SPORTS

Hall of Fame finalist Dick Vermeil rode Kurt Warner to Super Bowl after Browns passed on QB

Steve Doerschuk
The Repository
Rams quarterback Kurt Warner talks to head coach Dick Vermeil, at center, and other coaches during a St. Louis timeout in the second quarter in Super Bowl XXXIV in Atlanta, Jan. 30, 2000. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)
St. Louis Rams coach Dick Vermeil holds the Vince Lombardi trophy after the team's 23-16 victory over the Tennessee Titans in Super Bowl XXIV in Atlanta, Jan. 30, 2000. (AP Photo/Rusty Kennedy, File)

CANTON — After the Cleveland Browns passed on Kurt Warner in the 1999 expansion draft in Canton, the virtually unknown quarterback spent the season with the Rams and helped them win the Super Bowl.

The feat became the centerpiece of Dick Vermeil's coaching career and a big reason he may come to Canton as part of the Pro Football Hall of Fame's Class of 2022.

The Hall of Fame announced Tuesday that Vermeil is the coach finalist and that receiver Cliff Branch is the senior finalist for next year's enshrinement.

Cliff Branch of the Raiders runs after a catch as Mel Blount of the Steelers pursues him during the AFC Divisional playoff game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on Jan. 1, 1984 in Los Angeles. The Raiders won 38-10. (Photo by George Rose/Getty Images)

A contributor finalist will be named next week. Fifteen player finalists will be announced in January.

Vermeil, 84, was head coach of the Philadelphia Eagles from 1976-82. He piloted the team to a Super Bowl in the 1980 season that featured Cleveland's Kardiac Kids. The Browns lost a playoff thriller to the Raiders, who went on to beat Vermeil's Eagles in the Super Bowl.

Philadelphia Eagles coach Dick Vermeil yells from the sidelines as his team played against the St. Louis Cardinals, Nov. 8, 1976, in Philadelphia.

After a strike-riddled 1982 season, Vermeil left coaching, citing burnout, and began a career in broadcasting. He returned to the sidelines with the St. Louis Rams in 1997, went 9-23 in his first two years, won a Super Bowl in his third year with Warner at QB, then resigned.

He returned again and led the Chiefs to a 44-36 record from 2001-05. Vermeil won 120 games overall in the regular season as an NFL coach, 

Vermeil was head coach at UCLA when his 1975 team spoiled what could have been an epic season for Woody Hayes' Ohio State team. The Buckeyes spent most of the year ranked No. 1 and were 11-0 after beating Michigan. No. 11 UCLA beat No. 1 Ohio State 23-10 in the Rose Bowl.

Oakland Raiders wide receiver Cliff Branch (21) hugs quarterback Jim Plunkett (16) as the Raiders lined up for a team picture before a workout in the Superdome in New Orleans, Jan. 21, 1981. Branch, one of the Raiders’ career-leading receivers, won three Super Bowls. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma, File)

Branch, known for sprinter's speed, played his entire NFL career (1972-85) with the Raiders, winning three Super Bowls.

He averaged 17.3 yards per catch, gaining 8,685 receiving yards and scoring 67  touchdowns. He led the league with 1,092 receiving yards and 13 receiving TDs in an All-Pro 1974 season and averaged 24.2 yards a catch in 1976. He was All-Pro three times.

He played in 22 postseason games, in which the Raiders went 15-7 and he caught 73 passes for 1,289 yards (17.7) with five TDs. In the Super Bowl capping the 1980 campaign, he made two TD catches against Vermeil's Eagles. Branch was 71 when he died Aug. 3, 2019. 

Vermeil issued a statement on his appointment as a finalist, saying, “I am overwhelmed. I’m not sure I belong there.”

Rams head coach Dick Vermeil talks to his players before a preseason game against the Chargers in St. Louis, Aug. 28, 1999 . Vermeil joins three-time All-Pro receiver Cliff Branch as finalists for the Pro Football Hall of Fame's class of 2022. (AP Photo/James A. Finley, File)