Kurt Warner's final season in the NFL was 2009, much to the chagrin of the Cardinals and their fans. Over the years, there have been some things left vague about Warner's choice. There are still a segment of fans who are certain that nasty, nasty hit Warner absorbed in the season-ending playoff loss in New Orleans pushed Warner -- especially since he said after that game he was going to take a little time to make his decision.

But the seeds were sown in 2008. Warner considered retiring after the Super Bowl, not because his contract was up but because of the toll the life was taking on his body. Not the hits, but the stress. As Warner prepares for his Hall of Fame induction ceremony in early August (and after I got a chance to talk to him for that story to come), Warner noted that he played the Super Bowl at 201 pounds (he was listed that year at 218).

By mid-season in 2009, Warner knew it was likely going to be his last year playing football, long before the end of the year.

"About halfway through '09, I sat back and had thought about it a lot from the previous year as I was going through the season and just came to the conclusion that it had become such a job," Warner said. "There had become such a high expectation and such a level of what I had to do for the team ... week in and week out, that it was starting to affect me big picture. In the Super Bowl of '08, I weighed in at 201 pounds, which I hadn't been since I was a junior in college, and the stress and expectation of that was wearing on me physically. Not from the standpoint of what I could do between the lines, but big-picture-wise.

"Halfway through 2009, I just realized, 'This is it. I'm just not willing to sacrifice that much anymore.' Not very many people knew. My wife knew. Larry (Fitzgerald) knew -- as he tried to convince me over the next eight weeks or so (to stay.)"

(Said Fitzgerald on the subject of trying to talk Warner into playing in 2010, "Of course. I knew what was to come after that. Selfishly, absolutely. I wasn't foolish. I know in this business if you don't have a quarterback, you don't have much chance to win.")

As for getting blasted by Saints defensive lineman Bobby McCray, "A lot of people look at the hit against New Orleans and said, 'Yep, that is what caused him to retire.' It didn't at all. It might've been the perfect exclamation point on it, but I had known."

So when Warner torched the Packers in the playoffs in what he considers his best game ever -- five TD passes, four incompletions -- he figured it would be his last game at University of Phoenix Stadium. He waved goodbye with that in mind.