Steeler Killer, Steve McNair Retires

by cgolden on Apr 17, 2008 3:40 PM EDT in News

You've probably heard the news that Steve McNair is retiring by now, and if you've been a Steelers fan over the past 10 or 11 years, you might have gotten a small grin across your face. I'm in no means glad that a player's career has come to an end, especially in the injury plagued way that McNair's career has. McNair was a 13 year veteran of the National Football League and I'll never forget watching Titan's games only to hear most of the broadcast center around the various injuries that McNair was playing through.

McNair was the co-MVP of the league in 2003 and led the Titans to 4 postseason appearances, including one Super Bowl appearance in 1999-2000. In Baltimore, after most had written him off, he led the Ravens to their best season in franchise history in 2006, posting a 13-3 record and leading the Ravens to the AFC's #2 seed. He's one of only three quarterbacks in the history of the NFL who have thrown for over 30,000 yards and ran for more than 3,500. The other two quarterbacks, Steve Young and Fran Tarkenton, are both members of the Hall of Fame. McNair will ultimately be remembered as an ultimate competitor and ambassador for the league, as well as a mentor and role model to many of the young African-American Quarterbacks trying to establishe themselves in the league today.

As a Raven, McNair was impossible to root for, but
after detaching myself from those feelings of animosity
to all things Ravens, it's easy to realize the NFL has lost
one of the greats from the past decade.

One thing you may also be familiar with was just how hard it was for the Steelers to beat McNair. Despite playing on teams that finished with a winning record only 4 times during his 9 years as a starter in Tennesse, McNair posted a 9-4 record against the Steelers and added another 2-1 record while with the Ravens. In those 16 games he posted a QB rating over 100 six times which is pretty amazing for a quarterback with a career QB rating of just under 83. He also threw 21 touchdowns (and added another three rushing) and 14 interceptions over that time.

McNair may not be the ultimate Steelers nemesis but he has definitely been a headache for Steelers defenders for the past 13 seasons. Congratulations to him on a long, productive career and best of luck in his next endeavor. The NFL has lost one of its great players of the past decade. So any fond or unfond memories of McNair against Pittsburgh?

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good job

Nice article.

I will say I found it hard to cheer for him simply because he was on two teams I couldnt stand - the Titans when they were a primary rival - and of course Baltimore.

Had Joe Nedney not cheated his way to victory in that playoff game, I wouldnt have been so vitriolic towards the Titans, but I couldnt help it in the wake of that flop.

I wish it wasn't that way, because he was a great player and competitor. I just never was able to root for his success or enjoy watching his career unfold coming out of Alcorn State.

I LOVED watching him play in college. He was very highly touted his last year there, and IIRC, a bunch of his collegaite games were on TV since he was this marvel at such a no-name schoool. But once he got to the league, I wasn't able to enjoy watching him.

by Michael Bean on Apr 17, 2008 3:59 PM EDT reply actions

great guy

Sorry he had to go out like that, and had to play for the Ravens. Enjoy retirement steve.

by bereadawg @ Behind the Steel Curtain on Apr 17, 2008 4:29 PM EDT reply actions

Air

McNair killed us! Remember the game that we were beating O'Donnell because McNair was hurt? The Titans brought McNair in with 3 minutes left and he drove the Titans for the winning score? He was the QB 50 feared the most. Even more than Stabler.
Can anyone suggest who might have been a bigger Steelers killer than McNair? I am hard pressed to think of one. I knew his days were numbered when the Steelers beat him last year on the Monday night. He wasn't the same.

When You Run The Ball Good Things Happen

by 5020 on Apr 17, 2008 4:48 PM EDT reply actions

Mike Vick

always gave us trouble the past few years. he always had his best passing games against us. not exactly a "killer" since it was only like two games but still.

by TheMostViolentTeam on Apr 17, 2008 5:05 PM EDT reply actions

Yeah

being in Atlanta and beginning to like the Falcons, I hated seeing them play the Steelers, because my sister-in-law is all about Atlanta. I like the Falcons, but have to pull for the Steelers, and the last two games made me like the Falcons less for a few weeks.

by WolfpackSteelersFan on Apr 17, 2008 7:19 PM EDT up reply actions

Never developed the hatred

I guess because even though he won so much against us, the team struggled, I didn't get that upset with him. In fact, I hated the Oilers much more in Houston than when they moved to Tennessee.

Anyway, he definitely had reached the end. He was not the same QB last year.

by WolfpackSteelersFan on Apr 17, 2008 7:12 PM EDT reply actions

yea

He was definitely a shell of his former self last year. I'm glad he decided to hang them up instead of trying to hang on for a couple of years and bounce around the league as a back-up.

by cgolden on Apr 17, 2008 8:29 PM EDT up reply actions

HOF?

I purposely didn't ask this in the original article b/c I was wondering if anyone would bring it up, but since no one took the bait I'll go ahead and ask.

Is McNair a Hall of Famer?

by cgolden on Apr 18, 2008 10:22 AM EDT reply actions

Good question

Were you listening to the Mike Tirico radio show, too? :) They were talking about that, I just took a quick look at the Pro Football Reference website to see where he ranked in a few categories. Lower than I thought. He's 28th in total yards passing, and tied for 43rd in TD passes. I believe that I heard he's one of three QBs with over 30000 passing yards and over 3000 rushing yards, the others being Fran Tarkenton and Steve Young.

I would say, probably not. Young won a SB, and his career passing numbers were better, and Tarkenton went to 4 SBs and I believe owned every passing record when he retired. You could make a case for him to be a HOFer based on putting up those numbers with all of the injuries that he played through, and the Pro Bowls and one co-MVP. He also wasn't on good teams for much of his career. Definitely not first ballot, maybe not at all.

by WolfpackSteelersFan on Apr 18, 2008 11:25 AM EDT up reply actions