Steve McNair: A Legend Retires

On April 17, a second future Hall of Famer retired from the Nation Football League. First it was Brett Favre calling it quits, now Steve Latreal McNair (Air McNair) called it a career. McNair held his press conference April 17 2008 to formally announce his retirement from the NFL. Steve McNair was born on February 14, 1973 in Mt. Olive Mississippi.

While growing up, Steve lived with his mother and his four brothers on a farm. McNair grew up loving the game of football playing for his high school in Mississippi, Steve received a scholarship to play football for Alcorn State University which is known for being a historically black college. While being recruited out of high school many of the big school wanted McNair to play defensive back for them, but McNair knew he wanted to play Quarterback and Alcorn State was one of the few to offer him that position so he accepted.

McNair had a fine four years a Alcorn State with a stand out senior season, McNair shined so brightly while throwing for 4,863 yards and 44 touchdowns and rushing for 936. The brilliant senior season for Steve raised his draft stock and McNair was picked third in the 1995 NFL Draft. Although McNair did not play right away in the NFL he sat though his first couple season backing up until he finally broke through. Steve used his legs more in the NFL then he did while at Alcorn State, in his 13 seasons in the NFL Steve rushed for 3,590 yards and 37 rushing touchdowns which both rank among the top five in NFL history.

Steve was a tough QB and was rarely injured during his long career, he played for the Houston Oiler which he was drafted by, then when the team went to Tennessee he became a Titan and McNair ended his career with two years in Baltimore with the ravens where he was a bit inconsistent and not as effective as he would like to be. Steve's brilliant 13 year career is almost sure to put him in the hall of fame.

His finally stats over his career were 174 touchdowns 119 interceptions 31,304 passing yards and a quarterback rating of 82.8. In the mind of many NFL experts Steve McNair is one of the truly great quarterbacks to ever play the game of football and will always be remembered for his tough play and great awareness.

More information: http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/players/profile?statsId=3114