Before Week 1 of the NFL season, ThePostGame had a chance to catch up with Hall of Fame quarterback Kurt Warner, who retired after the 2009 season and has been an NFL Network analyst since 2010.
"The thing that's amazing to me is when I stand on the sidelines now as an analyst, I can't believe I ever played the game," Warner says. "How big and fast and explosive this game is when you're up close and personal watching it is phenomenal. I think I've gained greater respect for the guys that play our game than I ever had when I played. I know it was difficult. I knew it was some of the best athletes in the world. But when you watch it on the sidelines, you take a step back from it, the biggest thing to me is I'm just amazed at what these guys can do on the football field."
Warner went on to explain other realizations he is having as a retired player.
"I don't know, if it's when you're immersed it something, I don't think you have a full perspective of what's going on," he says. "Mentally, you slow the game down, you play the game, so you don't think anything special about it, and I think when you take a step back and you see it from a whole different perspective, you take the helmet off and no longer am I looking at it as this is my job, this is what I have to do, I'm appreciating it as a fan, as an analyst and watching these guys.
"I see these guys in a different way and it's not about who would I throw to on that play, it's appreciating the art of the game of football and when you do that, I don't think you can be anything but amazed at what these guys do, how talented they are and just how fast and big everyone is. I still have people come up to me and say, man, I can't believe how big you are. And I'm walking around with my family and I think I fit in and I'm the same size as them and every once in a while you catch a glimpse in a mirror and you're like, 'Damn, I am a lot bigger than everybody around me.' You have the same perspective when you see some of these guys and you're like, 'I can't believe they move that fast and are that fluid, yet so big and strong as they are.'"
For the record, Warner was 6-2 and 214 pounds during his playing days.
Warner spoke to ThePostGame at an NFL Media event in New York City at the set of Good Morning Football.
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