We here at Fanster.com are proud to announce that Kurt Warner, starting quarterback for the Arizona Cardinals, is the recipient of our “Fanster.com Phoenix Athlete of the Year” award. Warner becomes the first Arizona athlete to receive the award for his performance in 2008, throwing for 4,583 yards, 30 touchdowns and leading the Cardinals to their first division title since 1975. Warner’s 2008 numbers were his best since 2001 when he threw for 4,830 yards and 36 touchdowns, and was named the MVP of the NFL, and led the St. Louis Rams to an NFC Championship.

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Kurt Warner: 2008 Phoenix Athlete of the Year

The award winner was selected by a vote of influential Phoenix media members and bloggers including Mark Asher, Dave Burns and John Gambadoro of Sports 620 KTAR, Dan Hilton of Suns.com, Vince Marotta of Fanster.com, Kevin McCabe of AM 1060 The Fan and Darren Urban of AzCardinals.com. All voters ranked their top five professional or amateur athletes in Phoenix in 2008. A first place vote was worth 5 points, 4 points for a second-place vote, 3 points for a third-place vote, 2 points for a fourth-place vote, and 1 point for a fifth-place vote......