 McNair with the Ravens in 2007 | |||||||||||||||||||
| No. 9 | |||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Position: | Quarterback | ||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||
| Born: | February 14, 1973 Mount Olive, Mississippi, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Died: | July 4, 2009 (aged 36) Nashville, Tennessee, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||
| Height: | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Weight: | 220 lb (100 kg) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career information | |||||||||||||||||||
| High school: | Mount Olive | ||||||||||||||||||
| College: | Alcorn State (1991–1994) | ||||||||||||||||||
| NFL draft: | 1995 / round: 1 / pick: 3 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Career history | |||||||||||||||||||
| Career highlights and awards | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
| Career NFL statistics | |||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||
Stephen LaTreal McNair (February 14, 1973 – July 4, 2009),[2] nicknamed "Air McNair",[3][4] was an American professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons. He started his first two seasons with the Houston Oilers before the team relocated to Nashville, Tennessee. There, McNair would become the first franchise quarterback of the Tennessee Titans. He also played for two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens.[5]
McNair played college football for the Alcorn State Braves, with whom he won the 1994 Walter Payton Award as the top player in NCAA Division I-AA. He was selected third overall by the Oilers in the 1995 NFL draft. He started six games in his first two seasons combined before becoming the team's regular starting quarterback for the 1997 season, and he remained the starting quarterback for the Titans through 2005. After the 2005 season, McNair was traded to the Ravens, with whom he played for two seasons before retiring.[6]
McNair appeared in the playoffs five times with the Titans, including their run to Super Bowl XXXIV in 2000, and made his final playoff appearance in 2006 with the Ravens. McNair was selected to the Pro Bowl four times, and was an All-Pro twice and Co-MVP in 2003.[7] McNair was the first African-American quarterback to win AP NFL MVP and remains, along with Cam Newton, Patrick Mahomes, and Lamar Jackson, only one of four to win the award.[8] In 2009, McNair was shot and killed by his girlfriend in a murder–suicide; he was 36.
Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).
- ^ Wyatt, Jim (September 10, 2019). "Titans to Retire Steve McNair's No. 9 and Eddie George's No. 27 Jerseys at Sunday's Game". The Tennessee Titans.
- ^ Steve McNair Found Dead Archived July 6, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. WTVF, July 4, 2009. Retrieved July 4, 2009.
- ^ "Remembering 'Air McNair' – NCAA Football". Sporting News. Archived from the original on September 5, 2009. Retrieved November 20, 2010.
- ^ "Remembering Air McNair". CBS News. Archived from the original on July 28, 2010.
- ^ Steve McNair Stats, News, Photos. ESPN. Retrieved July 8, 2009.
- ^ "Shooting Unveils Very Different Sides of Ex-NFL Quarterback Steve McNair". Fox News. July 6, 2009. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012.
- ^ "McNair helped bring stability and success to vagabond franchise". National Football League. Retrieved November 17, 2014.
- ^ "MVP Patrick Mahomes is now part of the legendary black quarterback fraternity". Andscape. February 3, 2019.