His Arizona Cardinals may have lost in their first-ever Super Bowl appearance, but quarterback Kurt Warner’s chances of making the Pro Football Hall of Fame are as sure a bet as Larry Fitzgerald’s hands.
Despite the Cardinals’ 27-23 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, Warner did everything he could have to put Arizona in a position to win, so you can’t blame him for Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger’s miraculous last-minute drive that resulted in a Santonio Holmes touchdown reception.
Of course, doubters will point to Warner’s regular season stats and how they pale in comparison to a Dan Marino or Brett Favre, for the purpose of shutting him out of a HOF spot. However, legacies often are forged in the Big Game, and this is where the former grocery store bagger’s résumé shines.
Warner has the distinction of being the second quarterback to take two different teams to the Super Bowl. And let’s not forget that one of those teams was the Arizona freakin’ Cardinals, who are often touted as the worst playoff team in NFL history.
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Sure, that 1-2 Super Bowl record may not seem impressive on paper, but it is worth mentioning that the two losses were for a combined seven points and came on last-second heroics.
If not for Holmes’ catch in the corner of the end zone, or New England Patriots kicker Adam Vinatieri’s 48-yard field goal back in Super Bowl XXXVI, Warner could be a three-time Super Bowl champion right now.
And he also would have been the odds-on favorite to win MVP in all three of those games too, based on the fact that he holds the three best Super Bowl performances in terms of passing yards.
In addition to throwing for 377 yards against the Steelers, Warner hung up a Super Bowl-record 414 yards in his Super Bowl XXXIV victory over the Tennessee Titans, while throwing for 365 yards in a losing effort to the Patriots.
That 414-yard performance makes Warner one of only 11 quarterbacks to pass for 400 yards in a postseason game — he is the only one to reach this mark in a Super Bowl.
If Peyton Manning is considered a sure-fire Hall-of-Famer despite having a pedestrian 7-8 postseason record, then it would not seem right to deny Warner, and his career 8-3 postseason mark, entrance into Canton.
Now that the Super Bowl has passed us, the off-season is bound to bring us a flurry of speculation and unanswered questions.
We don’t know which strip club troubled cornerback Adam “Pacman” Jones will open fire on next, and we don’t know if Favre will return for another season (does anybody know with that guy?). Heck, we’re not even certain about Warner’s future at this point, but spearheading an obscure franchise like the Cardinals on a Cinderella run into the Big Game all but assures his place in Canton.
