QB Kurt Warner – Not only one of the all-time great QBs, but one of the all-time great people to play in the NFL. It’s the story of a man who went from working in a grocery store and playing in the unheralded Arena Football League in 1995 to being the NFL and Super Bowl MVP in 1999. During his 1999 season Warner became only the 2nd QB in NFL history to throw for 40+ TDs in a season. To this day he is the only QB in NFL history to throw for 40+ TDs in a season and win the Super Bowl in the same year. There were some doughnuts in his career, with several seasons lost at the end of his career with the St. Louis Rams and a bad season with the New York Giants. But he resurrected his career in the most incredible way imaginable, joining the Arizona Cardinals and taking that franchise, which hadn’t been relevant since the 1940s – to their first Super Bowl in team history. Warner holds countless passing records and is one of the greatest gunslinging QBs of all-time – not to mention a pillar of his community and a former Walter Payton NFL Man of the Year. If his numbers don’t justify his inclusion into the Hall of Fame, his remarkable story surely will.
LT Orlando Pace – A seven-time Pro Bowl selection and 5-time All-Pro LT with the St. Louis Rams, Pace was the anchor to the St. Louis Rams offense that made them one of the premier offensive powerhouses as “The Greatest Show on Turf.” With his run blocking, RB Marshall Faulk became a Hall of Famer, and with his pass protection, QB Kurt Warner was able to complete long passes to WRs Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt with ease as they rewrote the NFL record books and went to two Super Bowls, winning it all in Super Bowl XXXIV. Pace was named to the 2000s All-Decade team – and the other three offensive tackles on that team have already been inducted into the Hall of Fame. Pace’s time has come at the perfect time.
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