Post by Banana Cat on Nov 24, 2008 18:13:42 GMT -5
Very interesting article about Kurt Warner and the Pro Football Hall of Fame that I really hadn't thought about. 2 MVPs and 1 Superbowl win is hard to argue with though so I'd have to say yes. The Rams emergence that year they won the Superbowl also was great for the game and I hadn't heard so much talk about the NFL EVER in one year, even from non-fans. The Rams captivated everyone that year. Warner played great for most of his time with the Rams until he caught the injury bug that has plagued him until this season. For the first time in a long time he's healthy and it's showing. Personally, I don't think he's the MVP of the league this year, but his play has definitely returned to the form of his glory years with the Rams.
-------------------------------------------------
www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20081124/SPORTS05/811240333/1003/
-------------------------------------------------
www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20081124/SPORTS05/811240333/1003/
Keeler: Iowa native Warner may have Hall credentials24 November 2008
Kurt Warner has made the Arizona Cardinals relevant. Think about that for a minute - I just typed the words "Arizona Cardinals" and "relevant" in the same sentence. That feat alone should get your ticket punched to Canton.
As Arizona and the New York Giants squared off Sunday in a battle of division leaders (again, "Arizona" and "division leaders," same sentence, weird), the topic was starting to percolate a bit from coast to coast: Is Warner, 37, putting the cap on a Hall of Fame career?
"He's done everything," says former Dallas Cowboys personnel man Gil Brandt, now a blogger with NFL.com. "In my mind, there's no question that he deserves it."
Of all the resurrections that have marked Warner's career - from Northern Iowa to the Barnstormers, NFL Europe and the Rams' Greatest Show on Turf - the latest one might be the most admirable. At age 37, Warner's playing arguably the best ball of his career, leading the NFL in completion percentage (70.9) and passer rating (105.5). He's strung together four consecutive games of 300 or more passing yards.
"I'll tell you what, Kurt does a good job as far as controlling the defensive line's takeoff with his cadence," notes Ron Aiken, the former Iowa defensive line coach who now holds the same position with the Cardinals. "He just does a good job with every little detail in the ballgame."
Which is why the Cedar Rapids native is a front-runner for the MVP award, which would be his third - an NFL record he'd share with some guy named Brett Favre. Pretty fair company. Pretty fair legacy.
"I really don't know what you can say (badly) about the guy," Brandt chuckles. "You can say, well, he threw (three) interceptions against the Jets and that (when) he played against the Giants, they blitzed him to death and did all these things to him, but the guy just keeps coming along. It's all he does."
Whether it's in the middle of a collapsing pocket or in the public's consciousness, nobody hangs in there quite like Warner. Good thing, too, because there's no tougher crowd than the selectors for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It's a brutal bunch, a political bunch, even if you're a lead-pipe cinch. And let's be frank: Warner isn't. Not yet. They'll argue that his NFL career started too late (age 27); that his career numbers (27,163 passing yards coming into the weekend) pale against the likes of, say, Dan Marino (61,361 yards); that he was a "system" quarterback; that his track record was inconsistent.
"The only thing I'm wondering about is, was the window of excellence big enough?" asks former Cincinnati lineman and current Fox Sports analyst Dave Lapham. "When I roll (great) quarterbacks off my tongue, Kurt Warner's not one that rolls off real quickly."
Now, Lapham adds, don't get him wrong - he's a fan of the former Panther. Heck, he had a first-hand view at one of Warner's coming-out parties back in 1999, when, as a member of the Bengals' radio broadcast team, he watched the ex-Barnstormer torch Cincinnati for 310 passing yards and three touchdowns.
Warner even reminds him of one of his old pals and teammates, Ken Anderson. Both threw a tight, straight, catchable ball. Both worked with innovative passing minds early in their career - Anderson with Bill Walsh, who was a Bengals assistant for years before building his dynasty in San Francisco, and Warner with Mike Martz in St. Louis.
"I guess Warner is a strong candidate for the MVP award this year," Lapham says. "And in my mind, if he pulls that off, it's case closed - put the nails on that coffin and close it."
The numbers alone are enough to seal the deal. Warner has a 5-2 record as a starter in the postseason, and he's on the verge of leading the Cardinals to their first division crown since 1975. According to the Pro Football Reference.com Web site, Warner went into the weekend ranked first in NFL history in career passing yards per game (261.2), second in career completion percentage (65.7) and third in career passer rating (94.6).
