by John Miller
Peter King made a comment about Kurt Warner possibly being a Hall-Of-Fame candidate if he keeps on chugging in Arizona. That got me thinking, because I had always kind of put Warner in that group of AHOFers, the Almost Hall Of Famers. Terrell Davis and Randall Cunningham are AHOFers. But now Warner is changing his destiny with piles of stats to go along with a Super Bowl ring and tons of awards.
Let’s break Warner down:
| NFL MVP 1999 |
| NFL MVP 2001 |
| Won Super Bowl XXXIV |
| Lost Super Bowl XXXVI |
| MVP of Super Bowl XXXIV |
| Super Bowl record 414 passing yards |
| 3 Pro Bowls, on pace for a 4th |
| 2nd all-time with career 94.5 passer rating |
| 2nd all-time with career 65.7% completion rate |
| 5th all-time with 8.1 yards per attempt |
| 46 career 300-yard efforts in 102 career games, 45% rate (next is Dan Fouts at 28%) |
| 35-8 record as a starter from 1999-2001 |
| 5-2 playoff overall record |
| 4 postseason 300-yard games |
| Led league in passing yards 3 times |
| Led league in completion rate 3 times, on pace to lead a 4th time at 70.6% this year |
| 2nd fastest QB to reach 20,000 yards in history, 76 games |
| 3rd highest single-season yardage total in history, 4,830 yards |
(And think about all those games where he left early with concussion, thumb, & elbow injuries)
Note: Of the 16 other QBs to win Super Bowl MVP, 11 are in the Hall of Fame or will be: Bart Starr, Len Dawson, Joe Namath, Roger Staubach, Terry Bradshaw, Joe Montana, Steve Young, John Elway, Troy Aikman, Tom Brady, & Peyton Manning. 4 Super Bowl MVPs didn't make it in the Hall: Jim Plunkett, Phil Simms, Doug Williams and Mark Rypien. But those 4 guys’ overall passing stats don’t touch Warner’s.
Health willing he’s going to move up to 29,000 career passing yards at the end of the season. He’ll land at around #33 all-time near Rich Gannon at 29,253 yards. Same with the TD passes. Warner is at 171 and could be up at 188, just over Sammy Baugh (187) at #36 all-time by season’s end. Warner is only 37, so let’s assume he gets a 3-year extension and keeps Matt Leinart seated. At a conservative estimate of just three more, say, 3,400-yard/22-TD seasons in 2009, 2010, and 2011 he would land at these retirement numbers:
39,200 passing yards – 12th all-time right behind HOFers Johnny Unitas & Joe Montana
254 TD passes – tied for 12th all-time with HOFer Dan Fouts, ahead of HOFer Jim Kelly
Warner has collected jewelry and trophies. Those are the two quickest ways to get onto the HOF ballot. Plus he dresses it all up with these superlative stats. If he plays 3 more solid years after this one, right up to age 40, he’s in the Hall. And you know what, the Cardinals are 6-3 and playoff-bound in 2008. He could pad his postseason resume and not even have to play 3 more years to get in… maybe just 2 more years if he squeezes in a 3rd NFC Championship appearance (or Super Bowl?).
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