Steve McNair

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{{NFL player

  |Image=
  |Caption=
  |DateOfBirth=February 14, 1973
  |Birthplace= Mount Olive, MS
  |Position=QB 
  |College=Alcorn State
  |DraftedYear=1995
  |DraftedRound=1
  |Awards=2003 Co-AP NFL MVP
  |Honors=
  |Records=
  |NFL=1069
  |DatabaseFootball=MCNAISTE01
  |years=1995–1996
1997–1998
1999–present
  |teams=Houston Oilers
Tennessee Oilers
Tennessee Titans
  |ProBowls=2003, 2006

}} Steve McNair (born February 14, 1973 in Mount Olive, Mississippi) is an American professional football player who is currently the starting quarterback for the Tennessee Titans.

He is a native of Mississippi and played collegiately in that state for Alcorn State University, a historically black university which competes in the NCAA's Division I-AA. In his senior season he amassed incredible statistics, including over 4,000 yards passing and 2,000 yards rushing; he finished third in the voting for the Heisman Trophy, which is unusual for a player from Division I-AA. His brother Fred also played for Alcorn (from 1986-1989). He was subsequently selected with the third pick in the ensuing NFL draft by the then-Houston Oilers, who were in the process of relocating to Tennessee. McNair was brought along slowly in the NFL by the Oilers, backing up or sharing time with quarterbacks Chris Chandler and Dave Krieg.

When the team relocated to its new stadium in Nashville and was renamed the Titans in 1999, McNair, along with running back Eddie George, led the team to an AFC championship and an appearance in Super Bowl XXXIV, where they lost by only a yard to the St. Louis Rams. Since then, he has generally been recognized as one of the game's top players, and was named co-Most Valuable Player for the 2003 season along with Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts.

McNair is widely respected among Titans fans for being able to play while hurt, having sustained many injuries throughout his career. In the 2003 and 2004 seasons, however, he was increasingly forced to take time off due to injury, being replaced by adequate backup Billy Volek. On November 28, 2004, after a loss to the Houston Texans, McNair hinted that he might retire following the 2004 campaign. On December 17, 2004, it was announced that McNair would not play any more during the 2004-05 season and that he would undergo surgery on his injured sternum. McNair's return for the 2005 season, however, was a stellar display of his co-MVP-winning 2003 season form.

For 2006, McNair's season with the Titans is questionable. As of April, McNair's been asked to work out someplace else instead of with the team during the Titans' offseason conditioning program, ostensibly, for fear that an injury would make the team liable for the entire amount of his $23.46 million salary cap hit for 2006 which would limit their ability to sign their 2006 draft picks.[1]

No first-rank college quarterbacks were taken by the team in the 2005, nor have any efforts been made to trade for a starting quaterback with another team, so drafting a quarterback in 2006 is inevitable (many pundits have pegged Vince Young of the 2005 national champion Texas Longhorns as the most likely choice). As McNair's contract is currently structured, he is to play through the 2006 season, with a $50,000,000 option to extend through the 2009 season.

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Career statistics

		Passing							Rushing
Season	Team	GP	Comp	Att	Pct	Yds	TD	INT	Att	Yds	TD
1995	Houston Oilers	4	41	80	51.3	569	3	1	11	38	0
1996	Houston Oilers	9	88	143	61.5	1197	6	4	31	169	2
1997	Tennessee Oilers	16	216	415	52.0	3228	14	13	101	674	8
1998	Tennessee Oilers	16	289	492	58.7	3228	15	10	77	559	4
1999	Tennessee Titans	11	187	331	56.5	2179	12	8	72	337	8
2000	Tennessee Titans	16	248	396	62.6	2847	15	13	72	403	0
2001	Tennessee Titans	15	264	431	61.3	3350	21	12	75	414	5
2002	Tennessee Titans	16	301	492	61.2	3387	22	15	82	440	3
2003	Tennessee Titans	14	250	400	62.5	3215	24	7	38	138	4
2004	Tennessee Titans	8	129	215	60.0	1343	8	9	23	128	1
2005	Tennessee Titans	14	292	476	61.3	3161	16	11	32	139	1
	Totals	139	2305	3871	59.5	27141	156	103	614	3439	36