Kurt Warner didn’t sound like a man reminiscing about an old highlight reel. On Friday’s edition of ESPN’s NFL Live, the Hall of Fame quarterback was still speaking about the 2001 St. Louis Rams like he had just stepped out of the huddle, and the timing made it land with extra weight: the Los Angeles Rams are five days away from opening the 2026 season against the San Francisco 49ers in Melbourne.
Warner’s own story has long been part of NFL lore, and the source material reminds us why. Before the Arena League, NFL Europe and eventually the Rams, he was stocking shelves and bagging groceries at a Cedar Falls Hy-Vee for $5.50 an hour. By the time Friday’s segment rolled around, though, the focus was squarely on the offense he helped run and the standard he thinks still applies.
He named the familiar core from that 14-2 team that ultimately fell to New England in Super Bowl XXXVI: Isaac Bruce, Marshall Faulk, Az-Zahir Hakim, Ricky Proehl and Torry Holt. Warner also used the moment to make the case again that Holt belongs in Canton. Holt was a Hall of Fame finalist for a seventh straight year in 2026 and was not elected.
Warner’s praise for that group was blunt and simple. According to ClutchPoints, he said, “They were pros every single time they showed up.”
He also summed up the quarterback’s experience in a way that still fits the way the Rams want to play now: “For a quarterback, it was just a multitude of riches.”
NFL on ESPN shared another version of that same thought from the appearance: “For a quarterback, it was just a multitude of riches. … It was so much fun to kind of orchestrate that group with Mike Martz.”
That idea - orchestration, not just throwing - is the thread connecting Warner’s old Rams to the current version in Los Angeles. Matthew Stafford is coming off his first NFL MVP season, one in which he led the league with 4,707 passing yards and 46 touchdowns against eight interceptions in 2025.
He then won two playoff games before Los Angeles dropped a 31-27 NFC Championship game to Seattle. The Rams later added a year to his contract through 2027.
The pieces around Stafford are different from the Mike Martz era, but the goal looks familiar: make defenses choose wrong. Puka Nacua and Davante Adams are listed as the starting receivers on the Week 1 depth chart published by Sports Illustrated’s Rams site, while Kyren Williams remains the lead back.
Nate Scheelhaase, who was promoted from passing-game coordinator after Mike LaFleur left for Arizona, is now the offensive coordinator. Sean McVay is still expected to call the plays in the regular season, a plan he repeated in the spring and carried into camp.
Warner’s point about having a quarterback-friendly attack still applies. Martz spread elite talent all over the field and let Warner punish whatever the defense gave him.
McVay’s version asks Stafford to attack single coverage on Adams, work Nacua from the slot or the boundary, and use Williams as a checkdown who can still finish the job. Warner said he felt like he had a player who could take it the distance on any snap, and that same coverage problem showed up in Stafford’s 2025 film.
The 2001 Rams led the NFL in scoring with 503 points and in total offense before running into a Patriots defense that changed the script in New Orleans. Warner’s comments Friday were not a celebration of a championship that got away. They were about the weekly habits that made that offense work - the unselfishness, the preparation, the way the talent showed up and stayed professional.
Los Angeles is now trying to build the other half of a title team while that offense reloads. Aaron Donald ended a 2 1/2-year retirement on Aug. 30 and signed a one-year deal worth $20 million, with incentives that can push it to $30 million.
He is expected to travel with the rest of the roster to Australia, though McVay said Friday that his playing time against the 49ers is still unsettled. “This week will be a big week for him in terms of how he feels,” McVay said.
The setting is just as unusual as the matchup. This will be the NFL’s first regular-season game in Australia, with kickoff set for 10:35 a.m.
Friday, Sept. 11, at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, or 5:35 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 10, in Los Angeles.
The game will air on Netflix. San Francisco has already arrived after a 15-hour flight, while Los Angeles is planning to land about a day before kickoff and keep its West Coast routine as intact as possible.
An expected sellout at a venue that holds about 100,000 should give the opener a noise level neither team gets at home.
The Rams have two Super Bowl titles, XXXIV and LVI. A third would mean Stafford finishes a season Warner’s 2001 team never could. Warner’s message from Friday was clear enough: the talent is there, but it only matters if it shows up like professionals every snap.
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