Bernie: The Best Quarterbacks in St. Louis Pro Football History.

I don’t know why, but for a couple of days I’ve been thinking about the best quarterbacks in St. Louis professional football history. Maybe this little brainstorm was prompted by news of A.J. McCarron getting released by the Battlehawks after two seasons as their starter.

And yes, when I refer to professional football I do include the Battlehawks, an XFL-UFL franchise that built a passionate and loyal and delightfully colorful – and very loud – audience. Our town’s domed stadium went from being a mausoleum to a madhouse. The Battlehawks filled an aching void after the treacherous move by the Rams. St. Louis fans love that team. And the Battlehawls deserve to be right there with the St. Louis Cardinals (1960-1987) and St. Louis Rams (1995-2015.)

I was in the mood to write about something different and a little quirky today. So here are the Top 5 quarterbacks in St. Louis pro football history … at least the way I see them.

1. KURT WARNER. The obvious choice, the only choice. As a Ram from 1998 through 2003, he came out of nowhere – Iowa, actually – to become a two-time NFL Most Valuable Player and a Super Bowl MVP. When Kurt started for the Rams, the team had a .700 winning percentage in the regular season (35-15) and a .714 win percentage in the postseason (5-2). And of course, No. 13 memorably threw the winning 73-yard touchdown pass to Isaac Bruce to give the Rams a 23-16 triumph in Super Bowl 34. Warner threw for a record 414 yards and two touchdowns in that dream-vision game and was named Super Bowl MVP.

From 1999 through 2001, the Rams were an astonishing 35-8 in Warner’s regular-season starts. (He missed five games in 2000 because of a broken finger on his passing hand, with Trent Green subbing in.) Warner piloted the Rams to three consecutive postseasons, two NFC Championships and two Super Bowls. He was the league MVP in 1999 and 2001. Over the three seasons (combined) Kurt led regular NFL quarterbacks in passing yards per game (293.3), touchdowns (98), completion percentage (67.2), passer rating (103.4), yards per attempt, yards per completion, and successful-play rate.

In the three postseasons (1999-2001) Warner and the Rams went 5-2, and he led the league with 2,251 passing yards in his seven games, and put up a remarkable average of 317.3 yards per postseason game. No other quarterback had more than 969 passing yards over that time. Warner had 15 touchdown passes in his seven games, and no NFL quarterback had more than eight TD connections during the three-postseason stretch.

In two Super Bowls for the Rams, Warner averaged 390 yards passing per game, which borders on being incomprehensible. If we include the passing yards in Warner’s Super Bowl start for the Arizona Cardinals, he still ranks second to Tom Brady for most career yards passing in the Super Bowl. And there have been 58 Supers. He’s also fourth all-time with a Super Bowl passer rating of 96.7.

Warner – on the short list of the most beloved athletes in any sport in St. Louis history – went from being a nobody to a somebody to a Pro Football Hall of Famer. He’s obviously the best pro quarterback that ever suited up for a STL team. And he will always be one of the greatest and most inspiring individual stories in NFL history.

2. JIM HART. During his peak – 1967 through 1980 – the prolific Hart ranked second in the NFL to Fran Tarkenton in passing yards (32,125) and touchdown passes (193.) Hart was a confident and composed target man for the famous Air Coryell offense, and from 1974 through 1977 he was voted to four straight Pro Bowls and led the Big Red to a 38-18 regular-season record and playoff trips in 1974 and ‘75. Hart slinged passes for the Cardinals over 18 seasons, and no STL pro quarterback is in the same universe in terms of matching Hart’s career totals here for games started, games won (87), most passing yards (34,639) and touchdown throws (209.) Those Cardinal teams went 0-2 in the postseason with Hart running the offense, but that’s a blemish on a historically prominent career. And those Coryell teams weren’t known for playing smash-mouth defense.

Said Hart’s teammate, the Pro Football Hall of Fame cornerback Roger Wehrli: “If it came down to the end of the game in the fourth quarter and you needed a drive, we knew he was the guy who was going to do it for us.”

3. CHARLEY JOHNSON. In my humble view, Johnson was underrated during his career, and perhaps underappreciated for how well he played for the St. Louis Cardinals and two other teams (Houston, Denver) during a 15-year NFL career. From 1961 through 1969, the Cardinals were 36-28-5 with Johnson as their starter. That included an outstanding 30-15-3 mark from 1963 through 1966. Johnson was voted to the Pro Bowl in 1963. Johnson led the NFL in yards passing in 1964 for a Big Red team that finished second to the Cleveland Browns in the East Division. (No wild-card teams back then.)

