SANTA CLARA, Calif. � The funny thing is, Kurt Warner bought every word Mike Singletary was saying when they sat across the table from each other last March.

Warner, too, envisioned a franchise that could work in complete unison, one that had everyone from the front office to the practice squad operating on the same page.
There was just one problem.
�I really just felt like God was telling me, �I brought you to Arizona to do the exact same thing that coach Singletary�s trying to do in San Francisco,� � Warner said.
Less than an hour into his Bay Area visit, the two-time MVP was ready to sign � with the Cardinals. He couldn�t even wait to get home. Warner called his agent from the private jet the 49ers had chartered for him and said, �Hey, let�s get this done.�
Warner�s spurning of the 49ers adds a twist to an already compelling story line for Week 1. The playoff-starved 49ers open the regular season on Sunday against the defending NFC champions.
It�s a pivotal game, so soon.
�It couldn�t come sooner,� coach Mike Singletary said.
Singletary, though, was in no rush to recount the 49ers� attempt to sign Warner as a free agent. In his opening remarks to the media Wednesday, the coach warned reporters not to bother asking.
�That�s already been handled, already been dealt with �� don�t want to go there,� Singletary said.
Warner, in contrast, jumped at the chance. Perhaps sensing an opportunity to stress his sincerity, addressed the suspicion that his Bay Area visit was nothing more than a brazen contract ploy. (The Cardinals upped their offer to two years, with $19 million in guarantees).
Recounting his thought process, Warner said he was reluctant to explore options as a free-agent. But when talks with Arizona hit a snag, he said �it opened up my eyes that I might not finish my career here.�
So before visiting Santa Clara, he rounded up his family for a chat and told them it was not a drill. �Are you open to the possibility of moving?� he asked them.
Warner�s seven kids gave him the green light, which is how, on March 3, he wound up in a Santa Clara office with Singletary and talking about the future.
In Warner�s words, they both envisioned a team where �everyone is working side by side, instead of as different entities. We talked about building a united organization that cannot be torn apart.�
The more they spoke, though, the more Warner felt God telling him to stay put. �I know a lot of people don�t understand it, but I�m a very spiritual guy. My faith is very important to me,� Warner said.
Football only partly entered the equation. It would have made a strange mix. Singletary wants a run-oriented offense; Warner is one of the most prolific passers of all-time (he has 300-yard passing games in an NFL-record 44 percent of his starts.)
�I�m not sure it was an exact match, football-wise,� Warner acknowledged. �But that doesn�t mean we couldn�t have met in the middle and made it work.�
The question now is how much his decision to re-sign affected the balance of power in the NFC West. If Warner operates as he did in the playoffs a year ago, the high-octane Cardinals might be too potent for the conservative 49es to keep pace.
Warner�s 1,147 passing yards were the most in an NFL postseason. During the regular season, Arizona had three 1,000-yard receivers in Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston.
The 49ers haven�t had even one 1,000-yard receiver since 2003.
No wonder they took their best shot at Warner.
Now, they�ll take their chances with Shaun Hill, who has no delusions about being able to match the four-time Pro Bowler�s huge yardage totals.
Asked about the 49ers� flirtation with Warner, Hill said he wasn�t offended by the 49ers� wandering eye.
�I think one of you (reporters) broke the news to me when I was trout fishing,� he said. �It�s not like I was too worried about it then, and I haven�t read into it since. It is part of the NFL.