Next stop for Warner is Canton
by Paul Hopkins
31/1/2010
On Friday, flanked by his family Kurt Warner announced his retirement from the National Football League, thus ending one of the most tumultuous roller coaster careers anyone has ever had enjoyed in the game. Over recent weeks and months as the end of his career drew ever nearer, there has been much chatter across the blogs, the radio waves, TV and the internet as to whether Warner is deserving of consideration for the Hall of Fame. These views have ranged from him being worthy of automatic entry upon eligibility in 2015, through to the far end of the spectrum and those who believe he is not of sufficient calibre for Canton.
It is my belief that Warner should be an automatic selection when his candidacy comes up in 2015. Three years ago this would not have been the case. The two-time MVP, the leader of the Greatest Show on Turf was an afterthought after his torrid time in New York where he was written off as finished; his time in St Louis an afterthought. But he reinvented himself, saw off a highly-touted Heisman trophy winner in Matt Leinart and became the man who led the often-derided Arizona Cardinals to their first Superbowl.
The story of Warner’s rags to riches tale has been well worn over the years but its worth re-visiting much of this, as it is precisely the struggles he has overcome and what he has achieved subsequently, which make him most deserving of being enshrined as soon as possible.
Going undrafted out of Northern Iowa in 1994, Warner eventually got to try out at Green Bay, but didn’t last long and soon found himself stacking shelves in a local supermarket. Eventually given a chance to play in the Arena Football League for the imaginatively titled Iowa Barnstormers, Warner began to shine in this environment. Eventually he got noticed and was picked up by the St Louis Rams, before being sent to Europe and the NFL Europe League with the Amsterdam Admirals where again he shone.
The Rams cleared their QB decks after the 1998 season, which left Kurt as back-up to Trent Green. Green tore his ACL in the pre-season, which left the highly talented franchise in the hands of the untried Warner. He led the ‘Greatest Show on Turf’ to the Superbowl and their pulsating win over the Tennessee Titans, setting all sort of records in the process, culminating in being awarded both the NFL MVP and the Superbowl MVP in the process.
From here the Rams enjoyed a period of success the franchise had never previously enjoyed, and were only denied a second Superbowl victory as the (then) upstart New England Patriots, themselves led by an unknown QB in Tom Brady shocked the world to win Superbowl XXXVI. For Warner, things were never the same again in St Louis. A loss of form and injury saw him lose his starting position to Mark Bulger. Warner was released in June 2004.
It took no time at all unsurprisingly for the two-time League MVP to be picked up. It was the New York Giants, needing a steady veteran hand to manage the ship whilst Eli Manning learnt the ropes in the league.
Despite posting a 5-4 record before being pulled for Manning, Warner struggled with injuries, concussions and fumbling issues in New York and looked a former shadow of himself. Warner reappeared once again shortly after, this time in Arizona where the 2005 season was solid enough, but nothing particularly out of the ordinary. 2006 started just as mediocre with rookie Matt Leinart taking the starting position over from Warner (and then being equally uninspiring in the role).
2007 started on the bench for Warner but after more under-whelming performances by Leinart he was back in the line-up. He led the Cardinals for the rest of the year, ending the season just one shy of the team’s touchdowns in a single season record but recording his best season since 2001.
2008 brought 4,583 passing yards, 30 touchdowns and a completion percentage of almost 70% as well as a trip to the Pro Bowl. The Cardinals won the NFC West and went on a charge through the post-season, inspired by Warner to eventually clinch the NFC Championship and a berth in Superbowl XLIII. Despite losing to the Steelers, Warner hung 377 yards on the leagues top defence, completing over 70% of his passes in the process.
I know statistics can prove anything and both sides can use them to make a case for and against his consideration for entry at all, not even as a first-ballot entree - which this post contends him to be. But, for me these stats are too overwhelming to be ignored:
- Three consecutive 500 point seasons when at the Rams from 1999-2001
- Two-time League MVP (1999 and 2001)
- A post-season record of 9-4 (an average passer rating of 102.8 and averaging 29.6 points per game)
- A career completion rate of 66.5%, ranking him second all-time
- Owns the three highest passing figures in yardage in Superbowl history - 414 yards vs Tennessee, 377 vs Pittsburgh and 365 vs New England
- Most passing yards in Superbowls - 1,156
- Highest completion rate in a single regular season game - 24/26 for Arizona @ Jacksonville (2009 season)
- Most touchdown passes in a single postseason - 11 (in 2009, tied with Hall of Famer Joe Montana, who did it in 1990)
- Highest career completion percentage, Playoffs - 66.5%
- Most Consecutive Games w/300+ Yards Passing - 6 (shared with Steve Young and Rich Gannon)
- Only NFL quarterback to throw 40 touchdowns and win a Super Bowl in the same season (1999)
- Only quarterback to throw for over 14,000 yards with two different teams (St. Louis Rams, Arizona Cardinals)
- One of only 2 players in NFL history to throw 100 touchdown passes with two different teams (shared with Hall of Famer, Fran Tarkenton)
- Highest rate of games w/300+ yards passing (min. 100 games played) - 41.9% (52/124)
- Tied Dan Marino as the fastest player to pass for 30,000 yards. He accomplished this in 114 games
- Tied Johnny Unitas with 4 consecutive games with a passer rating over 120
- 2nd Highest Average Passing Yards Per Game, Career (Min. 100 games) - 260.4 yards/game (behind future first ballot Hall of Famer, Peyton Manning)
- 2nd Highest career passer rating, Playoffs - 102.8
The obvious argument amongst his detractors is that he excelled when weapons were around him. And no-one, least of all Kurt would deny that he flourished with Marshall Faulk, Torry Holt, Isaac Bruce etc in St Louis as well as Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin in Arizona. But this never stopped others getting into the Hall of Fame. Nor should it.
Warner might well have taken an unconventional route to the top but his record stands up against anyone else. He might not be football royalty like Peyton Manning, or the NFL’s golden child like Tom Brady has become, or indeed everyone’s favourite gunslinger like Brett Favre. But Warner’s story is one that even Hollywood would dismiss as unrealistic. His record and ability to battle through adversity deserve recognition and in particular it is his record on the field that means he must be worthy of enshrinement in Canton, if not right away then certainly down the line. Add in his humility and never forgetting the route he had to take to get here, there can be little doubt that Kurt Warner deserves to enter Canton in 2015.
|