It’s difficult to truly quantify Johnson’s excellence because his career was interrupted by military obligations and injuries. In 1966, the Cardinals were 7-1-1 when Johnson was felled by a season-ending knee injury. A year later, Johnson was drafted into the U.S. Army and made frequent trips from his base in Ft. Leonard Wood (MO) in 1967 and ‘68 but didn’t have much chance to play, and Jim Hart graduated to the starting job. During his career, Johnson threw six touchdown passes in two games and had a five-TD afternoon in another.

While playing for the Cardinals, Johnson still made the time and effort to complete his doctorate degree in chemical engineering while enrolled at Washington University here in St. Louis. He later returned to his alma mater (New Mexico State) to lead the Chemical Engineering department. Charley died earlier this year (Sept. 4) at age 85. He was a distinguished, special man.

“They say don’t believe your own hype, but if you don’t why would anyone else? To be great you have to believe you can do great things,” Johnson said, later in his life.

4. MARC BULGER. As the No. 2 quarterback that was promoted to the starting job when the Rams benched an ineffective Kurt Warner, let’s just say Bulger wasn’t the most popular dude in town. Coach Mike Martz didn’t make the move out of malice; beginning in 2002 Warner suffered through a sequence of hand injuries that made it difficult for him to grip the ball on throws, fumbles became a huge problem. But the love for Warner remained as strong as ever, and it wasn’t easy for Bulger to gain approval from the pro-Kurt public. But from 2002 through 2004, the Rams were 26-10 (.722) when Bulger started a regular-season game. The “Greatest Show on Turf” was winding down, and the offense simply wasn’t as lethal as before.

Bulger was selected to two Pro Bowls as a Ram and did the driving to lead them to the playoffs in 2003 and 2004. The Rams lost a home postseason game to end the 2003 season, and Bulger absorbed much of the blame by throwing three interceptions (and no TDs) in a stunning 29-23 overtime loss to Carolina. But in the 2004-season playoffs Bulger lifted the Rams to a 27-20 upset win at Seattle by airing out for 312 passing yards and two touchdowns. It was the last postseason game won by a St. Louis NFL franchise. Warner and Bulger are the only two St. Louis-based NFL quarterbacks to win in the postseason.

Bulger started 95 games for the Rams from 2002 through 2009, and despite the team around him going bad, he still ranked among the top 10 NFL quarterbacks in passing yards and touchdowns over the eight seasons. And from 2002 through 2004, Bulger was tied with Indy’s Peyton Manning for the most fourth-quarter comebacks (9) during the three years. In his years as a St. Louis Ram, Bulger established the team’s career highs for passing yards (14,447) and touchdown passes (102).

That’s probably a good trivia question: which St. Louis Rams quarterback had the most regular-season passing yards and touchdown throws during the franchise’s existence in STL? Many folks would assume the answer is “Warner.” But the correct answer is Bulger. This is also true: Bulger took a terrible beating, getting sacked 254 times from 2002-2009; only one other NFL quarterback (David Carr) suffered more sacks during the eight seasons.

5. NEIL LOMAX. A first-round draft choice out of Portland State, Lomax played in 94 games, starting 87, from 1981 through 1987. When the STL Cardinals moved and became the Arizona Cardinals, Lomax played one season (1988) in the desert and then retired at age 29. More on that in a moment. Lomax peaked in 1984, ranking second to Dan Marino with 4,614 passing yards. Lomax zipped 28 touchdown passes, which tied him for third in the league that season. Lomax was chosen for the 1984 Pro Bowl.

The ‘84 Cardinals went 9-7 and just missed winning the division and making the playoffs with a heartbreaking 29-27 loss at Washington in the final regular-season game. Lomax was fantastic that afternoon, passing for 468 yards and two touchdowns.

From 1983 through 1987, Lomax ranked third in the NFL with 16,434 passing yards; only Dan Marino and Joe Montana had more. And during those five seasons the only quarterbacks with more passing yards than Lomax were Marino, Dave Krieg, and Montana.

