Kurt Warner first ballot or not?

[conace21]

Not going to list the stats here, but he was noticeably less effective in Championship games and Super Bowls.

He was lucky to even make the Super Bowl he won. He had possibly the worst game of his career in the 1999 NFC Championship game, then struggled again in the Super Bowl. Compare those two games to any other game he played in 1999 and they look pretty bad by comparison. (Giving him his due, he did make the two big throws that won those games.)

In the 2001 NFC Champions game, Faulk carried the Rams to victory in the second half. And, of course, Warner's pick to Harrison killed the Cardinals in the later Super Bowl.

He just didn't play his best in the biggest games. He was a point producing machine, but struggled to put points on the board in the three Super Bowls and threw more picks.

But he did get them there, and had rare talent. And his story matters, in my opinion.

It is interesting to note that the top three marks for most passing yards in a Super Bowl belong to Kurt Warner, Kurt Warner and Kurt Warner. I say he gets in on the first try.

Warner had a horrible game for most of the day against Tampa Bay, but he played well enough in the 2001 conference championship game and threw 4 TD passes against Philly to advance to his third Super Bowl. And in both of his Super Bowl losses, Warner's team fell behind, thanks in part to his less-than-brilliant play in the beginning of the games. However, he passed his team back into the game. Against New England, he hit three straight passes to tie the score, bang, bang, bang.
Against Pittsburgh, most of the credit for the go ahead score goes to Fitzgerald. However, Warner hit him perfectly on the slant pass so he didn't have to break stride.
I also don't fault him too much for the Super Bowl interceptions. He had Mike Vrabel in his face when he was picked off by Law...admittedly, you can argue that he should never have thrown it. Otis Smith had knocked down Torry Holt on his second interception. And Harrison was never supposed to have been in coverage on that play. He dropped off on his own accord.

[Rupert Patrick]

Another great playoff game for Warner was his final postseason victory, when the Cards beat the Packers 51-45 in OT in the 2009 Wild Card game, which if memory serves is the highest scoring postseason game of all time. Warner had one of the half dozen greatest passing days in postseason history, going 29 of 33 for 379 yards, five TD's and zero interceptions.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/b ... 100crd.htm

In 13 postseason games, Warner completed 66.5 percent of his passes for 31 TD's and 14 INT's. He had a 9-4 career postseason won lost mark. I think an argument can be made that Warner may be one of the ten greatest postseason QB's of all time.

[26554]

Not going to list the stats here, but he was noticeably less effective in Championship games and Super Bowls.

He was lucky to even make the Super Bowl he won. He had possibly the worst game of his career in the 1999 NFC Championship game, then struggled again in the Super Bowl. Compare those two games to any other game he played in 1999 and they look pretty bad by comparison. (Giving him his due, he did make the two big throws that won those games.)

In the 2001 NFC Champions game, Faulk carried the Rams to victory in the second half. And, of course, Warner's pick to Harrison killed the Cardinals in the later Super Bowl.

He just didn't play his best in the biggest games. He was a point producing machine, but struggled to put points on the board in the three Super Bowls and threw more picks.

But he did get them there, and had rare talent. And his story matters, in my opinion.

It is interesting to note that the top three marks for most passing yards in a Super Bowl belong to Kurt Warner, Kurt Warner and Kurt Warner. I say he gets in on the first try.

On the other hand, he also had a pick six in both of the losses.

[Rupert Patrick]

Not going to list the stats here, but he was noticeably less effective in Championship games and Super Bowls.

He was lucky to even make the Super Bowl he won. He had possibly the worst game of his career in the 1999 NFC Championship game, then struggled again in the Super Bowl. Compare those two games to any other game he played in 1999 and they look pretty bad by comparison. (Giving him his due, he did make the two big throws that won those games.)

In the 2001 NFC Champions game, Faulk carried the Rams to victory in the second half. And, of course, Warner's pick to Harrison killed the Cardinals in the later Super Bowl.

He just didn't play his best in the biggest games. He was a point producing machine, but struggled to put points on the board in the three Super Bowls and threw more picks.

But he did get them there, and had rare talent. And his story matters, in my opinion.

It is interesting to note that the top three marks for most passing yards in a Super Bowl belong to Kurt Warner, Kurt Warner and Kurt Warner. I say he gets in on the first try.

On the other hand, he also had a pick six in both of the losses.

True, but both games were lost in the final minute of regulation, one as time ran out.

[conace21]

Warner could never be held down in a playoff game. In the 2000 wild card against New Orleans, he threw two interceptions and found himself down 31-7 with 12 minutes to play in the 4th quarter. 10 minutes later, it was 31-28...and that was even with him throwing his third interception. Warner would have had a chance to win or tie the game if not for a muffed fair catch.

[Reaser]

Warner could never be held down in a playoff game. In the 2000 wild card against New Orleans, he threw two interceptions and found himself down 31-7 with 12 minutes to play in the 4th quarter. 10 minutes later, it was 31-28...and that was even with him throwing his third interception. Warner would have had a chance to win or tie the game if not for a muffed fair catch.

Nothing to add and wasn't rooting for either team but while watching that game I remember being very disappointed it ended like that.

[Jeremy Crowhurst]

I tend to blame the other 10 guys on the field for not catching and bringing down Harrison during his interminably long run back for the touchdown. That's gotta be the longest (on the clock) pick six in football history.

[Reaser]

I tend to blame the other 10 guys on the field

+1 on the sideline

[conace21]

I tend to blame the other 10 guys on the field

+1 on the sideline

I just rewatched that play. Amazing ending. I honestly think Harrison only scored because of the combined efforts of Fitzgerald and Breaston. If Fitzgerald hadn't grabbed Harrison, Breaston would have knocked Harrison out at the one, but because Fitzgerald was hanging on, Harrison fell on him and just made it in the end zone. But if Breaston hadn't come racing in , Fitzgerald may have been able to pull Harrison down: Breaston's momentum knocked them in the end zone.

[JuggernautJ]

My personal preference would be "No", Warner is not a "First Ballot" Hall of Famer.

However, I wonder if, with the perspective of time, others might see it differently.

I wonder if, perhaps 25 or 35 years from now Football Historians will see Kurt Warner as the first of a "new breed" of NFL QBs... perhaps like we view Johnny Unitas now.
Warner was the first Arena Football QB to make it in the NFL using (predominantly) the approach of an Arena Football QB. The long throws, the strike-from-anywhere-at-anytime and the never-out-of-a-game mentality are parallel to the Arena Game.

As football continues to (de-) evolve from the sport we grew up with into a less physical, more passing game will Kurt Warner be remembered as the first great quarterback of a new age?