U-Haul Plays Hard, Supports Cause at Kurt Warner Ultimate Football Experience

Mar 13, 2015

TEMPE, ARIZ. – Team U-Haul didn’t dent the win column this year, but it relished a memorable day and took solace in knowing its participation in the 2015 Kurt Warner Ultimate Football Experience helped support an important cause.

Team U-Haul quarterback Brian Hoyer gets ready to start a play at the Kurt Warner Ultimate Football Experience.

Team U-Haul quarterback Brian Hoyer gets ready to start a play at the Kurt Warner Ultimate Football Experience.

Eight U-Haul Team Members played in the prestigious flag football event hosted by the former two-time MVP quarterback on March 7 at the Arizona Cardinals’ training facility in Tempe.

VIDEO: Team U-Haul at the 2015 Kurt Warner Ultimate Football Experience

The Kurt Warner UFE is the main fundraiser for Warner’s First Things First Foundation, of which U-Haul is a corporate sponsor. First Things First helps hard-working, single-parent families achieve their goal of home ownership.

This marked the fourth year that U-Haul supported the Kurt Warner UFE and the second year that it entered a full team. One current or former NFL players joined each team to play quarterback in the event, and teams chose their quarterbacks based on the results of go-kart racing, Segway driving and football throwing at the March 6 draft party at Octane Raceway in Scottsdale.

Tournament host Kurt Warner speaks to Team U-Haul before a game against his team. Warner quarterbacked Team U-Haul in 2014.

Event host Kurt Warner speaks to Team U-Haul before a game against his team. Warner quarterbacked Team U-Haul in 2014.

U-Haul selected third among eight teams and drafted former Cleveland Browns and new Houston Texans quarterback Brian Hoyer. Hoyer, who signed a two-year, $10.5-million free-agent deal May 11 with the Texans, partnered with Albert Alvarez, Patrick Bylow, team captain Dain Howell, Scott Kirkeby, Chasan Royer, Kyle Royer, Mike Shardy and Charlie Taylor of U-Haul.

Warner and San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick were the first two pros drafted. Rudy Carpenter, Ty Detmer, John Lynch, Mark Rypien and Tyrod Taylor also volunteered their time and throwing arms to this year’s event.

San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick was one of the stars of this year's Kurt Warner Ultimate Football Experience.

San Francisco 49ers QB Colin Kaepernick was one of the stars of this year’s Kurt Warner Ultimate Football Experience.

U-Haul was dealt a difficult schedule and dropped its three pool-play games on a sunny Saturday, resulting in a rigorous draw for the afternoon’s double-elimination tournament. R&S Mattress, led by Kaepernick, edged U-Haul in the tournament opener and U-Haul bowed out in the next game, ending an exciting – and equally tiring – event for the men in orange.

“It was a great time,” Kirkeby said. “We had eight great guys and Brian Hoyer. We went out there and it wasn’t as we expected. We wanted to come home with a championship. But we had a lot of fun and we supported a good cause.

“I just really want to thank U-Haul for being our employer, sponsoring this event and giving us the chance to come out here and meet Brian Hoyer, Colin Kaepernick, Kurt Warner and many other NFL quarterbacks. It was just an overall great time.”

U-Haul helped furnish the homes of two Arizona families last November through First Things First’s Homes for the Holidays. Read about the Amda family and the Roberts family on MyUHaulStory.com.

More articles like this one…

What’s New

Veterans Day 2023: U-Haul Shows Support in 3 Parades

Veterans Day 2023: U-Haul Shows Support in 3 Parades

From the Big Apple to the Valley of the Sun, U-Haul Team Members honored our nation’s heroes by participating in three Veterans Day Parades on Nov. 11. The ongoing U-Haul commitment to veterans -- and support of Veterans Day parades to honor them -- derives from the...

U-Haul Bakes Pizzas with Purpose at St. Vincent de Paul

U-Haul Bakes Pizzas with Purpose at St. Vincent de Paul

What do delicious homemade pizza and Team U-Haul have in common? They were both recently found at St. Vincent de Paul’s main campus in Phoenix during a volunteer event where U-Haul Team Members and other volunteers prepared 150 pies for people in need of food. For...

Serving Meals at André House Brings Joy to U-Haul Volunteers

Serving Meals at André House Brings Joy to U-Haul Volunteers

Located in a bustling section of Phoenix, André House serves hundreds of people each day who are currently experiencing homelessness. The nonprofit generously provides a variety of resources to help people get back on their feet, including free hot meals, drinking...

U-Haul Makes Meals to Help Families at Ronald McDonald House

U-Haul Makes Meals to Help Families at Ronald McDonald House

For more than 37 years, Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) of Central and Northern Arizona has provided a “home away from home” for families traveling to the Valley to obtain medical care for their children. At the Roanoke House in Midtown Phoenix and other...

U-Haul and VVA Unite to Serve Veterans

U-Haul and VVA Unite to Serve Veterans

Vietnam Veterans of America (VVA), an organization founded in 1978 to support and advocate for veterans of the Vietnam War, serves by the motto “never again will one generation of veterans abandon another.” VVA’s goal is to promote the well-being of all veterans and...