup to Eli Manning with the New York Giants and later to Cardinals washout QB Matt Leinart. After Leinart's collarbone was broken in a game, Warner took over as signal-caller. The rest is history. That is, he wound up taking the previously hapless Cards to the biggest sporting event in the world in 2008. He didn't win that time, but he came so close that we could all taste it.
Concluding a 12-year career, he retired in 2010. But not from the limelight; the manly jock with a toothpaste-commercial smile almost made it to DWTS' semifinal round. The night he was voted off, the show's audience chanted: "MVP, MVP!" Gone again but not forgotten, he was back on the small screen earlier this year hosting the "positive" interview show on USA. In one episode, a guy gets to realize his dream, however briefly, of becoming a NASCAR driver. As his Cardinals teammates couldn't stop attesting, Warner's got a big heart, and that came across on The Moment, which is one reason he was nominated for a Critics Choice Award for his work. Truthfully, Warner's much more interesting than the stories he relates. The latest is that 20th Century Fox has bought the rights to make a movie about Kurt's life. The buzz now is who will play the devoutly Christian ex-QB. Our recommendation: Let the movie-star-handsome Warner play himself. It'd be box office!