Backstage Country

LISTEN LIVE

The Kurt Warner Story Is One Not To Be Missed This Christmas

If you’ve never heard the Kurt Warner story, you might find it hard to believe.  Here is a guy who was just okay as a quarterback in college.  He tried…

Kurt Warner
Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images

If you've never heard the Kurt Warner story, you might find it hard to believe.  Here is a guy who was just okay as a quarterback in college.  He tried for four years to make an NFL roster-to no avail.  Played a few years of Arena Football in Iowa.  Oh yeah, and while he's doing this he's also spending nights stocking supermarket shelves to to earn enough money to feed his family.  And then...it's like Cinderella happens.  He makes the St. Louis Rams roster as a backup in 1998.  In 1999, starting quarterback Trent Green is injured in pre-season and Kurt Warner not only becomes the starter.  Not only wins the league MVP, but wins the Super Bowl and the Super Bowl MVP.  Eventually, Kurt Warner is inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. This kind of thing only happens in dreams, right?

"American Underdog" is Kurt's story starring Zachary Levi ("Shazam") as the quarterback and the film features performances from Oscar nominees, Anna Paquin and Dennis Quaid.  The movie opens on the happiest day of the year:  December 25, 2021, and I can't wait to see this dream come true again.  I'm a sucker for stories of perseverance being rewarded.  I find them inspiring.

Charlie Nance is the Afternoon Drive co-host (along with his wife) of "The Charlie and Debbie Show" at WSOC, Country 1037 in Charlotte, North Carolina. The couple have been with the radio station since 2006. Charlie has won the prestigious CMA (Country Music Association) Award for Radio Personality of the Year and has been a finalist for the Country Radio Hall of Fame four times. Prior to his time in Charlotte, Charlie (along with Debbie) spent more than a decade hosting successful morning radio shows in Greenville, SC; Augusta, Ga; and Birmingham, Al. As a content creator for Country 1037, Charlie writes about dream lottery windfalls, sports, restaurants and bars, and travel experiences in North and South Carolina.