Best NFL Players of All Time: Kurt Warner. Ranking the Top Players in History. Place a bet on an NFL football game now.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Kurt Warner

There was not a single person who looked at or even acknowledged the quarterback from Northern Iowa.

When NFL scouts visited Northern Iowa in 1992 and 1993, none of them thought Kurt Warner was a good enough pro quarterback.

With 173 of 296 passes completed in his last season, Warner proved to be an accurate quarterback. At Northern Iowa, Warner had been a dependable performer. Nevertheless, Warner was not especially athletic by NFL standards. His arm lacked strength. Since Warner’s receivers often broke so wide open that all Warner had to do to complete throws was get the ball in the same area code, scouts were unaware of his accuracy.

Warner was determined not to say no. He may not have had the opportunity to show off his skills to NFL coaches and scouts, but he did have the opportunity to play in the Arena Football League. AFL quarterbacks had to be decisive leaders on every snap of the ball, get rid of the ball quickly, and throw it in a window that was limited, even if there wasn’t much competition. Warner played for the Iowa Barnstormers for three seasons, with his final two seasons seeing touchdown-to-interception ratios of 61-15 and 79-14, respectively. Warner was unquestionably accurate with his throws and made the appropriate decisions with the ball. He made people aware of the

Warner played one season with the Amsterdam Admirals in Europe before being offered the chance to wear an NFL uniform and carry a clipboard by the St. Louis Rams and the NFL.

In 1998, Warner signed a contract with the Rams, but it appeared that his quarterbacking duties would be limited. The summer of 1999, however, saw the script torn apart. Given how his squad performed in training camp, head coach Dick Vermeil thought the Rams had a real chance to win the Super Bowl.

But when starting quarterback Trent Green suffered a knee injury in a preseason game and ended his season, it seemed as though Vermeil’s aspirations were shattered. For the Rams, Warner would now need to start as quarterback.

Warner was successful in the lesser leagues of the game, but few thought he was ready for the big time. He didn’t have the background or the athletic ability to compete with the league’s best players.

Vermeil broke down in tears, as was his habit, telling the reporters that his squad will stand by Warner and not miss a beat. But it was hard to determine if Vermeil was trying to convince himself or the press.

After Warner took the field, though, strange things started to happen. He had Marshall Faulk on his side, with Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce leading an excellent receiving group. Warner wanted to take advantage of the fact that he was instantly aware of his superior talent.

He exceeded every expectation—by a significant amount. During his incredible season, he completed 325 of 499 passes for 4,353 yards, with 41 touchdowns and 13 interceptions. The Rams proved to be every bit as good as Vermeil had projected, winning the NFC.

The Rams had the best record in the league with a 13-3 record in addition to winning the NFC West. Following their devastating 49-37 victory against the Minnesota Vikings in the divisional playoffs, they surprised everyone by outperforming the Bucs by an astounding 11-6 margin in the NFC Championship game.

Warner became the undisputed head of the group. Following his offseason employment at a grocery store, the former Arena Leaguer went on to become

one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. The media reported this amazing story of rags to riches extensively.

But he had to defeat the strong Tennessee Titans team in the Super Bowl to bring the story to a close. Of course, a lot of people believe that the Super Bowl is the quarterback’s last opportunity. Some skeptics thought Warner’s lack of ancestry may be a disadvantage in the biggest game.

In the Super Bowl, the Rams had taken an early 16-0 lead until the Titans mounted a comeback late in the fourth quarter to tie the score. When the Rams reclaimed possession of the ball with two minutes left, Warner was able to guide the team to the game-winning touchdown.

On the last play of regulation, Warner would have preferred to see his side go on a protracted drive and score the game-winning field goal. But Warner has little interest in seeing his side convert field goals. Instead, he nailed Bruce with a 73-yard bomb, and the Rams scored the game-winning touchdown with 1:54 remaining.

Even though it gave the Titans time to mount a game-winning drive, the Rams’ defense held them to within one yard of the goal, and they still prevailed. This is the franchise’s only Super Bowl victory in its existence.

Warner played two more fantastic seasons with the Rams before injuries started to get the better of him. He would later sign with the New York Giants in 2004, where he had a dismal campaign. The following season, Warner was drafted by the Arizona Cardinals.

He had two inconsistent and injury-plagued seasons until his throwing started to improve in 2007. By the 2008 season, Warner had fully recovered from his injury and was demonstrating remarkable precision in his ball throwing. He completed 401 of 598 passes for 4,583 yards, with 30 touchdowns and 14 interceptions. More significantly, the Cardinals emerged as a successful team with a 9-7 record.

That was enough to get them into the postseason, as they won their first two postseason games against the Atlanta Falcons and Carolina Panthers before defeating the Philadelphia Eagles in the NFC Championship game.

Warner made a comeback to the Super Bowl, this time against the Pittsburgh Steelers’ tough defense. The Steelers staged their own comeback and won the Vince Lombardi Trophy after Warner connected with wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald for a 64-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter to give the Cardinals the lead.

Warner led two teams to the Super Bowl and took home one trophy, as well as a close second. He proved that he might have been the best undrafted player in the sport’s history. Overcoming adversity and disgrace over his career, he became one of the sport’s most accurate passers ever.

