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65 DAYS TO 2021 KICKOFF: Kade Warner

In which BracketCat counts down the 65th day until the 2021 kickoff with a profile of Kansas State wide receiver Kade Warner.

#81 Kade Warner
In 2021, former Nebraska wide receiver Kade Warner (81) will be bringing his talents two hours south to play for a former Big 12 Conference rival.
Photo by Michael Hickey/Getty Images

NOTE: Kansas State has elected to advance players’ classification even though the 2020 season did not affect eligibility. Those who wish to take advantage of this extra year will be listed as a (“super”) senior again after their original eligibility would have been exhausted.

#85 Kade Warner

Redshirt Senior | 6-1 | 205 lbs. | Scottsdale, Arizona
Kade Warner
Kade Warner
Courtesy Kansas State Athletics
  • Position: Wide Receiver
  • Previous College: University of Nebraska
  • Projection: Second-String
  • Status: On Scholarship

Kade Warner (b. September 29, 1998) is a wide receiver transferring in this summer from Nebraska (try not to hold that against him!) after a mildly productive career, but he probably is most famous for being the son of Super Bowl champion quarterback Kurt Warner.

He is a graduate student who is working on his master’s degree in academic advising.

Kade Warner played in 24 career games through four seasons at Nebraska, with 16 starts.

A former walk-on who redshirted in 2017 and was placed on scholarship prior to the 2020 season, Warner finished in Lincoln as a three-time Academic All-Big Ten performer and was named to the Brooks Berringer and Tom Osborne Citizenship teams in 2019 and 2020.

He saw action in nine games in 2018 and started seven of the Huskers’ last nine contests.

Warner had a 2018 season career high of 17 receptions, which included a pair of career-high four-catch games against Illinois and Iowa. He also rushed once for 4 yards against Ohio State and earned Academic All-Big Ten accolades.

He then played in seven games in 2019, with five starts, after missing the first four games of the season due to an injury, but still set a season career high with 101 receiving yards.

Warner tallied a career-best 38 yards — which included a career-long catch of 26 yards — at Minnesota and again picked up Academic All-Big Ten honors.

He played in all eight games of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, with four starts, hauling in five passes for 40 yards. Last year, Warner was voted a team captain and earned Academic All-Big Ten accolades for the third straight season.

He prepped under head coach David Sedmak at Desert Mountain High School in Scottsdale, Arizona, where he was a two-time all-state receiver, the 2016 Arizona Wide Receiver of the Year and the 2017 District Player of the Year.

Warner finished his three-year prep career for the Wolves with 2,892 receiving yards and 35 touchdowns, and also rushed 11 times for 53 yards and three more scores.

He broke the Arizona state record for most career catches with 241, passing Desert Mountain alum and current Baltimore Ravens tight end Mark Andrews, and also competed in basketball, track and lacrosse.

Warner’s father, Kurt, was a quarterback for Northern Iowa from 1989 to 1993 and was a college teammate of K-State head coach Chris Klieman.

Kurt Warner went on to play 12 seasons in the NFL and led teams to three Super Bowls, including a victory in Super Bowl XXXIV following the 1999 season. He was inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2017.