Steve McNair Led the Way for A Generation of Quarterbacks
July 6, 2009 by Staff
Filed under All Sports
I hate to be one of those media guys who makes a celebrity’s death all about them. You know, how countless media personalities have told their stories about how their lives connect with the departed, and how that media personality had an effect on the celebrity?
Well, I’ll try not to be as audacious in doing so myself, but the fact is that Steve McNair’s life had a profound effect on my perception of the black quarterback, as well as many other African-American athletes of the time.
The recent news of Steve McNair’s death is quite troubling for many reasons. The first being that the man was so young; just 36 years of age. The second reason being that he had so much influence on the generation behind him, that it is hard to even account for how much good his life brought to this world. From charities to just his courage and on and off the football field, McNair brought a lot to society and to the black athletic community.
Growing up in the 90’s, there is no question that I wanted to be professional football player, and the position I wanted to play was quarterback. Randall Cunningham was what every young, black aspiring quarterback wanted to be back then. With his flashy running style and his cannon for an arm, Cunningham didn’t just redefine the quarterback position for black people, he redefined it for the entire NFL.
Nevertheless, by the mid-90’s Cunningham’s “prime years” were behind him (at least until he would join the Vikings in the late 90’s), and in 1995, an up and coming black quarterback was taking the NFL by storm.
Steve McNair, who was the 3rd pick overall out of Alcorn State in 1995, was being handed the keys to the then Houston Oilers organization. McNair would be named the starter until 1997 when he went 8-8 in his first season.
I don’t have many vivid images of the 1997 season when I was 13 years old, but I do remember several of McNair’s performances that made me sit back in my seat in utter amazement. McNair would finish with 2,665 passing yards and 14 touchdowns in his first year as a starter. And being the athlete that he was, he had 674 rushing yards and 8 rushing touchdowns to go with his passing game. Back then, it seemed to be me that McNair would follow the path of Randall Cunningham and become a dual-threat quarterback, known more for his legs than his arm.
But McNair wasn’t nicknamed Steve “Air” McNair for nothing. After that first year as a starter, McNair would never so much as come close to the 101 carries he had in 1997, nor did he ever eclipse the 600-yard rushing mark. Instead, McNair developed his game as a passer, and as the years went on, McNair’s rushing totals went down and his passing yardage went up.
That evolution of his game (which happened so quickly as McNair had the Titans in the Super Bowl by the end of the 1999-2000 season) may have been a turning point in my approach to the game of football. By 2000, I had already given up on my dreams of being a quarterback, nevertheless, I now saw the position differently. Although Warren Moon had been quite a passer in his day, that was slightly before my grasp of the game, and it’s not as if Moon went through some huge transformation, as he was always a passer. Yes, McNair aired it out in college, but upon entering the pros, his tools were very raw, and it seemed he would never break that barrier to become a great pocket passer.
But he did. He went from a middling quarterback who left the pocket almost as frequently as he threw the ball, to leading one of the most infamous drives in Super Bowl history and racking up an MVP award in 2003.
It was through the evolution of McNair’s career, which faced countless scrutiny early on, that I realized that a black quarterback could be highly regarded coming out of college and subsequently renowned during his time in the pro ranks. Because before McNair, that had never happened. Never before had a black college quarterback had the type of success McNair had and saw NFL scouts recognize the same thing during the draft. Not once. And the fact that McNair delivered on his potential and his hype, went a long way to the perception of the black quarterbacks in the NFL. Let’s just say, Donovan McNabb and Michael Vick owe a lot to “Air” McNair.
Ultimately, McNair’s accomplishments changed my perception of the black quarterback too. I never thought the NFL could accept a black quarterback who didn’t exude the pure athleticism and speed of a Randall Cunningham. Afterall, even the greats like Warren Moon were forced to go to Canada to play the QB position.
But McNair was different. Because of his efforts and courage, as well as the efforts and courage of those before him, McNair pioneered an era that has seen numerous black quarterbacks have their talents recognized for their ability to pass the ball, and there are the high draft selections to prove it. It’s because of McNair, I not only think the black quarterback has a fair shot at success in the NFL, but that they will have the opportunity to become better athletes, and individuals, while learning their crafts, just like their white counterparts have had the opportunity to do so since the NFL’s inception.
