While on a radio interview recently, former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner made some waves when he spoke about Giants quarterback Eli Manning, saying he has not yet had a Hall of Fame career, despite two Super Bowl wins.
Said Warner about Manning:
"The kind of quarterback they have been their entire careers, I don't think it is even close between Peyton and Eli. I give Eli credit. Two championships, phenomenal. I would love to have two championships. But I do not believe he is a Hall of Fame player for the first eight years of his career.
"He probably doesn't have to win another championship, but he does, in my opinion, need to be the guy that he was this year for the rest of his career.
"And if he is that guy the rest of his career and finishes with just two championships, then yes, I believe he becomes a Hall of Famer. But just because he has two championships up to this point, he's been extremely inconsistent throughout his career. We all know he can get hot. But that doesn't automatically solidify one player, catapult into Hall of Fame status because his team got hot, he played extremely well for just select periods of his career."
He has taken a lot of heat for his comments, especially since championships are typically the measuring stick of the value or status of a quarterback.
However, it was just a year ago that he said essentially the same thing about another QB with two rings -- Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger.
"I like Ben. I think Ben's great and I think he's a winner. And to me that speaks volumes for your legacy. But when you're talking about the best quarterbacks in the league, you have to look at all the factors here.
"I mean, he won a Super Bowl and he was 8-23. But he won the Super Bowl and he gets that on his resume. But he was still 8-23.
"I'm just waiting to see Ben as the guy that carries his team at some point in time. The fortunate thing for him is he hasn't had to do that. He carries them in the last two minutes. He makes some key plays. (He's) phenomenal out of the pocket and ad-libbing. But for me, if you go to the Hall of Fame, you have to be a guy who can carry your team week in and week out as a quarterback. That's my opinion."
Warner is being consistent in his message. It is more than winning rings, although that is important. It is about being able to be the guy to lead the teams to win.
His comments about Eli had nothing to do about the fact that Warner lost his job in New York to Manning. It wasn't out of jealousy for not having won more than one Super Bowl. He is saying the same thing.
He is saying, "rings are great, but it goes further -- you have to be 'the guy.'"
When it comes to opinion, isn't consistency what you want to hear at the end of the day?
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