Kurt Warner on 'Dancing With the Stars' Exit
Ex-QB headed home after judges scored him near the bottom of the final five.
Nov. 10, 2010 — -- Football legend Kurt Warner, who was eliminated from "Dancing With the Stars" Tuesday night, told "Good Morning America" he was proud to be the last athlete standing this season.
"I was pleasantly surprised at how well we did," Warner said of his performance with professional partner Anna Trebunskaya.
The former NFL quarterback and Superbowl MVP stepped outside his comfort zone when he traded the field for the dance floor.
"I played football for so long that it became natural, it became something I was good at," Warner said. "['Dancing With the Stars'] was such a huge challenge. It was more difficult than I thought it would be."
Warner agreed that many of the skills required of athletes probably translated to the dance floor.
"Commitment to your craft, willingness to work, footwork is always a big part of athletics. ... Those things lended themselves to the dances," he said.
Warner's professional partner, Anna Trebunskaya, who has been paired with a host of athletes on the show, including Olympic skater Evan Lysacek and another football star Jerry Rice, said she was impressed by Warner's performing abilities.
"The problem for athletes ... they're not really performers, don't really know how to externalize how they're feeling," Trebunskaya said on "GMA." "[Warner] went out there every single week, had a blast, and made everybody enjoy it."
The judges praised Warner for coming out and having fun, but he received nothing but eights for the two dances in his final week, landing him second from the bottom, only ahead of Bristol Palin.
Fellow competitors Jennifer Grey and Brandy tied for first place, with Brandy winning the ballroom dance round and Grey taking home the crown for the instant dance.
Before his departure, Warner received a standing ovation and a chant of "MVP" from the audience. He exchanged hugs with his competitors and noted, "I learned a long time ago that life isn't always about winning and losing competitions. It's about relationships."
Brandy is a platinum-selling R&B and pop singer, actress, songwriter, and record/television producer. In 1994, at the age of 15, Brandy released her eponymous debut album, which sold more than 6 million copies. Following a major success with "The Boy Is Mine," a duet with singer Monica that spent 13 weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, she won a Grammy Award for Best R&B performance by a duo or group. The accompanying album, "Never Say Never," in 1998 sold more than 16 million copies worldwide. A series of hit CDs followed, including "Full Moon," "Afrodisiac" and "Human," bringing the star's sales to more than 30 million records to date.
Related Stories
ABC News Live