Kansas State University Athletics
A Long Time Coming for Warner
Sep 19, 2022 | Football, Sports Extra
By: D. Scott Fritchen
After Kansas State's final non-conference regular-season game, sixth-year wide receiver Kade Warner, who's as nice and competitive as any player in the Big 12 Conference, openly discussed his emotions following his first-career touchdown catch Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Except some of his emotions weren't about his own feat. They were also aimed toward his brother, E.J. Warner, a true freshman quarterback who made his first-career start at Temple earlier in the day.
"I couldn't be more proud of the kid," Kade Warner said. "It makes me emotional just thinking about him. I just know how hard he worked for it."
E.J. Warner debuted and completed 14 of 19 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns for his first-career victory during a 30-14 win over Lafayette in Game 2.
This past Saturday, Warner made his first-career start and went 19 of 32 for 215 yards and one touchdown and one interception against Rutgers.
E.J.'s game kicked off one hour before Kade took the field in Manhattan.
"In fall camp, (E.J.) called me and said, 'Hey, I'm not where I want to be on the depth chart,'" Kade said. "I said, 'Only you can control that, and you can control what you can control, so keep working.'
"Last week, he made the most of his opportunities. I saw his stats today and it looked like he played well. I'm really disappointed that he didn't get the win. I'm happy for my little brother."
Kade Warner's teammates couldn't say enough about his own feat on Saturday.
"I'm glad it was me who was able to throw him the ball," said quarterback Adrian Martinez, who transferred from Nebraska in December. Kade transferred from Nebraska to K-State last April. "Great call and great execution."
"It was great to see Kade make that catch," running back Deuce Vaughn said. "Whenever I looked up and saw the ball going his way and he went up and made the catch, I went full-on sprint toward him, because I've seen the work and preparation he puts in throughout the week, and man, the entire time he's been at Kansas State, he's been a student of the game, and his knowledge of the game is unbelievable.
"He's someone I look up to and feed off of when it comes to his knowledge of football. To see his catch today, that was big time."
With just under 3 minutes remaining in the second quarter, and on first-and-10 from the Tulane 21-yard line, Warner lined up in the middle of a three-wide receiver set to the right side of the field between Phillip Brooks and Malik Knowles.
Immediately after the snap, Brooks raced behind Warner to bring his defender, and Warner took a few steps and paused as if preparing to block for Brooks on an outside screen, as Knowles dragged his defender toward the end zone.
Warner took off. He got behind his cornerback at the 10-yard line and Martinez's pass floated toward the corner of the end zone. Warner turned his hips, leaped, and caught the ball while his cornerback and a safety each hit him before Warner slid on his shoulder near the back corner pylon.
Not bad for a first-career touchdown catch.
"It feels great," Warner said. "I don't know if you guys saw it, but after the play, it was all glory to God. I prayed a lot for this to happen, so I'm happy it finally did. All of the guys said I'd score today like they did every game and it finally happened.
"I was overcome with emotion and crying just because I've put in a lot of work for that."
The physical work is ongoing each week. However, Warner ramps up his mental preparation even more the day before each game.
"Every Friday, I go through the game plan," he said. "I envision the kinds of plays that I'm going to be in and how I'm going to beat (the defender). You have to do the mental preparation so your body is ready. If your mind isn't ready there's no way your body can be ready. You definitely go through the entire game plan and envision yourself making all those plays."
It's been quite a story. And there's more to come.
Kade announced on Twitter on April 5, 2021 that he was transferring from Nebraska to K-State. Kade originally joined Nebraska as a walk-on in 2017, earned a scholarship, and was named team captain in 2020. He played in every game that season and had five catches for 40 yards. He finished his Nebraska career with 30 catches for 236 yards. He never scored a touchdown.
He faced some plight and some difficult times. He went to his father, Kurt Warner, for advice.
"If I complained to my dad, 'Hey, I'm not having the impact I want to have,' he just looked at me and said, 'Dude, yeah, same here. I was in the same shoes.'"
