Oakland Raiders: A definitive case for Jim Plunkett’s enshrinement in Canton

Argument #3: Yardage and Completion Percentage

In today’s Nintendo — Fantasy Football world, we’re easily impressed by big numbers. We hold hugely inflated totals as proof positive that somebody is the best at what they do. Look at Warren Moon for instance — yet another Hall of Famer, oh by the way.

Moon threw for an eye-popping 49,325 yards over his career. That is a whole mess of yards, isn’t it? But Moon never appeared in a Super Bowl, let alone won a title. How can Moon be considered Hall-worthy when he never achieved the only true mark of greatness — a championship?

Yes, what Moon did is notable, of course. Impressive, even. But how is he more Hall-worthy than Plunkett who won two championships?

However, let’s keep it apples to apples and bring it back to the basis of our argument for Plunkett’s Hall-worthiness. Namath.

Over Broadway Joe’s career, he threw for 27,663 yards and had a career completion percentage just a tick over 50 percent. Plunkett, over the course of his career, threw for 25,882 yards and had a career completion percentage of about 53 percent.

So the folks arguing that Plunkett’s paltry passing yardage and dismal completion percentage are grounds for keeping him out. And yet, some of them continue to loudly tout Namath’s achievements when the difference between the two was slim — 1,781 yards to be exact.

And oh yeah, Plunkett had a higher completion percentage.

Yes, both sets of numbers are paltry by today’s standards. In this day and age, we’ve gotten used to seeing huge numbers from quarterbacks.

But both Namath and Plunkett played in an age when offensive production and eye-popping numbers weren’t prioritized by the league like they are today.

And again, the difference between Namath and Plunkett’s numbers are razor thin so if you support Namath as being Hall-worthy, there is no logical argument against Plunkett.