Interview with Kurt Warner: “Football has a chance to impact the lives of many people and families in India”

Kurt Warner, 2 time NFL MVP and MVP of Super Bowl XXXIV, visited India to promote the Elite Football League of India (Copyright: frontierindia.net)

The Elite Football League of India (EFLI) is the first men’s professional American football league in India, Sri Lanka and Pakistan. In the inaugural 2014 season, the EFLI will feature 8 teams – the Hyderabad Skykings, Bangalore Warhawks, Colombo Lions, Delhi Defenders, Kolkata Vipers, Mumbai Gladiators, Pakistan Wolfpak and Pune Marathas.

The EFLI’s launch is backed by both the Government of India and the Sports Authority of India. It is also backed by a number of former NFL greats, including retired NFL quarterback Kurt Warner. Warner played in the NFL from 1998 until 2009, and is considered to be the greatest undrafted player of all time. He was the MVP of Superbowl XXXIV, which he won with the St Louis Rams, and is a two-time NFL MVP.

On Wednesday 6th of November, Warner visited the Begumpet Police Astro Turf Ground in India to watch a match between Hyderabad Skykings and Bangalore Warhawks. In an exclusive interview with Sportskeeda correspondent Matt Vincent, the future hall-of-fame quarterback revealed his motivation behind investing in the league and what he believes the EFLI can accomplish in the region:

Q. Thank you for agreeing to speak to Sportskeeda today. We are very excited to have you here to support the new Elite Football League of India. Is this your first time visiting India, and if it is, how are you finding the country so far?

Warner: Yes, this is my first time here. I’m excited to be here, I think that India is a wonderful country. Unfortunately it’s only a short trip; I’m only here for a few days because of my commitments back in America with NFL Network. But it’s certainly great to be here, I’m excited to watch some football and make the most of the short time that I have in India.

Q. So right now you’re actually at the arranged scrimmage game between two EFLI teams: the Hyderabad Skykings and Bangalore Warhawks. What are your first impressions of the people, the facilities and the atmosphere there?

Warner: That’s right; I’m at the stadium now. I’ve had a chance to talk to a lot of the players, I got down on the field and I was actually throwing some passes earlier. Just by talking to the players I know that they’re excited about playing this game. I’ve got really good impressions of everybody here. American football is really a game about passion and excitement, and I can really see that coming through from these players when I talk to them.

They’re excited about this game, they’re excited about the contact aspect of the sport which is such a crucial part, and they’re excited about learning the game further. And I found the same thing with the coaches I’ve spoken to as well. They’re really looking to learn and advance their knowledge of this game to pass on to their players. I couldn’t be happier with what I’ve seen so far. There’s a real enthusiasm about everybody I’ve spoken to; everybody is excited to play the game and to learn the game, and that’s really the most important thing.

Q. Could you talk a little bit about what you are ultimately hoping to achieve by investing in the Elite Football League of India?

Warner: Well, American football is the most popular sport in America. The reason for that is because it is such a great team sport. The coming together of a team in American football creates really amazing bonds between players. You really have a collective sense of accomplishment, working together as eleven men on the field, all doing very specific things to help you win as a team.

That is the beauty of this sport, and I want to share this game with people outside the United States so that others can be a part of it; to expand the reach of what I believe is the greatest team sport in the world.

But there are also a lot of opportunities that can be provided to the people here based around football. By sharing this game we can make it a part of the culture. Football has a chance to impact the lives of many people and families in India. We are looking to use the great game of football to impact the people here and to improve on their quality of life.

That, for me, is the ultimate aim of the EFLI. I want it to become something that this community can be proud of and really enjoy, but also something that can really make a difference.

Q. We have been seeing a number of European players getting drafted into the NFL recently, players like Menelik Watson with the Raiders and Bjoern Werner with the Colts. With the expansion of American football into Asia through the EFLI, do you think we could see Asian players getting drafted into the NFL in the future, like we have seen in Europe?

Warner: Maybe that will happen in the future, but that isn’t really what we’re looking to do here at all. The intention and the design of this league is that this becomes its own league; not something that readies people to leave for the NFL, but something that India itself can be proud of. The EFLI will hopefully be similar to the National Football League in its structure, but it is a different and unique league. The EFLI should have its own aspirations, to become something like the NFL, but the Indian version of it. We are trying to create something here that is unique to India. That’s where we’re hoping to take this league.

Q. Kurt, you started your NFL career playing in the development league of NFL Europe with the Amsterdam Admirals in 1998, a league which has since collapsed. What do you think makes local ventures like the EFLI a better way to expand the sport of American football internationally than an expansion or developmental league like NFL Europe?

Warner: It is really because of the dual purpose of what we’re trying to accomplish here. Yes, we are trying to expand the sport internationally, but we’re also trying to better the local community and give them a sport and a local team that they can cheer for.

A developmental league like NFL Europe is very different. In that league there are a lot of American players who are looking to be evaluated and hopefully get a shot at playing in the NFL. That is not our goal with the EFLI. Like I said before, the intention of this league is not to help players get to the NFL. Our goal is to create superstars from India. We want to create a league here where fans cheer on their own local superstars each week, the same way American fans do now in the NFL. Again, it’s about creating something unique to India.

Q. American football is really only an emerging sport in India, and the whole of Asia. Sports like cricket, soccer and basketball are a lot more popular and dominate this region. What would you say to kids in India to convince them to choose to play American football over the other more traditional sports?

Warner: It is so easy to fall in love with football when you come to understand the game. There is so much to the game of football. Everybody works on their own separate assignments on every play, but in doing that they are actually working together to accomplish something as a team. That is what football is all about. To accomplish things as a team, with everybody working towards one common goal. It is the greatest team sport with so many different aspects to it, and it is something that lots of different people can enjoy.

Hopefully people, kids and adults alike, can see what the league is trying to do here in trying to better the country, and can get involved with the league and this sport and really embrace the game of American football so it can really expand and develop on this continent.

Q. It is obvious that you are passionate about American football and about what it can offer a community. The EFLI came into being partly on the back of generous investments by former NFL stars like yourself, Michael Irvin and Mike Ditka. Given the passion you have about what you are doing here, do you think that this is something the NFL should be getting involved in and investing in?

Warner: I think that the NFL is always trying to do things to advance American football both in the United States and internationally. The EFLI was a unique opportunity for me personally to get involved with something that I believed was important and that I could get really excited about. But this is completely separate from the NFL. The NFL doesn’t have to be involved with the EFLI. I think the league is going to have success anyway because of the support that it has garnered.

Maybe once the league is up and running and the NFL can see what it is all about and what the EFLI can do in India, and see what we’re really trying to do here, maybe then they’ll be interested in getting themselves involved in some way. It would be great to see that happen down the road, but ultimately I don’t think that this is something the NFL needs to be involved in.