February 1, 2009
Warners pick up tab for Steelers fans
Associated Press

TAMPA, Fla. -- Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner and his wife,
Brenda, have a family tradition of picking up the check for another
table whenever they eat out. And they don't let team allegiances get in
the way.

While eating Friday night at The Cheesecake Factory in Tampa, the
Warners selected a group of 20 Pittsburgh Steelers fans and paid for
their meal. The Cardinals play the Steelers for the Super Bowl title today.

"We started doing that when we were in St. Louis, and the manager would
always give us our meal for free whenever we ate out," Brenda Warner
said. "I had been a single mother living on food stamps at one time who
couldn't ever afford to eat out, and I never understood why people give
free meals to people who can afford them."

The Warners started a tradition of allowing their seven children to pick
one family in the restaurant, and they try to quietly pay that table's
tab before slipping out the door.

"It's gotten to be part of a game with the kids," Brenda Warner said.
"They'll say 'Oh, that family has a lot of kids, dinner must be
expensive.' Or 'They look old, maybe it's hard for them to afford eating
out a lot.'

"We try to be discreet about it, because we don't want people trying to
get picked."