Simms, McNair, and the Hall of Very Good

Fourth quarter, on the road, in the snow, less than one minute to play, down by six, no timeouts, and the ball is on your own 15-yard line.

Whom do you want under center?

(A)    Jim Kelly
(B)    Warren Moon
(C)    Phil Simms

I’m taking Simms, though he is the only one in the group not enshrined in Canton.

You want Moon, with his 102-101 lifetime record and his 10 career playoff games (in which he went 3-7)?

You want Kelly, who threw 28 interceptions (compared to 21 touchdown passes) in 17 playoff games, compiling a 72.3 career postseason passer rating?

Or do you want Simms, whose career record (95-64) blows Moon’s out of the water, and who outperformed Kelly in the postseason?

I can list on one hand the Hall of Fame teammates of Kelly (Thurman Thomas) and Moon (Mike Munchak, Bruce Matthews, Randall McDaniel), not including future inductees like Cris Carter and borderline cases like seven-time Pro Bowler Andre Reed.

Simms didn’t play with anyone that good. (Spare me the hate mail, Mark Bavaro devotees. The guy had two seasons.)

Mind you: I’m not the biggest Simms fan in the galaxy. Aside from his elite playoff performances in January, 1987, his numbers are good, not great.

My support of Simms isn’t based on stats; it’s based on watching him.

Every fan has his list: “Quarterbacks I trust under pressure.” Simms ranks highly on mine. Moon and Kelly do not. As a pigskin junkie who came of age in the eighties, I watched all three of them play dozens of times.

Why the love for Simms right now? Mainly because it is Simms I’ve thought of when pondering whether Steve McNair belongs in the Hall of Fame – or the Hall of Very Good.

No doubt, Moon and Kelly have better stats than Simms and McNair. But in a big game, in a tight fourth quarter, I’d prefer Simms or McNair. If you observed these four players in playoff settings as much as I did, I bet you agree with me.

In which case, you’d also have to agree with this nasty little sports secret: under certain pressure-packed circumstances, a Very Good performer is more dependable than a Hall of Fame one.

Plainly, I’m not talking about pantheon quarterbacks like John Elway or Joe Montana. But when it comes to Moon and Kelly – sorry, but their presence in Canton lowers the bar.

Incredibly, McNair’s lifetime stats almost compare to Kelly’s. In 160 career games, Kelly threw for 35,467 yards, 237 touchdown passes and 175 interceptions. McNair, in 161 career games, threw for 31,304 yards, 174 touchdowns and 119 interceptions. Kelly’s career rating was 84.4. McNair’s career rating was 82.8. Kelly lost four consecutive Super Bowls; McNair lost one.

So we admit – Kelly’s resume is better. But Kelly played with Thomas (12,074 career rushing yards) and Reed (13,198 career receiving yards). McNair’s top cohorts were four-time Pro Bowl running back Eddie George (10,441 career rushing yards), and two-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Derrick Mason (9,024 career receiving yards).

Also: In his lone Super Bowl appearance, McNair completed 23-of-36 for 214 yards. He added 64 rushing yards, a positional record, and rallied the Titans from a 16-0 third-quarter deficit.

It was a better Super Bowl performance than Kelly ever submitted.

Still, I want to be clear: I’m not advocating McNair’s enshrinement, nor Simms’ for that matter. I’m simply stating, for the record, that I know what I like in my quarterbacks: the ability to kick ass under pressure.

It’s a talent that Canton doesn’t always prioritize.