After football, Kurt Warner lives in The Moment

Former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner became a household name in 1999 with an almost unbelievable football story: He went from stocking grocery store shelves to a highly improbable Super Bowl championship with the St. Louis Rams.

Warner went on to play in two more Super Bowls, and he holds the top three marks for single-game passing yards in Super Bowl history. He retired after the 2009 season but stays busy with his wife, seven kids, the First Things First Foundation, NFL commentating, and now a new reality TV show called The Moment.

The Moment, which debuts tonight on the USA Network, gives nine people two weeks to train with a professional in the field of their dreams—and a job awaits at the end if the they can prove their merit.

I recently spoke with Warner, 41, about the new show and what he hopes to accomplish with it. He said he wants the show to have a more far-reaching impact than the nine people it features: Warner aims to inspire “millions of people across the country” to chase their dreams.

Warner plans to do that through The Moment’s ministry counterpart called “Make the Moment.” The ministry is designed to help churches tap into their internal talent and match needs with those who are equipped to meet those needs. Warner said for himself that may mean coaching a young person with NFL aspirations, but for dentists in one church it meant donating dental work to former drug addicts whose poor teeth kept them from landing jobs.

“That’s really the premise—to make this more of a grassroots approach,” Warner said. “There’s a lot of people out there who are in great positions to help other people, they just don’t know how.”

Warner’s personal story gives him the necessary credibility to host the show and advise those who encounter the inevitable struggles related to achieving life-long dreams in a span of two weeks.

Warner, an outspoken Christian, said his involvement with the show is only a small piece of life after football, which he says is a “great balance” between enjoying life with his kids and things like The Moment.

“My whole identity and who I was weren’t just throwing the football around and winning games and winning Super Bowls,” he said. “I miss the game of football, and it’s tough to find things that feed that competitive nature, but I knew there was more to life.”

Whether or not you’re a fan of reality TV, Warner said The Moment would beat most of the “garbage” being produced today. Look for a full review of the program in the next issue of WORLD Magazine.