Despite pandemic, NFL’s Kurt Warner continues Give Kids the World Support

Kurt Warner was a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player, and a Super Bowl MVP when the (then) St. Louis Rams won Super Bowl XXXIV. He, his wife Brenda and his nonprofit foundation, First Things First, will be valuable to a handful of families with critically-ill children this year without ever touching a football.

First Things First will be covering the costs for five Arizona families to enjoy a week’s stay at Give Kids the World. For those who don’t know, the GKTW Village is a resort of wonder, providing “wish vacations” at no cost. Their stay at the village, includes all food, villa lodging, entertainment and theme park tickets.

Kurt and his wife Brenda will host the families during their weeks, and surprising them during their Village stays with special parties and activities.

“I’ve been retired for almost a decade. These kids probably have never heard of us,” Kurt said.

The Warners started their relationship with GKTW in 1999 through Disney when he had his “I’m going to Disney World” moment after the Super Bowl win, and has been sponsoring families ever since.

“Our families have been coming here, and we continue hearing how wonderful it is. The people here are incredible and stories from our families have been phenomenal,” he said. “Then everybody went through the pandemic (GKTW was closed for 10 months) and we wondered what the future holds.”

The Warners had to cancel their 2020 trip due to COVID-19, and thousands of wish vacations also had to be canceled or postponed — with the hope that the sick children would make it another year.

“It’s important people understand this is here, and where we’re at right now, that families are being welcomed back for that incredible experience,” Kurt said,

Brenda added: “Our whole thought behind the foundation is to shine a spotlight on things like this, ways to link with families. We know what they’re about, and they know what we’re about.”

A movie about Kurt’s life, detailing his “hard way” path traveled to NFL stardom, is set to be released Dec. 10. Titled “American Underdog: The Kurt Warner Story,” it will star Zachary Levi as Kurt, Anna Paquin as Brenda, Dennis Quaid as Rams’ Coach Dick Vermeil, and a host of other stars who help chronicle Warner’s path.

The path was once rocky. The quarterback from Division II Northern Iowa University had to stock shelves at a grocery store when the NFL didn’t come calling, and he played in the Arena Football League, from where he got a call and his shot from the Rams. Brenda was a former United States Marine Corps corporal was discharged from the Marines in 1990 after her son from a previous marriage sustained an injury that brought on brain damage and partial blindness.

The movie will detail that early journey, and Kurt and Brenda, who along the way became parents of seven children, said they had a big hand in writing the script and producing the movie.

“We fought to make the movie we wanted to make. We enjoyed that part of the process. Our role with the with movie is to inspire people, no matter what your circumstances are, they don’t define you.

“The timing is perfect at Christmastime, an inspirational time. There’s people who will be inspired by this, they’ll have their ‘grocery store’ moment.”