Buccaneers’ UDFA Receiver Doesn’t Lack Confidence

Tampa Bay Buccaneers undrafted free agent wide receiver Kade Warner isn’t going to let going undrafted hurt his confidence. He’s already familiar with what it takes to succeed in this league as an undrafted player.

Recently Warner spoke with Pewter Report’s Matt Matera about going undrafted out of Kansas State.

“I take everything personally. Like I was saying, from that undrafted, that walk-on mentality, every little thing. Like if the coaches pick somebody else before me, I write that down. If somebody gets more reps than me in this walk-through, I write that down. It’s kind of like that chip on your shoulder, I think just that expression is said a lot, so I don’t like saying it, but I just take everything personally.”

His father Kurt Warner went undrafted as a quarterback in 1994 and is now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. You know him as the quarterback of “The Greatest Show on Turf”, Kade knows him as dad.

Kade Warner projects to be a slot wide receiver and special teams player. That’s how the “experts” see him, but Warner has different plans.

“So, I’m competitive like that, and I’m the smartest receiver in this [rookie] class,” Warner stated. “I’ve said it before. They’re going to get a good slot receiver out of me, and I’m going to know exactly what to do on every play.”

Confidence breeds excellence, Kade has that for sure. And he’ll need that and more to crack the Buccaneers 53-man roster. It’ll be an uphill battle considering the roster has Mike Evans, Chris Godwin, Russell Gage and more already in house. That said, the Warner family knows about perseverance and drive, and Kade appears to embrace the challenge.

Special shout out to Matt Matera on this excellent story.