Hall of Fame worthy?

Five years from now, the members of the Pro Football Hall of Fame Selection Committee will gather in a conference room at the site of the Super Bowl to choose the Class of 2015.

Whether Kurt Warner, who announced his retirement Friday, is selected probably will depend on those voters' thoughts when it comes to the middle of his NFL career, the years from 2002 through 2006.

“It's a tough call,” said Rick Gosselin, pro football writer for the Dallas Morning News and a Hall voter. “The one glowing positive is that he took two franchises that were in the absolute pits of the NFL to the Super Bowl. The Rams were the worst team of the ('90s) and the Cardinals never had won anything. Taking two teams from those depths to those heights is (Hall) worthy.

“The anti-Warner faction will look at the middle of his career and ask ‘What happened?' Hall of Fame quarterbacks don't have that three-year window.”

Alex Marvez, senior NFL writer for FoxSports.com and another Hall voter, agreed the lull in Warner's career could hurt him.

“Very few Hall of Fame players have a dip like that,” Marvez said.

Charean Williams, who covers the Dallas Cowboys for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, said she definitely will vote for Warner in five years, although others may be hesitant to select him in his first year of eligibility.

“Whether he's a first-ballot Hall of Famer depends on the voters on the ledge and those years in the middle,” Williams said. “I think he is everything you look for in a Hall of Famer. The Lombardi Trophy (Super Bowl winner), league MVP. He's got the numbers. But a lot of voters will look at the vacuum in the middle of his career ... the numbers aren't there.

“But doing it with two teams ... that's huge.”

Going by the numbers, Warner's candidacy is legit. In the last quarter century, 14 quarterbacks have seen their busts created for the shrine in Canton, Ohio. Warner's career completion percentage, yards per pass attempt and yards per game is better than all of them. Only Dan Marino has more 300-yard passing games, and Warner and Fran Tarkenton are the only quarterbacks who have thrown for 14,000 yards and 100 touchdowns for two teams.

“Warner's body of work is Hall of Fame worthy,” said Hall voter Ira Kaufman of The Tampa Tribune. “Three years ago, he would have fallen short. Not anymore.”

That body of work includes some incredible postseason numbers, including his last playoff victory. In that 51-45 overtime win against the Green Bay Packers, Warner completed 29 of 33 passes for 379 yards and five touchdowns. In 13 playoff games, Warner threw 31 TD passes and averaged 304 passing yards. His 102.8 postseason passer rating is second-best of all time.

“Kurt was one of the most clutch postseason performers in modern NFL history,” Marvez said.

Kaufman agreed and added that Warner's incredible journey from Cedar Rapids to three Super Bowls will be a factor with voters.

“He led his teams to three Super Bowls and he could have won all three. His postseason numbers are superb,” Kaufman said. “And it doesn't hurt being one of the great NFL stories of the last couple of decades.”

Bob Gretz, a former Kansas City Chiefs radio sideline reporter and a voter, said there are a lot of winning Super Bowl quarterbacks not in the Hall of Fame, including Phil Simms and Jim Plunkett. Still, Gretz said Warner certainly will be among the finalists for the Class of 2015.

“The body of his work, his Super Bowl appearances, his statistics and his determination to play in the league and then find another place to play in the league late in his career is a resume of a Hall of Fame quarterback in my mind.”

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