So That's What Happened To Brenda Warner

Some of you may be too young to remember the late '90s, but those who aren't may recall when the real star of Kurt Warner's rise to fame was his shrewishoutspoken wife, Brenda.

When Warner came out of nowhere to lead the St. Louis Rams to the Super Bowl in 1999, Brenda was his partner in crime. Partly because of her backstory—Brenda was a divorced former Marine with two kids, when she met Kurt, who was working as a grocery store stock boy—and partly because when the team later struggled, she had a habit of calling radio stations to complain about the media and the Rams coaches. (Although that did earn her a radio show at one point.) Her short and spiky gray hair and loud, frequent clapping made her seem almost like Warner's mom than his wife, and it made both of them the butt of many jokes.

However, now that Kurt's career has been resurrected yet again, Brenda has been nearly absent from the spotlight. The family isolation cameras that longingly gaze at loved ones in the stands have all but ignored her on this Arizona playoff run and she has studiously avoided nearly all press. The family has never been closer—they have seven kids now—but perhaps a better understanding of PR and image management led to a conscious effort to keep her out of the news and off the back of his detractors.

Most shocking of all, however, was the makeover she underwent at some point in the last few years. Her image was as ubiquitous as Kurt's was during the St. Louis glory days, but recent pictures of her are very hard to come by—which is a shame because ... she's kind of a babe. Let's just the say the crew cut was not her most flattering look. If she wanted to escape the competition for "most annoying sports spouse," that's one way to do it.

Oh, I'm sure a soft-lit profile will show up somewhere in the Super Bowl pregame show, but the stereotypical image of the angry, manipulative wife is long gone. I sure do miss that tough old broad.

Warner's Family Accepts Bounty and Burden of Football [NY Times] Warner Get Emotional With Wife Following Game [Real GM] When Did Brenda Warner Stop Looking Like Ivan Drago And Start Getting Hot? [Busted Coverage]