Kurt was a third-string quarterback for the St. Louis Rams in 1998. He had never completed a pass in a regular-season NFL game. That season, Kurt completed 4 of 11 passes for 39 yards. The following season, Kurt threw for 4,353 yards and 41 touchdowns and won Super Bowl XXXIV and remains the most recent player to win NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP in the same year.
"It's amazing to have a role model like that," Kade said. "It's one thing to have a role model like that and it's another for him to also be your dad."
Kurt was a quarterback for Northern Iowa from 1989 to 1993 and he was a teammate of Chris Klieman's. When Kade entered the transfer portal, he received interest from several schools. That was different. He had never had schools after him before. But all along, K-State stood above the rest. Every K-State coach phoned Kade. Klieman promised Kurt that he would take care of his son.
Last season, Warner caught passes in eight different games, including two at Texas Tech, two against TCU, three at Kansas, and three in the bowl game. He finished with 14 catches for 166 yards.
This season, Warner has eight catches for 60 yards and one touchdown in three games.
He was voted as a team captain by his K-State teammates prior to the season.
"He points out things to me that I don't notice," Brooks said. "He has that Warner blood in his veins. He definitely brings a lot to the table as far as strategy and technique and understanding of why we're doing what we're doing."
Added senior linebacker Daniel Green, "He's a guy who's a true teammate. He doesn't just hang out with the wide receivers. He's a guy who gets everyone going. He's a good voice on the team. He leads by example. He works super hard. When you talk about being a leader, he's one of those guys, for real."
Warner hopes there's more to come.
"I just have to keep doing what I do," he said. "I have to keep working. I have to keep outworking as many people as I can and put the work in every single day, and hopefully, I can do whatever I can to impact this team in a positive way."
After Kansas State's final non-conference regular-season game, sixth-year wide receiver Kade Warner, who's as nice and competitive as any player in the Big 12 Conference, openly discussed his emotions following his first-career touchdown catch Saturday at Bill Snyder Family Stadium.
Except some of his emotions weren't about his own feat. They were also aimed toward his brother, E.J. Warner, a true freshman quarterback who made his first-career start at Temple earlier in the day.
"I couldn't be more proud of the kid," Kade Warner said. "It makes me emotional just thinking about him. I just know how hard he worked for it."
E.J. Warner debuted and completed 14 of 19 passes for 173 yards and two touchdowns for his first-career victory during a 30-14 win over Lafayette in Game 2.
This past Saturday, Warner made his first-career start and went 19 of 32 for 215 yards and one touchdown and one interception against Rutgers.
E.J.'s game kicked off one hour before Kade took the field in Manhattan.
"In fall camp, (E.J.) called me and said, 'Hey, I'm not where I want to be on the depth chart,'" Kade said. "I said, 'Only you can control that, and you can control what you can control, so keep working.'
"Last week, he made the most of his opportunities. I saw his stats today and it looked like he played well. I'm really disappointed that he didn't get the win. I'm happy for my little brother."
Kade Warner's teammates couldn't say enough about his own feat on Saturday.
"I'm glad it was me who was able to throw him the ball," said quarterback Adrian Martinez, who transferred from Nebraska in December. Kade transferred from Nebraska to K-State last April. "Great call and great execution."
"It was great to see Kade make that catch," running back Deuce Vaughn said. "Whenever I looked up and saw the ball going his way and he went up and made the catch, I went full-on sprint toward him, because I've seen the work and preparation he puts in throughout the week, and man, the entire time he's been at Kansas State, he's been a student of the game, and his knowledge of the game is unbelievable.
"He's someone I look up to and feed off of when it comes to his knowledge of football. To see his catch today, that was big time."
With just under 3 minutes remaining in the second quarter, and on first-and-10 from the Tulane 21-yard line, Warner lined up in the middle of a three-wide receiver set to the right side of the field between Phillip Brooks and Malik Knowles.
