The 2023 NFL draft will occur in Kansas City in April as the football world will watch the next crop of talent entering the league. Dreams of hundreds of collegiate stars looking to prove their value to teams over the next few weeks at the league’s scouting combine in Indianapolis and training facilities preparing for the next step.
Elite-level training for 128 top prospects with performance brand Exos at their Phoenix headquarters is underway. Several players from the Kansas City Chiefs’ 2022 Super Bowl-winning roster helped hone their abilities with the company during their journey to the NFL.
Kansas State WR Kade Warner had a different view of the league growing up as the son of Pro Football Hall of Fame QB Kurt Warner. He is one of the talented prospects training at the Exos facility, fueled by the dream of playing in the NFL.
Chiefs Wire’s Ed Easton Jr. recently sat down with the Kansas State receiver to discuss the lessons learned from his father, along with the NFL players he’s modeled his game after and admired such as Pro Bowl receivers Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. He also reflected on his performance senior year at Kansas State, where he finished 2022 with his best statistical college season.
“I was excited, you know, you have these lofty expectations for the season of how you can do personally and how you can do as a team,” said Warner. “And my goal when I came to Kansas State, and every single year in my career, was to positively impact my team and help them win football games. And it took me a couple of years, but I’m happy to say that by my senior year, I was able to do that this year, and we had a great team, and I was blessed to be a part of it.”
Warner finished the 2022 season with 46 catches for 456 yards and five touchdowns, averaging almost ten yards per reception. The confidence to take his game to the pro level was influenced by the journey of his father and his magical rise to prominence in 1999.
“100 percent,” said Warner. “I mean, he’s a great role model to look up to. Not only his story but also being my dad, you know, going to people you care about, people you love, in times of need. And I’ve had those times throughout my career, you know, those years I was talking about where I go into fall camp, and the season comes. I’m texting them like, ‘Hey, no, I think I have a great season this year; I’m doing this and that in fall camp.’ I’m beating these guys, you know, I’m really confident myself and you put those high expectations on yourself for the season, and then they don’t hit, you know, it’s, it’s the missing expectations, that really, really hurts you.
“And so when you fall short of your goals and expectations, is when you gotta lean on the people you love, and some lean on him and just being like, ‘Man, when is my time? When will I get a chance to go out there and play the game that I love with the ability I know I can to help my team win?’ Of course, he’s sitting there telling me, ‘Well, you know, it’s gonna come, trust me. It took me, you know, however many years where he is a rookie as a 28-year-old or whatever. And so, he’s definitely someone to look up to.
And someone that’s been there before that can help me through the process.”
Kurt Warner played twelve seasons in the NFL, earning two MVP awards as a member of the St. Louis Rams and winning Super Bowl XXXIV. He finished his career with the Arizona Cardinals earning Pro Bowl honors in 2008, playing alongside two wide receivers that inspired his son.
“My dad was with the (Arizona) Cardinals, and they had Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin. Different parts of their game, I modeled mine after and try my best to do my best to emulate those two guys. You know, obviously, Larry has great hand-eye coordination, his vision’s insane, and his route running is awesome. He was able to use his body to create open spots in the zone on the defense, and then Anquan Boldin might have had the strongest hands in the league at the time he played the game. It’s a different type of receiver, you know, you see all these receivers doing cones and speed ladders and stuff, and that wasn’t Anquan. He’s gonna route you up; he’s gonna match up with his body; he’s gonna use himself to get big and create those contact catches that he always wins. So those two guys I’ve looked up to my whole career and go back and watch all the time. As I see my dad’s highlights pop up on Instagram, my brother sends them to me because I try to do what I can to be like those receivers.”
Warner hopes the unique experiences of once being around his favorite receivers and now studying them after the fact will give him an extra edge heading into the NFL Scouting Combine only a few weeks away.