HE’S JUST AS GOOD (AND NOT A DIVA)

Those of you who are regular readers of STRAIGHT CASH HOMEY!!!! have probably guessed that I’m not a fan of the Diva that is Brett Favre. I am not going to go into why at this point (To find out why, please click “July” on the list of months that are located to the right of this entry. Then click and read the entry titled “THE BIGGEST DIVA IN THE NFL”), but I will admit that he is among the best to ever play the game. Notice I said among the best, NOT THE BEST! However, it is true that if you asked a group of KNOWLEDGABLE football fans to name the top five quarterbacks of all time, he should be in discussion. Personally I don’t think that he’s a top five quarterback, but I can understand how some people feel that he is. If you take it one step further and ask the same group of fans to name the top ten quarterbacks of all time, his name must be on the list. Even as a Brett Favre hater, I must admit that he is hands down a top ten quarterback. Anyone who disagrees simply doesn’t know football.

That being said, I know of one quarterback whose name wouldn’t come up in either discussion. This quarterback has the same amount of Super Bowl victories of the “great” Brett Favre. At the end of this season, he could also have the same number of MVP awards (3) as Favre. However, he’s rarely considered by anyone to be an all-time great. As a matter of fact if you compare his career numbers to those of Favre, I would say that they are just as good, if not better. I would take him over Favre any day of the week, because his career stats are better, he has never spoken out against a teammate in search of a new contract, he doesn’t annually hold his team hostage each off-season by threatening to retire, he doesn’t give inside information about his former team to their opponents, and most importantly he doesn’t do commercials for Wrangler Jeans. The player I’m describing deserves all of the love that Brett Favre receives, if not more. That player is none other than the incredibly underappreciated Kurt Warner.

I am by no means the president of the Kurt Warner fan club. I am simply singing his praises because he doesn’t get the credit that he deserves, while Favre doesn’t get all of the blame that he deserves. I knew that some of you reading this wouldn’t believe me and think that I am making this stuff up. Being prepared for that criticism, I have actually done a little research and a little math and came up with an accurate comparison of the two quarterbacks. Due to the fact that Brett Favre has played in 164 more games than Kurt Warner, I used average/game statistics in order to make the comparison even.

Both quarterbacks average approximately 21 completions a game. In doing so Favre has completed 58.6% of his passes, while Warner has completed 62.4% of his passes. Let’s take this comparison one step further and look at their average QB rating. Kurt Warner has an average QB rating of 86.66, which compares quite favorably to Favre’s 81.74. Still not convinced, let’s look at the all-important touchdown to interception ratio. This also favors Kurt Warner’s 1.61 touchdowns thrown for every interception over Favre’s ratio of 1.53 to 1. Just for perspective’s sake, let’s compare their touchdown to interception ratios to other all-time greats. Dan Marino’s career ratio is 1.67 to 1, Peyton Manning’s is 1.99 to 1, Tom Brady’s is 2.29 to 1, and Joe Montana’s is 1.96 to 1. This is one of the most important stats for quarterbacks, and it’s obvious that Warner’s ratio is much closer to that of other great quarterbacks than Favre’s.

I am by no means saying that Brett Favre isn’t a great player, but what I am saying is that it’s time for Kurt Warner to get the respect that he deserves. He is A HALL OF FAME QUARTERBACK, yet no one seems to notice his accomplishments. His career has been just as good as Favre’s (without all of the dramatics). If Warner wins the MVP award this season (which will be his third), his career will undoubtedly be better than Favre’s, and no one could argue otherwise.

There are those who will always consider Brett Favre the best quarterback ever. They love his gun-slinger mentality. I don’t consider him a gun-slinger, I simply see him as a careless and quarterback that takes unnecessary chances. This “gun-slinger” is the only quarterback in NFL history to throw 300 interceptions. Somehow that gets lost in all the praise of Favre. I sure hope that is a cap-gun that he is slinging, since he misses his target so much.

These are two quarterbacks that have certainly had their highs and lows. When they are good, they are both awesome. When they are bad, they are both terrible. What is really funny is that fact that when discussing Favre, only the good seems to get mentioned. On the other hand when discussing Warner, the bad is what usually comes up. Everyone thought that Warner was done when he struggled near the end of his career with St. Louis and during his tenure with the Giants, yet no one felt that Favre was done when he struggled mightily in 2005 and 2006. I wonder why? Even this year, Kurt Warner is having a much better year than Favre. Going into this week’s games, Warner has already thrown for 3,155 yards, 20 touchdowns, and only 7 interceptions. These are by far better than Favre’s numbers of 2,273 yards, 18 touchdowns and a whopping 12 interceptions (which leads the league going into Week 12).

I would like for everyone reading this that doesn’t see Warner as Favre’s equal or superior to explain why he isn’t. They both have 1 Super Bowl championship, and at least 2 MVP awards. If Warner wins it this year, they will both have three. It’s now time for real football fans to recognize Kurt Warner’s accomplishments and give him the respect that he deserves.



****NOTE****
FOR ALL OF THE REGISTERED VOTERS WHO HAPPEN TO LIVE IN GEORGIA THAT ARE READING THIS, I WOULD LIKE TO ENCOURAGE YOU TO VOTE ON DECEMBER 2nd IN THE RUNOFF ELECTION FOR ONE OF OUR SENATE SEATS. JIM MARTIN IS ATTEMPTING TO UNSEAT THE INCUMBANT SAXBY CHAMBLISS. THIS IS A VERY IMPORTANT ELECTION, AND I AM URGING EVERYONE TO SPEAK UP AND LET YOUR VOICE BE HEARD THROUGH YOUR VOTE.