When I first heard about the shooting death of Steve McNair yesterday, I couldn't help but think back. I remembered how people questioned if this kid from Alcorn State could take his game to the next level. They wondered if the then Houston Oilers had made a mistake by drafting McNair with the 3rd overall pick in the 1995 NFL Draft. The questions lingered, too, for exactly one and three-quarter seasons. That was when head coach Jeff Fisher committed to his second year QB and didn't look back. In his four 1996 starts(along with bits and pieces of five other games), McNair put up a modest 1,197 yards passing accompanied by 169 yards rushing and a total of 8 TD's. What caught my eye, from a fantasy football perspective, was his 62% completion rate and his 2 TD's for every 1 interception thrown. I was also very intrigued by his rushing potential. Overall, you could paint me impressed.
When the 1997 fantasy football season rolled around, I was beginning to get really serious about the game and had put together a local "buddy" league that is actually still in existence and better than ever today. I officially had the bug. I went into that season's draft focused on grabbing a running back early and getting top quality at wide receiver, as well. I took Jerome Bettis fifth overall and wound up with Tim Brown, Rob Moore, and Andre Rison at WR. I'd been eyeing both Mark Brunell and McNair and was ecstatic when I was able to grab both of them and build what turned out to be my first championship winning squad. I recall many things about that campaign, but my fondest memories are of watching the man called "Air" rumble for almost 700 yards and 8 TD's on the ground. As you all surely know, that kind of rushing production from a fantasy QB is gold. Gold, Jerry. Gold!
As the years went by, Steve McNair developed into a great NFL quarterback and an even better leader. He guided the Tennessee Titans to Super Bowl XXXIV, made three Pro Bowls, and was named co-NFL Most Valuable Player(along with Peyton Manning) in 2003. When he retired a Baltimore Raven following the 2007 season, McNair was one of only three QB's in NFL history to have thrown for over 30,000 yards and rushed for over 3,500 yards in his career. The other two? Hall of Famers Fran Tarkenton and Steve Young. But despite all these achievements, Steve LaTreal McNair will be remembered for his toughness and being responsible for finally rendering the term "black quarterback" obsolete and helping to usher in acceptance of quarterbacks regardless of the color of their skin.
McNair's toughness is absolutely legendary today. Ask any Titans or Ravens fan. They all have a story about a particular game that big #9 wasn't supposed to even suit up for, yet he ended up willing his team to victory. Ask any player who ever stood in the huddle with McNair. They'll tell you he was as tough a football player, not just QB, as anyone they ever played with. His toughness became his trademark, and he wore it as a badge of honor until the injuries mounted and mounted and finally forced his retirement.
More important than Steve McNair's toughness was the impact he had on the game of football, in general. When he was drafted, it was unheard of for a "black quarterback" to be selected that high. Prior to 1995, the only "black quarterbacks" to have really made a name for themselves were Doug Williams, Warren Moon, and Randall Cunningham. Guys like Marlin Briscoe, James Harris, Joe Gilliam, Vince Evans, and others had tried, but ultimately washed out at the professional level. All McNair did was play quarterback. Forcing people to forget the fact that he was an African-American. All the while, the Pittsburgh Steelers were trotting out their dog-and-pony show with fellow 1995 draftee Kordell Stewart. On one side, "Slash" perpetuated every stereotype the media and public had always had about "black quarterbacks." On the other, "Air" rose above those stereotypes became the embodiment of what a real quarterback is. He was a leader and an accurate passer who played the game with equal parts brain and brawn. Cerebral and athletic. That was McNair.
By the 1999 NFL Draft, the rest of the league had begun to take note. That year, Donovan McNabb(#2 to the Philadelphia Eagles), Akili Smith(#3 to the Cincinnati Bengals), and Daunte Culpepper(#11 to the Minnesota Vikings) were all taken within the first eleven picks, with Shaun King also chosen by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the second round. In 2001, Michael Vick was selected number one overall by the Atlanta Falcons and it was clear that any hang-ups or hesitation that NFL teams had previously had about drafting "black QB's" were gone. Today, six quarterbacks of African-American descent are penciled in to start for their respective teams and many more are on NFL rosters as backups. Three of these signal callers(Jason Campbell, JaMarcus Russell, and Vince Young) credit McNair directly for influencing their games as youngsters coming up through the high school and college ranks. As the NFL game progresses and we see many more quarterbacks of varying ethnicities(Mark Sanchez anyone?), be sure to keep in mind the guys like Steve McNair who paved the way for their success.
The still unsolved shooting death of McNair and Sahel Kazemi, his female companion, is a tragedy. Without a doubt. He was only 36 years old and she was just 20. But the life of Steve McNair was a victory. He succeeded and set examples at every point in his life. Upon his death he looked at himself as nothing more than a farmer who just happened to be a former NFL player. He was someone whom I, as well as millions of others, respected. That will never change. And we'll always have that 1997 season...
No comments:
Post a Comment