Immediately after the snap, Brooks raced behind Warner to bring his defender, and Warner took a few steps and paused as if preparing to block for Brooks on an outside screen, as Knowles dragged his defender toward the end zone.
Warner took off. He got behind his cornerback at the 10-yard line and Martinez's pass floated toward the corner of the end zone. Warner turned his hips, leaped, and caught the ball while his cornerback and a safety each hit him before Warner slid on his shoulder near the back corner pylon.
"We called the lineup and the play, and they called a timeout," Warner said. "I went up to Adrian and said, 'Hey, if they give us this same look, I'm going to be really patient, get this guy to bite, and just get me the ball.' That's exactly what happened. (Martinez) made a great play. Kudos to Malik for getting the first guy out of there, kudos to Phil for selling it, and it was an awesome throw by Adrian."They have that chemistry @MartinezTheQB ➡️ @KadeWarner pic.twitter.com/X5uUflIsnO
— K-State Football (@KStateFB) September 17, 2022
Not bad for a first-career touchdown catch.
"It feels great," Warner said. "I don't know if you guys saw it, but after the play, it was all glory to God. I prayed a lot for this to happen, so I'm happy it finally did. All of the guys said I'd score today like they did every game and it finally happened.
"I was overcome with emotion and crying just because I've put in a lot of work for that."
The physical work is ongoing each week. However, Warner ramps up his mental preparation even more the day before each game.
"Every Friday, I go through the game plan," he said. "I envision the kinds of plays that I'm going to be in and how I'm going to beat (the defender). You have to do the mental preparation so your body is ready. If your mind isn't ready there's no way your body can be ready. You definitely go through the entire game plan and envision yourself making all those plays."
It's been quite a story. And there's more to come.
Kade announced on Twitter on April 5, 2021 that he was transferring from Nebraska to K-State. Kade originally joined Nebraska as a walk-on in 2017, earned a scholarship, and was named team captain in 2020. He played in every game that season and had five catches for 40 yards. He finished his Nebraska career with 30 catches for 236 yards. He never scored a touchdown.
He faced some plight and some difficult times. He went to his father, Kurt Warner, for advice.
"If I complained to my dad, 'Hey, I'm not having the impact I want to have,' he just looked at me and said, 'Dude, yeah, same here. I was in the same shoes.'"
Kurt was a third-string quarterback for the St. Louis Rams in 1998. He had never completed a pass in a regular-season NFL game. That season, Kurt completed 4 of 11 passes for 39 yards. The following season, Kurt threw for 4,353 yards and 41 touchdowns and won Super Bowl XXXIV and remains the most recent player to win NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP in the same year.
"It's amazing to have a role model like that," Kade said. "It's one thing to have a role model like that and it's another for him to also be your dad."
Kurt was a quarterback for Northern Iowa from 1989 to 1993 and he was a teammate of Chris Klieman's. When Kade entered the transfer portal, he received interest from several schools. That was different. He had never had schools after him before. But all along, K-State stood above the rest. Every K-State coach phoned Kade. Klieman promised Kurt that he would take care of his son.
Last season, Warner caught passes in eight different games, including two at Texas Tech, two against TCU, three at Kansas, and three in the bowl game. He finished with 14 catches for 166 yards.
This season, Warner has eight catches for 60 yards and one touchdown in three games.
He was voted as a team captain by his K-State teammates prior to the season.
"He points out things to me that I don't notice," Brooks said. "He has that Warner blood in his veins. He definitely brings a lot to the table as far as strategy and technique and understanding of why we're doing what we're doing."
Added senior linebacker Daniel Green, "He's a guy who's a true teammate. He doesn't just hang out with the wide receivers. He's a guy who gets everyone going. He's a good voice on the team. He leads by example. He works super hard. When you talk about being a leader, he's one of those guys, for real."
Warner hopes there's more to come.
"I just have to keep doing what I do," he said. "I have to keep working. I have to keep outworking as many people as I can and put the work in every single day, and hopefully, I can do whatever I can to impact this team in a positive way."
Players Mentioned
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