Will a Cardinals Victory in Super Bowl 43 Make Kurt Warner a Hall of Famer?

January 29, 2009 By 4 Comments

Is Kurt Warner a Hall of Famer? | Warner Playoff Record and Stats | Super Bowl Passing RecordAs we approach Super Bowl 43, and the third appearance in the Big Game for Arizona QB Kurt Warner, the Hall of Fame credentials of Warner have become a hot topic of debate.

Warner’s career as a starter began in 1999, when he quarterbacked “The Greatest Show on Turf” in St. Louis to the Super Bowl crown. Along the way that season he racked up 4,353 yards, 41 TDs, and both an NFL MVP and Super Bowl MVP trophy. In many ways, considering the complete obscurity from which Warner came, it is one of the great single-season performances by an individual in not just NFL history, but in sports history.

In 2001, Warner brought the Rams to another Super Bowl (which they lost to New England) and won his second regular season MVP Award. He was not as dominant, throwing “only” 36 TDs against 22 INTs, but he set a personal record with 4,830 passing yards and still finished with a passer rating over 100 (101.4).

The next five years, however, were lost years for Warner. He battled injuries and ineffectiveness as he bounced from St. Louis to an infamously bad one year in New York and then to Arizona in 2005. While he was never truly terrible (Warner has never had a passer rating below 85.8 in any season in which he has started 10 or more games), Warner fell sharply off the radar screen from his days as the MVP in St. Louis.

This season, however, Kurt Warner has rocketed back to prominence. His regular season numbers were outstanding: 4,583 yards, a completion percentage of 67.1%, 30 TDs, and a passer rating of 96.9. And don’t give me the whole “well he has Larry Fitzgerald and Anquan Boldin” argument. Joe Montana had Jerry Rice, Roger Craig, and John Taylor, plus Bill Walsh crafting the offense; and I don’t hear that argument when people extol the greatness of Montana.

Warner’s true greatness, however, can best be viewed through his performance in the 10 biggest games in which he has played: the playoffs. Heading into Super Bowl 43, Warner has a career playoff passer rating of 97.3. This is good for second all-time as the immortal Bart Starr has a rating of 104.8. Joe Montana is third with a rating of 95.6. Additionally, Warner has a 9-1 record as a QB in the playoffs, with his onlKurt Warner Hall of Fame - Playoff and Super Bowl Statsy loss thus far coming to the Patriots in Super Bowl 36. Of all quarterbacks with 10 or more playoff starts, Warner’s winning percentage is the highest.

Sunday night, Kurt Warner can further bolster his Hall of Fame resume. Not only does Warner have a chance to join Joe Montana, Bart Starr, Terry Bradshaw, and Tom Brady as the only two-time Super Bowl MVPs – Montana actually won it three times – but there is a significant Super Bowl record within Warner’s reach:

Kurt Warner needs 364 passing yards to break Joe Montana’s record of 1,142 career passing yards in the Super Bowl, which Montana accumulated in four games. Incidentally, 364 yards would be Kurt Warner’s lowest total in a Super Bowl as he threw for 414 and 365 yards in his previous Super Bowl appearances (good for 1st and 2nd on the single-game Super Bowl record list).

So let’s be hypothetical for a moment, and let’s say the Cardinals and Kurt Warner overcome the odds (literally, as Pittsburgh is a 7-point favorite) to win the Super Bowl and Warner is named MVP. This would be Kurt Warner’s Hall of Fame resume:

  • 10-1 record in the postseason (best playoff winning percentage ever)
  • 2-time NFL MVP
  • 2-time Super Bowl MVP
  • Only QB to be named Super Bowl MVP for two different teams
  • Second-highest career completion percentage
  • Highest career average passing yards per game
  • Second-highest career playoff passer rating
  • Most career yards in Super Bowl (you have to assume he’ll be throwing for a lot of yards if the Cardinals are to win)
  • Intangible: the greatest rags-to-riches story in NFL history

Do the cumulative numbers stack up against the greatest QBs in NFL history? No, and they never will. Kurt Warner is already 37 years old and has maybe a couple more seasons left in him. He can move up the charts for wins, passing yards, TDs, etc., but his career numbers will never stack up against the greats.

