Quarterback Kurt Warner and wide receiver Isaac Bruce have been announced as a finalist for the class of 2017 Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Should he make the final cut during Super Bowl weekend, he would join Orlando Pace (2016) and Marshall Faulk (2011) as the key contributors for the famed Greatest Show on Turf offense for the then-St. Louis Rams.
In his third year of eligibility for the Hall of Fame, this is Warner’s third time listed as a finalist. Warner holds the distinction of being one of only two quarterbacks to go to Super Bowl with two teams.
He gave the Rams their only Super Bowl win in the 1999 season, winning the league MVP in the process in his first full season. Then in 2008, he led the Arizona Cardinals to their only Super Bowl appearance.
Warner’s case for the Hall of Fame is largely hampered by his two injured seasons in 2002 and 2003, giving him just three substantial seasons with the Rams from 1999-2001.
But within that span, he led the league in completion percentage each year and totaled 98 of his 208 career passing touchdowns. In 2001, his league-leading 4,830 yards were 14.5 percent higher than the runner-up, the sixth-highest margin since 1970.
That unprecedented success was helped of course by Torry Holt and Isaac Bruce.
The two combined for 10 Pro Bowl appearances from 1999 to 2007 with Holt being the fan favorite earning seven nominations Bruce had one appearance in 1996 before Holt was in the league.
In a three-way tie, the next highest duos have only combined for eight appearances.
The path for Warner seems a bit clearer without any quarterback to be used as a measure of comparison that steals votes. Now in his third year as a finalist, this is likely the year a Warner bust is carved out.
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