Best NFL Players of All Time: Kurt Warner  Stats

Regular Season

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	No.	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	1D	Succ%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	QBR	Sk	Yds	Sk%	NY/A	ANY/A	4QC	GWD	AV
1998	27	STL	QB	10	1	0		4	11	36.4	39	0	0	0	0	2	27.3	21	3.5	3.5	9.8	39	47.2		0	0	0	3.55	3.55			0
1999	28	STL	QB	13	16	16	13-3-0	325	499	65.1	4353	41	8.2	13	2.6	197	50.8	75	8.7	9.2	13.4	272.1	109.2		29	201	5.5	7.86	8.31			19
2000	29	STL	QB	13	11	11	8/3/2000	235	347	67.7	3429	21	6.1	18	5.2	153	55.6	85	9.9	8.8	14.6	311.7	98.3		20	115	5.4	9.03	7.97	1	2	15
2001	30	STL	QB	13	16	16	14-2-0	375	546	68.7	4830	36	6.6	22	4	233	53.8	65	8.8	8.4	12.9	301.9	101.4		38	233	6.5	7.87	7.41	1	2	20
2002	31	STL	QB	13	7	6	0-6-0	144	220	65.5	1431	3	1.4	11	5	68	46.9	43	6.5	4.5	9.9	204.4	67.4		21	130	8.7	5.4	3.59			2
2003	32	STL	QB	13	2	1	0-1-0	38	65	58.5	365	1	1.5	1	1.5	15	32.4	37	5.6	5.2	9.6	182.5	72.9		6	38	8.5	4.61	4.25			1
2004	33	NYG	QB	13	10	9	5/4/2000	174	277	62.8	2054	6	2.2	4	1.4	94	44.6	62	7.4	7.2	11.8	205.4	86.5		39	196	12.3	5.88	5.69	0	1	7
2005	34	ARI	QB	13	10	10	2/8/2000	242	375	64.5	2713	11	2.9	9	2.4	133	45.5	63	7.2	6.7	11.2	271.3	85.8		23	158	5.8	6.42	5.95	2	2	7
2006	35	ARI	QB	13	6	5	1/4/2000	108	168	64.3	1377	6	3.6	5	3	65	47.3	64	8.2	7.6	12.8	229.5	89.3	45.2	14	104	7.7	6.99	6.42			5
2007	36	ARI	QB	13	14	11	5/6/2000	281	451	62.3	3417	27	6	17	3.8	169	48.2	62	7.6	7.1	12.2	244.1	89.8	67.9	20	140	4.2	6.96	6.48	1	1	10
2008	37	ARI	QB	13	16	16	9/7/2000	401	598	67.1	4583	30	5	14	2.3	224	51.4	79	7.7	7.6	11.4	286.4	96.9	68.5	26	182	4.2	7.05	7	1	1	16
2009	38	ARI	QB	13	15	15	10/5/2000	339	513	66.1	3753	26	5.1	14	2.7	192	50.5	45	7.3	7.1	11.1	250.2	93.2	66.2	24	172	4.5	6.67	6.46	1	2	11
Career					124	116	67-49-0	2666	4070	65.5	32344	208	5.1	128	3.1	1545	49.7	85	7.9	7.6	12.1	260.8	93.7		260	1669	6	7.08	6.71	7	11	113
6 yrs		STL			53	50	35-15-0	1121	1688	66.4	14447	102	6	65	3.9	668	51.3	85	8.6	8	12.9	272.6	97.2		114	717	6.3	7.62	7.13	2	4	57
5 yrs		ARI			61	57	27-30-0	1371	2105	65.1	15843	100	4.8	59	2.8	783	49.1	79	7.5	7.2	11.6	259.7	91.9		107	756	4.8	6.82	6.52	5	6	49

Playoffs

Year	Age	Tm	Pos	G	GS	QBrec	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	1D	Succ%	Lng	Y/A	AY/A	Y/C	Y/G	Rate	Sk	Yds	Sk%	NY/A	ANY/A	4QC	GWD
1999	28	STL	QB	3	3	Mar-00	77	121	63.6	1063	8	6.6	4	3.3	51	56.9	77	8.8	8.6	13.8	354.3	100	4	24	3.2	8.31	8.15	1	2
2000	29	STL	QB	1	1	0-1	24	40	60	365	3	7.5	3	7.5	16	57	38	9.1	7.3	15.2	365	83.9	2	15	4.8	8.33	6.55
2001	30	STL	QB	3	3	1-Feb	68	107	63.6	793	4	3.7	3	2.8	37	54.6	50	7.4	6.9	11.7	264.3	86.7	6	45	5.3	6.62	6.13
2008	37	ARI	QB	4	4	1-Mar	92	135	68.1	1147	11	8.1	3	2.2	53	59.8	71	8.5	9.1	12.5	286.8	112.2	5	20	3.6	8.05	8.66	1	1
2009	38	ARI	QB	2	2	1-Jan	46	59	78	584	5	8.5	1	1.7	29	69.8	33	9.9	10.8	12.7	292	129.1	2	12	3.3	9.38	10.28	0	0
Career				13	13	4-Sep	307	462	66.5	3952	31	6.7	14	3	186	52.4	77	8.6	8.5	12.9	304	102.8	19	116	4	7.98	7.95	2	3
3 yrs		STL		7	7	2-May	169	268	63.1	2221	15	5.6	10	3.7	104	49.3	77	8.3	7.7	13.1	317.3	92.3	12	84	4.3	7.63	7.1	1	2
2 yrs		ARI		6	6	2-Apr	138	194	71.1	1731	16	8.2	4	2.1	82	56.7	71	8.9	9.6	12.5	288.5	117.4	7	32	3.5	8.45	9.15	1	1

 

 

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