Friday, January 28, 2000
Titans thrive off McNair
Young QB fits blue-collar team
BY GEOFF HOBSON
The Cincinnati Enquirer
ATLANTA — It's progress.
Instead of asking Steve McNair about how long he's been a black quarterback, the Super Bowl media is asking how long
he's been a blue-collar quarterback.
Those chronicling Super Bowl XXXIV between McNair's Titans and quarterback Kurt Warner's Rams seem suspect about McNair's 300 yards passing.
That's in three playoff games. Combined. Warner had 256 in the second half alone of the Rams' 24-21 loss to Tennessee earlier this season.
“Air McNair doesn't care about all the stats,” said Titans strong safety Blaine Bishop. “That's the way it is with our whole team. As long as we win.
Nobody looks back and says you were 9-for-30 if you win. It doesn't matter. We're all blue-collar. The whole team. There's a lot of guys who have been cut, picked up, but we've all come together.'
McNair, coveted out of Division I-AA Alcorn State, racked up an NCAA record 8.18 yards per pass and threw 82 times in his final collegiate game. That's 21 more throws than he's had in the last three games.
So McNair is here, but the debate before the 1995 draft has never really died.
Can he be a big-time passer despite his small-school pedigree?
But there is progress. On Thursday, McNair was asked to compare himself to Doug Flutie, the Bills' 5-foot-9 quarterback, instead of Doug Williams, the first black quarterback to start in the Super Bowl.
McNair said there were similarities with Flutie because they both have mediocre stats, but usually make enough plays to win.
“A lot of the guys who throw for 400, 500 yards don't get in the big game,” McNair said. “If we're putting up those numbers and we're losing, that would be frustrating. We play hard, physical football. I'm the type of guy whatever it takes to put the ballclub in position to win.”
The 6-foot-2, 225-pound McNair has put the Titans in position for their first NFL title with his head and legs rather than his arm. Last week in the AFC title game, he shook off the Jaguars' sack attack with 91 yards on nine rushes.
“There's a lot of things that go into being a quarterback,” McNair said. “You have to lose the rush, get away from guys because 99 percent of the time as a quarterback, it doesn't happen like you want it to and you have to have the capability to make things happen and give receivers a second chance.”
Still, McNair is a passer at heart who would love a 4,000-yard passing season. He's honored to be the second black quarterback to start a Super Bowl, but he's only thinking about duplicating Williams' stats from 12 years ago and not the circus of that Super Bowl.
“When he was the Super Bowl MVP and threw (four) touchdowns (for 340 yards),” McNair said. “I'd like to be in a similar situation.”
McNair said the volume of black quarterback questions this week is “a little less” than he expected, which is fine because “It's not a black or white issue.”
What is black and white is the Titans decided not to rush McNair after picking him third in the '95 draft. A major reason was because McNair worked out of the shotgun at Alcorn State and was so behind in a pro scheme that coaches had to teach him to take snaps from center at the all-star games.
But the biggest adjustment came in his head.
“The most improved aspects were learning to be a leader, doing what it takes to lead this team to victory,” McNair said. “I think the guys have confidence in me. They know I'll do whatever it takes to win.”
McNair sat for two seasons before getting the call in '97, and while he hasn't put up Alcorn-like numbers, he's 32-20 as an NFL starter and been everything the Titans wanted.
General Manager Floyd Reese shook his head Thursday. The drawing board said to sit him for two years, start him the next two and go to the Super Bowl in McNair's fifth season.
“There are a number of (young) quarterbacks that get destroyed,” Reese said. “Whether they have ability or not, they never had a chance to show it. They don't even know their offense, let alone what the defense is doing. They have no concept of what's going on and they're getting battered.
“What do they learn?” he asked. “They learn confusion. They learn injury. They learn disappointment. We didn't want our quarterback to learn any of that stuff.”
Reese thinks McNair will have a breakthrough season next year. The Titans thought he was ready this season after the 36-35 fourth-quarter comeback victory over the Bengals during week one in which he passed for a career-high 341 yards on 21 of 32 for three touchdowns.
But the next week, McNair ruptured a back disc, missed the next five games and Reese said, “he had a good camp, threw it up and down the field in the first game and all that work went down the toilet. I think next year is the year.”
Williams returned McNair's phone call Wednesday night and had some advice for the last game of this year: “He told me not to put any pressure on myself and try to make big plays (without) making mistakes. He said not to do anything different than I've been doing all year.”
With a 12-2 record as a starter this season, that would mean a win.
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