Former Cardinal and Ram quarterback Kurt Warner is among the 16 finalists for the 2016 Pro Football Hall of Fame class. Winner of Super Bowl XXXIV over the Tennessee Titans in 2000, Warner played for the Rams, Giants and Cardinals, who he led to Super Bowl XLIII in 2009, his final season, over a 12-year career.

Warner’s path to the NFL was rather unique and the stuff of “Rudy” like sports movies. Growing up in northern Iowa, Warner, a three sport athlete in high school, earned state honors in football his senior season, but little interest from Division I colleges. He attended I-AA University of Northern Iowa where he sat for three years before starting his senior season in 1993 where he led the Panthers to an 8-3 record, a playoff berth, and conference honors as the Offensive Player of the Year.

Just as big time colleges showed a lack of interest, the NFL followed suit as Warner went undrafted after graduation. Undeterred the now newly married Warner, took a minimum wage job at a local supermarket to make ends meet.

In 1995, Warner was asked to play for the Iowa Barnstormers of the new Arena Football League, making him one of the first high profile NFL players to start their career there. By 1998, the Rams, who had been impressed by both his AFL and European Football League records, gave him the starting QB job and two years later he returned the favor with a Super Bowl win and game MVP honors. Warner’s career stats include 32,344 passing yards, with 3 4,000yd seasons and 208 touchdowns.

Warner joins fellow players Morten Andersen, Jerome Bettis, Tim Brown, Don Coryell, Terrell Davis, Tony Dungy, Kevin Greene, Charles Haley, Marvin Harrison, Jimmy Johnson, John Lynch, Orlando Pace, Junior Seau, and Will Shields as finalists along with coaches Don Coryell, Tony Dungy, and Jimmy Johnson.