Lomax also had some hard times. In his time as the Cardinals’ starting QB in St. Louis, the Cardinals were a disappointing 40-44-2 in his starts. And Lomax got on the wrong side of new head coach Gene Stallings in 1986 for his refusal to spend significant time of the offseason in St. Louis to work with the new coaching staff. Lomax wasn’t the starting quarterback at the outset of 1986, but soon replaced the ineffective Cliff Stoudt and started 12 times.

It wasn’t easy for Lomax in St. Louis. He replaced Hart, a legendary STL quarterback who made the Air Coryell offense fly. Lomax became a punching bag in more ways than one. The team was terrible defensively, and the offensive line failed to provide firm pass protection for Lomax. He took a beating, getting sacked 312 times in his 93 games. Lomax was sacked on a preposterous 10 percent of his dropbacks as the STL quarterback – a startling rate that shows how much punishment he absorbed. Despite the many disappointments, those who watched those Big Red teams had the pleasure of watching beautiful deep passes from Lomax to Roy Green.

HONORABLE MENTION

+ Trent Green: He was signed as a free agent before the 1999 season, came to town, worked with teammates all offseason, and greatly enhanced the locker-room culture and work ethic. Green’s leadership was vital to a losing team that needed someone to show the way. That guy was Green. He was a superb fit for what the Rams were doing offensively, having worked with new Rams offensive coordinator Mike Martz when both were in Washington. Green’s 1999 season was wiped out on a cheap-shot hit by Chargers safety Rodney Harrison in the Rams’ third preseason game in ‘1999. The blow blew up Green’s knee, and the injury required season-ending surgery. It was a shocking and sad loss for the Rams … but little did we know at the time, Green’s injury opened the door for the largely unknown Kurt Warner to become the famous KURT WARNER. But the Rams’ amazing transformation in 1999 was launched by Green’s presence as the team’s new leader before he got knocked out of the season. Green also played very well in 2000 in his five starts in place of the injured Warner. The highlight was a 38-24 win at the New York Giants. Rams MVP running back Marshall Faulk missed that game because of injury, but Green took control and shredded the Giants for 27 completions, 272 yards and four touchdowns. Green later had some excellent seasons for coach Dick Vermeil in Kansas City. Class act.

+ A.J. McCarron: The Battlehawks starter for the past two seasons, McCarron quickly became a team leader and fan favorite for his tenacious competitive and passionate love for the game. And he truly savored his time in St. Louis, which is quite the compliment to our town given McCarron’s success as a two-time national champion starting quarterback for Alabama – and a seven-year NFL career with Cincinnati, Oakland and Houston. McCarron absorbed a lot of painful damage as the Battlehawks’ leader, but the nasty hits couldn’t keep him down. He repeatedly played through injuries to inspire his teammates and the fans.

“I absolutely love the city of St. Louis,” McCarron said recently on an Alabama-based podcast. “Unbelievable people. The love for football, the passion, the way they treated my family, everybody in the organization from every coach I got to deal with, I truly had an unbelievable time. The fans were unreal. Some of the best, literally, in the country. It’s sad that the NFL got taken away from them because that city, whether it’s hockey, soccer now, baseball with the Cards, it’s unbelievable passion there.”

+ Sam Bradford: You may be surprised to see his name on this list. Chosen first overall in the 2010 NFL Draft, the Heisman-winning Oklahoma quarterback arrived in St. Louis as the new hope for a declining franchise. Given the circumstances – substantial hype, a faulty roster, a porous offensive line and a shortage of playmakers – Bradford had little realistic chance to succeed and thrive after being thrown into the fire. But he was the NFL’s offensive Rookie of the Year in 2010, and operated an efficient offense that gave the Rams a chance to improve to 7-9. You may be asking: what’s so special about 7-9? Well, it was actually kind of special considering that the Rams went 6-42 … yes … 6-42 … in the three seasons (2007-2009) that preceded the 2010 draft that brought Bradford to St. Louis. He also played solidly for a Rams team that went 7-8-1 in coach Jeff Fisher’s first season (2012.) Bradford had a poor 18-30-1 record in his four years with the Rams, but he never had much of a chance to elevate the team in a lasting way. So many factors worked against Bradford – including a franchise owner who was in the process of tanking to alienate fans and diminish fan support as part of a strategy to relocate the Rams to Los Angeles.

Thanks for reading …

–Bernie

A 2023 inductee into the Missouri Sports Hall of Fame, Bernie has provided informed opinions and perspective on St. Louis sports through his columns, radio shows and podcasts since 1985.

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