Kurt Warner

Almost two years ago, when he met the current Arizona Cardinals coaching staff, Kurt Warner's squeaky-clean reputation was intact. Which is to say people thought he was thoroughly washed up. That was the vibe the quarterback got, anyway. "For two years, I've been fighting perceptions of what I can't do," Warner said. "I don't believe this coaching staff had any expectations for me. It took time for me to convince them."

Kurt Warner, 36, wants to set the record straight. The quarterback plans to play the remaining two years of his contract with the Arizona Cardinals. And all that talk about retiring after he lost the starting job to Matt Leinart last year? It was just that, talk. "What I was saying when I said that was, the more that kind of stuff happens, the more I think retirement's getting closer," said Warner, who also lost starting jobs with the St. Louis Rams and New York Giants.

Matt Leinart still is the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals. Kurt Warner will be waiting in the wings as the team's "no-huddle" specialist after nearly leading a comeback victory at Baltimore on Sunday. "We're going to try to find ways to keep Kurt playing based on how he played yesterday," Coach Ken Whisenhunt said Monday. "But I don't feel like Matt has done anything to lose the job." What Leinart thinks about this unusual two-quarterback approach is a mystery.

Playing in front of a sellout crowd of 63,407 in the Arizona Cardinals' new $455-million, air-conditioned stadium, quarterback Kurt Warner said the atmosphere reminded him of his heyday with the Rams in St. Louis. The difference showed in the NFL's long-suffering Cardinals, who christened the place with a 34-27 season-opening victory over the San Francisco 49ers. "It was fun," Warner said. "We're building something new here, and I think it's great to get a win the first time out."

Kurt Warner will remain the starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, Coach Dennis Green said Tuesday. Green's comment came in a statement released by the team after an ESPN report that Green had decided to replace Warner with rookie Matt Leinart, the 2004 Heisman Trophy winner from USC, for Sunday's game at Atlanta. "Generally talking about the starting lineup is not something we do," Green said. "However, given the speculation that was out there we want to make it clear.

Kurt Warner, if anyone, understands the fairy-tale possibilities of the NFL. His career path -- from supermarket bag boy to Super Bowl star, and beyond -- underscores how the wildly improbable can sometimes become reality. But Warner, now quarterback of the Arizona Cardinals, also understands those grocery bags-to-riches stories don't come easily, and they don't come often. So he's heading into today's divisional playoff game against the heavily favored Carolina Panthers with that in mind.

The fairy tale is that, if he wins Sunday, the Arizona Cardinals quarterback has promised to buy his family a puppy. The reality show is that the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to whip the dog out of him. The fairy tale is that, while dining with his family every Friday night before home games, the Arizona Cardinals quarterback picks up a stranger's bill. The reality show is that the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to cash him out.

Terrell Owens' days in Dallas are done, according to ESPN. ESPN cited sources Wednesday night in saying that the Cowboys have decided to cut the receiver, ridding them of a big locker-room distraction but also absorbing a big hit on their salary cap. The team did not immediately have a comment. A spokesman for Owens said he hadn't heard the news, and that Owens was traveling and could not immediately be reached.

For both the Arizona Cardinals and Pittsburgh Steelers, Sunday's Super Bowl is about the rush. For Arizona, it will be rushing the ball to give quarterback Kurt Warner time to find targets like Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin, the top members of the most dangerous receiving corps in football. For Pittsburgh, it is rushing Warner so he doesn't have time to throw accurately -- the Steelers were second in the NFL this season with 51 sacks. A look at the strategy that each team is likely to use in Sunday's Super Bowl.