What Warner will possess, if the Cardinals win and he plays great, is one of the greatest playoff and Super Bowl resumes of any player in NFL history. With as much emphasis as is placed on getting a Super Bowl ring and coming up Is Kurt Warner a Hall of Fame QB?big in clutch spots, Warner’s playoff resume will give him a tremendous boost when his name is called for HOF voting. Additionally, Warner will have done what no one thought possible: deliver a Super Bowl championship to the long-suffering Cardinals franchise.

If the Cardinals lose, even if Warner plays amazing, his candidacy will take a huge hit. Despite the two NFL MVP awards, Warner simply does not have a substantial enough regular season career to merit Hall consideration. He needs the incredible quality of his playoff resume to compensate for the fact that he has really only had 3 spectacular regular seasons. A 1-2 Super Bowl record and only one Super Bowl MVP award is a significant step back from a 2-1 Super Bowl record and two Super Bowl MVP awards. The rarified air that another Super Bowl win would place him in immediately vaults him into serious Hall of Fame consideration.

Kurt Warner would go into the Hall of Fame as one of the best playoff QBs of all-time – a player who was at his best on the grandest stage when his team needed him the most. His Hall of Fame candidacy will be built upon this clutch dominance. To merit legitimate Hall of Fame consideration, Kurt Warner needs to lead the Arizona Cardinals to a Super Bowl title on Sunday.

If he does, at least in my book, Kurt Warner will make himself a Hall of Famer.

What do you think?

Is Kurt Warner a Hall of Famer?

View Results

Loading ... Loading ...

And, for the record, Jason Whitlock has a post today covering the same subject. He thinks even the question is “ridiculous”. If Namath is in the HOF, says Whitlock, then Warner has to be. And with a win Sunday, Whitlock places Warner among the top 10 QBs of all-time.

Filed Under: Featured Column, NFL Tagged With: arizona cardinals, kurt warner, records, St. Louis Rams, super bowl

Jodie Meeks Explodes for 54 Points to Break Kentucky Single-Game Scoring Record

January 14, 2009 By 6 Comments
jodie-meeks

Jodie Meeks Scores 54 points, Breaks Kentucky Record | Video and HighlightsWow.

While I was writing the Eagles-Cardinals preview that I posted last night, I briefly turned on the TV for a moment and saw that Kentucky was playing Tennessee on ESPN. The Wildcats (who, as a die-hard Hoosier, I personally hate) were leading by about 10 so I quickly flipped off.

Until I got into the car this morning and listened to the radio, I had no idea what I missed: Jodie Meeks scoring 54 points in Kentucky’s 90-72 victory, breaking the all-time single scoring record at Kentucky that had previously been held by Dan Issel (53 points).

Meeks went 10-15 from downtown en route to the single scoring record, as well as 14-14 from the free throw line. Sprinkle in five other field goals and you’ve got 54. And as Pat Forde of ESPN.com noted this morning, if you are looking at Meeks’ performance purely from the perspective of the proportion of his team’s points scored, then the performance of Meeks easily dwarfs that of Issel:

The 54 points broke the 39-year-old school record of Dan Issel, who scored 53 against Mississippi. It should be noted that Kentucky scored 120 points that day, which means Issel scored 44 percent of the Wildcats’ total. Meeks racked up a ridiculous 60 percent of Kentucky’s points here — an extraordinary display of shooting and stamina stretched over 39 jaw-dropping minutes.

If you have not seen the video or highlights yet, they are pretty amazing. Take a look:

As a former three-point gunner myself way back in glory days of high school, I can certainly appreciate a 10-15 performance from downtown. The most I ever made in a game was 7, and I don’t think too many people who have ever played the game of basketball can say that they scored 50 or more points in a regulation game.