If that's not enough, let's take the names off the back of the jerseys for a minute. Quarterback A has five 3,000-yard seasons, a career passer rating of 94.6 and won a Super Bowl. Quarterback B had six 3,000-yard seasons, posted a career passer rating of 96.8 and won a Super Bowl.
Quarterback A? Warner.
Quarterback B? Steve Young.
"I don't know what more you can ask of somebody," Brandt says. "He's got the skins on the wall."
He's got Arizona in the playoffs. That's good enough for me. It should be good enough for the Hall, too.
Kurt Warner has made the Arizona Cardinals relevant. Think about that for a minute - I just typed the words "Arizona Cardinals" and "relevant" in the same sentence. That feat alone should get your ticket punched to Canton.
As Arizona and the New York Giants squared off Sunday in a battle of division leaders (again, "Arizona" and "division leaders," same sentence, weird), the topic was starting to percolate a bit from coast to coast: Is Warner, 37, putting the cap on a Hall of Fame career?
"He's done everything," says former Dallas Cowboys personnel man Gil Brandt, now a blogger with NFL.com. "In my mind, there's no question that he deserves it."
Of all the resurrections that have marked Warner's career - from Northern Iowa to the Barnstormers, NFL Europe and the Rams' Greatest Show on Turf - the latest one might be the most admirable. At age 37, Warner's playing arguably the best ball of his career, leading the NFL in completion percentage (70.9) and passer rating (105.5). He's strung together four consecutive games of 300 or more passing yards.
"I'll tell you what, Kurt does a good job as far as controlling the defensive line's takeoff with his cadence," notes Ron Aiken, the former Iowa defensive line coach who now holds the same position with the Cardinals. "He just does a good job with every little detail in the ballgame."
Which is why the Cedar Rapids native is a front-runner for the MVP award, which would be his third - an NFL record he'd share with some guy named Brett Favre. Pretty fair company. Pretty fair legacy.
"I really don't know what you can say (badly) about the guy," Brandt chuckles. "You can say, well, he threw (three) interceptions against the Jets and that (when) he played against the Giants, they blitzed him to death and did all these things to him, but the guy just keeps coming along. It's all he does."
Whether it's in the middle of a collapsing pocket or in the public's consciousness, nobody hangs in there quite like Warner. Good thing, too, because there's no tougher crowd than the selectors for the Pro Football Hall of Fame. It's a brutal bunch, a political bunch, even if you're a lead-pipe cinch. And let's be frank: Warner isn't. Not yet. They'll argue that his NFL career started too late (age 27); that his career numbers (27,163 passing yards coming into the weekend) pale against the likes of, say, Dan Marino (61,361 yards); that he was a "system" quarterback; that his track record was inconsistent.
"The only thing I'm wondering about is, was the window of excellence big enough?" asks former Cincinnati lineman and current Fox Sports analyst Dave Lapham. "When I roll (great) quarterbacks off my tongue, Kurt Warner's not one that rolls off real quickly."
Now, Lapham adds, don't get him wrong - he's a fan of the former Panther. Heck, he had a first-hand view at one of Warner's coming-out parties back in 1999, when, as a member of the Bengals' radio broadcast team, he watched the ex-Barnstormer torch Cincinnati for 310 passing yards and three touchdowns.
Warner even reminds him of one of his old pals and teammates, Ken Anderson. Both threw a tight, straight, catchable ball. Both worked with innovative passing minds early in their career - Anderson with Bill Walsh, who was a Bengals assistant for years before building his dynasty in San Francisco, and Warner with Mike Martz in St. Louis.
"I guess Warner is a strong candidate for the MVP award this year," Lapham says. "And in my mind, if he pulls that off, it's case closed - put the nails on that coffin and close it."
The numbers alone are enough to seal the deal. Warner has a 5-2 record as a starter in the postseason, and he's on the verge of leading the Cardinals to their first division crown since 1975. According to the Pro Football Reference.com Web site, Warner went into the weekend ranked first in NFL history in career passing yards per game (261.2), second in career completion percentage (65.7) and third in career passer rating (94.6).
If that's not enough, let's take the names off the back of the jerseys for a minute. Quarterback A has five 3,000-yard seasons, a career passer rating of 94.6 and won a Super Bowl. Quarterback B had six 3,000-yard seasons, posted a career passer rating of 96.8 and won a Super Bowl.
Quarterback A? Warner.
Quarterback B? Steve Young.
"I don't know what more you can ask of somebody," Brandt says. "He's got the skins on the wall."
He's got Arizona in the playoffs. That's good enough for me. It should be good enough for the Hall, too.