Is Kurt Warner the Greatest Quarterback Ever?

Legendary quarterback Kurt Warner and the Arizona Cardinals defeated the heavily-favored Carolina Panthers 33-13 Saturday night at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, NC.

Warner, 37, a two-time NFL MVP and the MVP of Super Bowl XXXIV, went 22-32 and threw two touchdowns while leading the Birds surprising slaying of the Cats (12-5).

Warner, who was not drafted out of the University of Northern Iowa in 1994 and instead found work as a stock boy at a local Hy-Vee grocery store, is an all-time great at his craft and it is a genuine shame that he is not as universally appreciated and beloved by the bulk of NFL fans like he deserves to be.

Coupled with his 182 touchdowns in comparison to 114 interceptions, Warner has also tossed for more than 300 yards in 45.2 percent of the games he's started.

If the Cardinals (11-7) can defeat the Philadelphia Eagles (11-6-1) Sunday afternoon at the University of Phoenix Stadium, the former Iowa Barnstomer will have an opportunity to become the first signal-caller ever to win two Lombardi Trophies while starting for two separate, and previously moribund, franchises.

The graying born-again Christian is often criticized and labeled as an overrated, bible-thumping hemorrhoid who is married to an ugly military veteran. These assertions are quite preposterous. Granted, his wife, Brenda, a US Marine Corps Vet, is a horrifically butchy-looking specimen and Warner does mention the Lord's name like Walter Sobchak references Vietnam.

But why should those facts strip a good-man like Warner of the gushing adulation that he is due? Warner, voted one of the 20 best arena football players in the annals of the sport, has been thrown around like Beetlejuice at a frat party since his time leading UNI on the gridiron.

In the aftermath of leading the Rams in 1999 to their first championship since the start of the Korean War, the future Hall-of-Famer has had playing time stolen from him in favor of an unprepared Eli Manning, a system wonder like Marc Bulger, a clown-pocket replica in Josh McCown and the swinging Matt Leinart.

It is tragically comedic to look back at the snubs that Kurt Warner has endured throughout the years.

Whether or not the Cardinals win on Sunday, nobody can question Warner's productivity behind the center. After taking the league by storm, Sports Illustrated featured Warner on their October 1999 cover with a caption reading "Who is this Guy?" Kurt Warner is a good human being and he is a tremendous leader on the football field.

He is also one of the ten best quarterbacks I have ever seen play since I began watching pigskin in 1986. In Sobchak-ian terms, "He is a worthy fuckin' adversary, Dude." That's who "this guy" is.