I write this letter on behalf of Football Fans Against Kurt Warner.
For almost two years, we have been quiet, but now it's time for our voices to be heard. We kept it down at the beginning of last season, when Warner took over the St. Louis Rams after Trent Green's season-ending injury. We said nothing despite Warner's experience in just the Arena Football League and the local grocery store.
We said nothing because Warner was playing well. We were silent when football experts claimed that Warner was having such success because he had played in the fast-paced environment of the Arena League, and that prepared him for the quick action he would face in the NFL.
We didn't bother to say anything, despite the fact that this argument makes no sense. Arena leagues don't have defensive linemen the size of Coke machines that can chase down Mercedes. Plus, Brett Favre, Peyton Manning, and Jeff Garcia never played Arena football, but amazingly, they have had success as modern-day quarterbacks.
As the Rams rolled on through the season, sweeping the NFC West, we didn't say anything about how sweeping the NFC West is about as challenging as kindergarten math. And when the Rams were putting up record numbers offensively, and everyone was talking about how good Warner was, and how great a story it was, we were silent.
We didn't mention anything about the fact that he had the most versatile running back in the league behind him, keeping defenses from blitzing him madly. We were quiet about his receiving corps, which often times got so open his receivers could stop, wait for the ball to arrive, and still score. We didn't say anything, but often times that's what they had to do.
And when the Rams swept the playoffs and won the Super Bowl, Kurt Warner was named Super Bowl MVP, but did we say anything? No, we were quiet, despite the fact that it was the Rams defense that held the Tennessee Titans to 16 points and made the game saving tackle.
The Rams started the season 6-0 behind the golden arm of Kurt Warner, and still we were quiet. But when he got injured, breaking his pinky finger on his throwing hand, there was some noticeable grumbling. This could be the time when we find out that Kurt Warner's not that good. Or rather, that anyone can do what he did.
It's not that we don't like Warner. He's a great person and a great story. Hell, people say his story is too Hollywood for Hollywood. Rob Reiner himself couldn't write a sappier story about this guy. He was cut from the NFL, bounced around NFL Europe and the Arena Football League, stocked groceries for a while, then returned quietly to the NFL only to win the regular season and Super Bowl MVP in his first year. It's like Bull Durham, The Natural, and Angels in the Outfield wrapped into one.
The problem we have is that he's getting a lot of credit for things any average quarterback could do. And this week, more than 18 months of silence is forgotten, because we got the proof.
This past Sunday Trent Green stepped into the role of starting quarterback for the Rams without the services of Marshall Faulk. The Rams were playing the first-place New York Giants on natural grass in New York (actually, Giants and Jets games are played in New Jersey, but don't tell New Yorkers that). People said that the natural grass would slow down the high-octane Rams, they said that a good defense like the Giants would shut down the Rams offense, which had been scoring at a Ron Jeremy pace so far this season. They said without Warner, the Rams were doomed.
They were very wrong.
Trent Green threw four touchdowns and 272 yards to only one interception, and for good measure ran in another score. Not a bad showing for the backup quarterback in a 38-24 win that wasn't even as close as the score indicates.
Well, maybe Green was lucky, or maybe he's just a great quarterback. Hogwash. Green's a decent quarterback, but has only been the starter once in his life and finished the season with an average 81.8 quarterback rating. And you don't get lucky and score five touchdowns against the first place team in the NFC East.
The point is, it doesn't take luck or a Pro Bowler to have success in the Rams offense. It doesn't take Kurt Warner, either. We're not advocating a quarterback controversy when Warner gets healthy. No, we here at Football Fans Against Kurt Warner feel that there are enough quarterback controversies in the NFL. In fact, we don't think Green's better than Warner at all.
All we want is for some of the hype to die down surrounding Warner. He's done a lot in a season and a half in the NFL, but it might not be time to dust off his spot in the Hall of Fame quite yet, or to throw his name around with some of the legends like Dan, Joe, or John.
We've been quiet for so long. But now it's time to make our voices heard. Kurt Warner's a good quarterback, but he's doing nothing that can't be done by any Shaun (King), Rick (Mirer), or Vinny (Testaverde).
