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NFL: Ranking every MVP winner in league history based on pro career

By Hans Themistode

NASHVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 11: Running back Adrian Peterson #28 of the Minnesota Vikings carries the ball during a NFL game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on September 11, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Getty Images)
NASHVILLE, TN - SEPTEMBER 11: Running back Adrian Peterson #28 of the Minnesota Vikings carries the ball during a NFL game against the Tennessee Titans at Nissan Stadium on September 11, 2016 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Ronald C. Modra/Getty Images) /
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Ranking every MVP winner in NFL history: 17.

Kurt Warner
Kurt Warner (Photo credit should read JEFF HAYNES/AFP via Getty Images) /

Ranking every MVP winner in NFL history: 17. Kurt Warner

Stats:

  • 32,344 passing yards
  • 208 touchdowns
  • 128 interceptions

It took NFL teams an outrageously long time to realize that they had a Hall of Famer on their hands in Kurt Warner.

After dominating on the collegiate level at Northern Iowa, Warner went undrafted in 1994. Try as he did, he simply couldn’t get a single team to give him a shot. With nowhere else to go, Warner would spend the next three years playing for Iowa Barnstormers of the Arena Football League.

He was finally given a shot in 1998 by the St. Louis Rams and was ultimately pushed into the starting role one year later. From there, Warner made every team that passed up on him feel unbelievably foolish for doing so.

In his first year, Warner threw for 4,353 yards, 41 touchdowns, only 13 interceptions, and completed 65.1 percent of his passes. Not only would he win the regular season MVP award but the Rams took home the Super Bowl as well. The Rans were dubbed “The Greatest Show on Turf” but Warner wouldn’t win another Super Bowl, although he did pocket one more MVP and a Super Bowl appearance.

Thanks to NFL teams spending roughly six years before giving him a chance, Warner’s overall numbers don’t quite stack up to other all-timers such as Peyton Manning and Tom Brady. But when he was in his prime, he was as good as anyone ever.

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