Kurt Warner: Hall of Fame Quarterback?
Is Kurt Warner a Pro Football Hall of Fame Quarterback? That is the question all of the sports radio hosts in the Dallas area have been asking all week. My initial answer was “yes”, but after doing some research, I’m not so sure. Let’s look at the stats:
• 28,591 career passing yards
• 182 touchdowns
• Career completion percentage of 65.4
• Career QB rating of 93.8
• Victory in Super Bowl XXXIV
• Super Bowl MVP 2000
• Starting QB Super Bowl XXXVI
• NFL MVP 1999 and 2001
• Pro Bowls 1999, 2000, 2001, 2009
• First Team All-Pro 1999, 2001
One might argue that his stats aren’t as strong as some recently inducted HoF Quarterbacks.
“He hasn’t won as many Super Bowls as Troy Aikman!”
Nope. But he’s already won more Super Bowls than Dan Marino, Warren Moon and Jim Kelly combined, and his Passer Rating is also significantly better than all 3 of these quarterbacks.
“He doesn’t have as many passing yards as any of the HoF quarterbacks you just listed!”
Right again. But think about it for a minute. Warren Moon spent 10 years in the Run and Shoot totaling 33,685 yards. Let’s do a little math and compare that to Kurt Warner’s years in “The Greatest Show on Turf”. If you throw out Warner’s rookie season where he only played in 1 game, you have 5 seasons and 14,408 yards (don’t forget that Warner broke a finger on his throwing hand in 2002 and was only able to play in 7 games which led to a shaky start in 2003 when he played in only 2 games and was replaced by a promising young Quarterback named Marc Bulger. He only played a total of 9 games in those two seasons.).
I know, ♪Excuses. Excuses. You hear them every day♪. But that total is better than Aikman’s first 5 seasons as a starter (13,627), and is right in line with Kelly’s (15,730) and Moon’s (14,669).
His stats were meager to average from 2002 through 2006, where he dealt with injuries, mediocre talent in other offensive skill positions, and 2 first round rookie quarterbacks (Eli Manning – NY Giants and Matt Leinert – AZ Cardinals).
In 2007 Warner was able to play in 14 games and showed the ability that helped him lead the Rams to a Super Bowl and become a League MVP. Obviously his 2008 season is what has started this conversation. This season he threw for 4,583 yards 30 touchdowns and only 14 interceptions with a passer rating of 96.9. He led his team to the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history, earned a trip to the Pro Bowl, and I believe should have been the League MVP (but NFL darling Peyton Manning edged him out).
Now, back to the question: Is Kurt Warner worthy of the Pro Football Hall of Fame? At this moment, probably not. One thing that would end this conversation would be a Cardinals victory in Super Bowl XLIII. A second Super Bowl MVP makes it a no-brainer. But if the Cardinals lose, what happens? I believe 2-3 more years of strong stats and a playoff appearance or two would make his case. That would give him more good seasons than the string of bad ones he had in the middle of his career and probably allow HoF voters to take into account the adversity he experienced in those years.
