Hlas: Kurt Warner’s story reaches fitting home: Canton

Of course Kurt Warner is a Pro Football Hall of Famer.

This was always a 'when,' not an 'if.' You can't tell the complete history of the NFL without citing all of its best stories, and Warner's certainly is one of them.

The football fairy tale of Cedar Rapids native Warner going from undrafted free agent out of Northern Iowa to a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player and a Super Bowl-championship quarterback will always seem unbelievable.

From UNI to being out of football to Arena Football's Iowa Barnstormers to NFL Europe to leading the St. Louis Rams to their only Super Bowl win in 2000, his second season in the NFL? OK, that in itself was an all-time saga.

But then, after Warner's career seemed to be in its twilight he took back the starting Arizona Cardinals quarterback job from first-round draftee Matt Leinart and led the Cardinals to their first and only Super Bowl. That was eight years ago.

It took a last-minute TD hookup from Ben Roethlisberger to Santonio Holmes for Pittsburgh to deny Warner a second Super Bowl ring. Warner threw for 377 yards in that game. He passed for 414 and 365 yards in his two Super Bowls with the Rams.

Until Tom Brady's 466 yards Sunday, those were the three highest passing-yardage totals in all the Super Bowls. That statistic alone would be enough to be a Hall of Famer.

But when you add the Super Bowl win, the two MVPs and the three conference championships with someone who came from a Hy-Vee in Cedar Falls and an Arena League team? You couldn't have a serious Pro Football Hall of Fame without Warner.

I always thought the reaction to Warner's achievements were a little muted in Eastern Iowa compared to what they would have been had he played his college ball at Iowa.

Had Warner been a Hawkeye and gone on to such heights, injuries might have accumulated from people bumping into statues of him in Iowa City/Coralville.

That isn't to say he wasn't recognized locally. It would be absurd to suggest otherwise. But had he been a Hawkeye, the local adoration factor probably would have reached never-before-seen levels for a mere mortal in these parts.

It's not as if Warner was a blue-chip recruit who spurned Iowa for a more-prestigious program out of the state, like Michigan football or North Carolina basketball. He went to UNI, because that was the best scholarship offer he got.

It's kind of amazing, when you think about it. Three of the biggest pro sports stars to ever come from our state went to either Northern Iowa or Drake because they didn't get scholarship offers from Iowa.

That's Warner and running back David Johnson of UNI, and golfer Zach Johnson of Drake.

David Johnson was phenomenal for the Arizona Cardinals in 2016. In his second pro season, he rushed for 1,239 yards, caught passes for 879 yards, and scored 20 touchdowns. He tied Barry Sanders' NFL record for consecutive games with 100 total yards, with 15.

'There's nothing else to be said,' Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer said. 'I think every adjective to describe him is spot-on. There's not one that's a reach. He's spectacular.'

Only Jim Brown, Gale Sayers and Edgerrin James scored more touchdowns than Johnson in their first 32 games.

Who knows, maybe Warner and David Johnson wouldn't have become what they became if they hadn't gone to UNI? It's not a crime neither went to a larger program. Some players blossom later. Some surpass projections by a lot.

Hey, Brady was only a sixth-round draft pick. Johnson was taken three rounds higher.

As for Warner, he will become the first Iowan inducted into pro football's Hall of Fame. I've already heard from several fans around here who think that's pretty sweet.

Warner will have a great story to tell in Canton, one that began in Cedar Rapids and has never gotten old.