Steve McNair 1973-2009

(If the video doesn't play, here's the link. It's one of the better done tributes I've seen.)

The first time I heard of Steve McNair, he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated, underneath him was the headline "Hand Him the Heisman," and I latched onto him. He was one of those guys who never played for one of my teams but I always rooted for him to do well. Maybe it was because in the 1994 Heisman race McNair represented little Alcorn St., a HBCU, while the other candidates hailed from Colorado, Penn. St., and Alabama. Alcorn St. wasn't a division one school, let alone one of prominence. McNair's football talents and heart took him places that his background predicted he would never go, and he took his fans there with him; he gave the underdog a chance to dance in the spotlight.

In middle school, I used his Tennessee Oilers in Franchise Mode on Madden. I got bored playing with the Packers teams because they were too stacked. The Oilers weren't great, but they had McNair and Eddie George, which made them fun to play with in a video game. What I liked most about both of those guys was that it took a whole defense to bring either one to the ground.

McNair was a fighter. He was the first quarterback taken in the 1995 draft, and he sat on the bench his first years in the League, behind Chris Chandler. McNair proved that the greatest attributes for a young quarterback are the patience to wait for one's moment and the dedication it takes to truly learn the game. McNair was the first major move that Coach Jeff Fisher made for the Oilers franchise, and one could argue that without McNair's physical sacrifices on the field Fisher would not be the longest tenured coach in the NFL. McNair's stellar play transformed the Oilers into the Titans, which means that with McNair as quarterback the franchise went from chokers to Super Bowl contenders.

He was, is, and always will be the cornerstone of the Tennessee Titans.

McNair's last years in Tennessee saw his physical abilities decline. He looked stiff in the pocket, as if he was already a statue, dipped in bronze, guarding the stadium's outside sidewalks. He limped off the field and let his shoulders drop like bags of sand. His tenure with the Titans passed all too quickly. He missed his first Pro Bowl due to injury. He shared his one MVP award, and his team came up a yard short in the Super Bowl, and he failed to be the savior at quarterback for the Baltimore Ravens, yet we all remember him as a man of tremendous accomplishments because he sacrificed every second for his team.

In Super Bowl XXXIV, McNair took a beating from a St. Louis Rams team that was far more talented than McNair's Titans squad, but he kept making play after play, earning the admiration of his teammates and the fear of his opponents.

Steve McNair had our respect because no matter how dire the situation he always had more to give. He donated countless dollars and minutes to underprivileged children, and he helped rebuild parts of the Gulf Coast after Hurricane Katrina. He played football the way he lived life. At times, he was reckless and made choices that put his body in danger, apparently on and off the field, but he always bounced back; and he always had the love of his teammates and his community, which suggests he listened to the angel in his heart more than the devil on his shoulder.

Rest in peace, Steve. You laid it all on the line, and we were the better for it. You showed us that the battle with adversity is equal to the victory over it. I am sad to see another hero from my childhood go, especially in such a heedless act of violence.

Hand him peace.