It stinks that Kentucky won, as it always does when they are victorious…but congratulations to Jodie Meeks. From one shooter to another, that was an absolutely amazing performance.

(On a quick side note, I would like to take this opportunity to extend both of my middle fingers into the air in the general direction of wherever Kelvin Sampson is. Do you realize what has happened this morning? Indiana played Ohio State last and I did not even consider posting about it. The Buckeyes jumped out to a 33-10 lead and cruised from there. Yet, I am writing a story about a Kentucky player. Something is very wrong here, and it is all the fault of that snake Sampson. Thanks for letting me vent.)

Filed Under: CBB Tagged With: CBB, jodie meeks, kentucky wildcats, records

Saints Beat Packers – Drew Brees On Pace to Break Dan Marino’s Season Record

November 25, 2008 By 6 Comments
Drew Brees Celebrates

Update 12/22: Drew Brees now needs 402 yards in the Saints’ Week 17 game against Carolina to break Dan Marino’s all-time record of 5,084 for passing yards in a season.

It is official. I need to stop making predictions.

For any of you who wasted time reading my Saints-Packers Monday Night Football prediction, I apologize. As with nearly every Cleveland Browns game this year, and the Texas Tech-Oklahoma game, among many others, I was way off on my Packers-Saints prediction.

My Monday Night Football prediction: Packers 38 | Saints 31

Actual score: Saints 51 | Packers 29

However, I am happy about this result because while my heart belongs to the Browns and the Dolphins, the Saints are my favorite NFC team. I don’t root for them actively, but I would like to see them make the playoffs. And the primary reason is their quarterback, Drew Brees.

Yes, I am an Indiana fan and an Indiana grad, and I am also an unabashed fan of Drew Brees.

Drew Brees On Pace to Break Single Season Passing Record Held By Dan MarinoFor the evening Drew Brees was phenomenal. He finished 20-26 with 4 TDs, no INTs, and 323 passing yards. That is a sick 12.4 yards per completion.

For the season, Drew Brees has now passed for 3574 yards through 11 games. That is good for 324.9 yards per game. If Brees is able to maintain that pace through the final five games of the season he will finish with 5,198 yards. The NFL record is held by Dan Marino, who threw for 5,084 yards in 1984. (Interestingly, Drew Brees is not the only quarterback chasing Dan Marino this year. Kurt Warner has passed for 3,506 yards this season, which also puts him on pace to surpass Marino.)

(Oh, and even more interestingly, though not of any interest to anyone but me, I have either Drew Brees or Kurt Warner on all five of my fantasy teams, and both of them on two. I can’t predict games, but damnit I can draft quarterbacks!)

Dan Marino has always been one of my favorite players, but if anyone has to break his single-season passing record I hope that it is Drew Brees. After watching Brees dominate the Big Ten while playing for my arch nemesis Purdue, I thought the Dolphins should have drafted Brees to be the heir apparent to Marino. However, the Dolphins made the same mistake as every other NFL team with a first round pick that year: they passed on the undersized quarterback whose arm was supposed to not be strong enough.

Drew Brees has consistently proven people wrong during his NFL career, and he is certainly doing it again this year. In a season in which his most dynamic offensive weapon has been nagged by injuries (Reggie Bush) and his most consistent receiver has also been hit with the injury bug (Marques Colston), Drew Brees is having his finest season.

And I can’t think of any better compliment to Drew Brees’ abilities than this: An IU grad and a lifelong fan of Dan Marino (a huge cardboard cutout of Marino is currently staring at me as I write this) is actively rooting for Drew Brees to break the record.

(But for the record, if any annoying Purdue fan posts “Boiler Up” in the comments section, I will ban your IP address from this site and delete this post.)

[tags]nfl records, drew brees, new orleans saints[/tags]

Filed Under: Featured Column, NFL Tagged With: Drew Brees, Monday Night Football, new orleans saints, records