So the Super Bowl is under a week away, I suppose we need something on the game.
So if you watch ESPN at all (which lets face it, you’re on a sports site, you’re probably watching ESPN right now) you’ll know that one of their big debates this week has been “Which QB would you rather have?” and that question always leads into “Is Kurt Warner a Hall of Famer.”
Let me answer this as simply as possible. Ben Roethlisberger and No, not in a million years ,no.
I understand Warner is the hot topic, leading the underdog Cardinals to a Super Bowl after being cast aside by two franchises. Yeah, it’s a great story, but even if the Cards win on Sunday and Warner has two rings, he’s still not a HoFer.
Let’s play look at the stats.
QB-A
Career
2327-3557 28,591yds 182TDs 114ints
QB-B
Career
1927-3042 23,208yds 146TDS 100ints
QB-C
Career
1189-1905 14,974yds 101TDs 69ints
Can you match the QB to the letter?
Warner is A, Roethlisberger is C, and my old friend Daunte Culpepper is B. You’ll notice, Culpepper and Warner aren’t all that far off of each other. And Culpepper has 5 years to catch up or pass Warner. Anyone think Culpepper has a chance at the Hall? And not just because of the love boat thing.
Warner’s stats to me, don’t scream Hall of Famer. And that’s just looking right at the stats. Then you look at context of the stats. Kurt Warner has been the QB of two of the most explosive offenses in recent history. The turn of the century Rams were unstoppable. A young Torry Holt, Issac Bruce in his prime, the greatest receiving RB in the history of football and a mad genius who threw the ball 45-50 times every game calling plays. Any one could put up awesome numbers in that system. And you’ll remember, it almost was someone else putting up those numbers. Trent Green was scheduled to be the starter until he destroyed his knee. You’ll remember Green as the QB for the Chiefs, who even though he had nobody outside of Tony G. to throw the ball to, still managed to put 4000 yard+ season after 4000 yard+ season.
And now Warner leads an offense that contains a WR who is basically impossible to guard unless you put him in a straight jacket. A second WR who has led the league in receptions twice. And quick little 3rd down receiver who’s tough to contain in small spaces. And you wonder how Warner can be having a come back in the desert.
Face it, Kurt Warner has been a lucky, lucky man. He’s good QB, but he’s no Hall of Famer and he’s no Ben Roethlisberger. Roethlisberger has a 7-2 record in the playoffs, the only person to start off better in the playoffs…some guy named Brady. That’s pretty decent company.
Then you look back on Roethlisberger’s stats and you think back on his early years. His rookie year they basically didn’t throw the football. Jerome Bettis and Willie Parker took care of the offense, and the defense took care of the rest. So that pulls his numbers down. Then you look at his supporting cast since then. He’s had Hines Ward and Heath Miller as fairly reliable targets, and this year he finally had a number 2 wide out develop in Santonio Holmes. And what did he get with that legitimate second option? Horrible pass blocking that left him out there to take hit after hit. And yet, he had to have a spinal concussion and get carted off the field before he’d leave.
Roethlisberger is the better QB now, he’ll be the better QB next year, and he’s the only QB in this game who should even be mentioned in the same breath as the Hall of Fame.
