Bitter Baltimoron

It was a bright day in the city the day we finally had a top-tier quarterback in our grasps. The city that had so many years of phenomenal quarterback play in the days of the Colts, finally had a quarterback to lead the Ravens.

Testaverde was underrated and under-appreciated, and Dilfer managed games well enough to win the superbowl, but McNair was a guy who had made so many plays when they counted that he would be a true hero. A play-making quarterback is needed, now more than ever, to win superbowls. With the defensive holdings, tuck rules and all the other rule changes that assisted the air game in the last few years, a Trent Dilfer-style quarterback can no longer win the superbowl based on the strength of those around him. Almost a decade ago, the Bucs, Ravens, and Steelers all had dominant teams without a real playmaker at the quarterback position. Ravens fans knew they had a solid roster in 2005, but the quarterback play was so spotty that there was no real chance to compete and Steve McNair was going to change all of that.

In 2006, the Ravens were a dominant 13-3 side, with a record to finally match their swagger. The difference maker, was the ever-confident veteran quarterback, Steve McNair. McNair was never expected to be the player he was when he was a co-MVP, or when he led the Titans to the super bowl, but for some stretches during the season he was all of the player Ravens fans had hoped for. The only problem was that the chinks in his armor were all too noticeable in some games during the regular season. Besides the first game, McNair started very slowly for the Ravens, often threw wobbling passes and showed an uncharacteristically weak arm on deep throws. Ravens fans were assured that McNair was getting healthier by the week, and that he was also learning more wrinkles of a complicated offense that was different from the one he ran as a Titan.

During the Week 7 bye week, Brian Billick fired offensive coordinator Jim Fassel, and took over the play-calling duties. Everything seemed to click with McNair after that point. The Ravens won nine of their last ten games and McNair’s quarterback rating during that stretch was consistently in the 90s. The only problem was that McNair still looked shaky in the week thirteen Bengals loss and in the week seventeen Bills win. It was fairly obvious in the first half of games to see which arm McNair was equipped with, and at times he might as well have thrown with his left arm. McNair never lost his confidence over the season, and in games when he was less than equipped physically he still seemed to have one drive in him to win a game, like in the week three Browns win.

It was apparent quickly into the playoff loss to the Colts that McNair wasn’t in his full form, but for some reason the pass plays kept being called and Jamal Lewis had the ball taken from him. The wobbly armed McNair would reappear in his injury-plagued 2007 season, that only seemed to mount disappointments on top of each other. It is sad that McNair’s career ended this way, but he was always banged up, and it would have been hard to imagine him walking away from the game in an Elway-type fashion after his frailties were all too apparent in the 2007 season.

Some radio show callers questioned why McNair retired before finishing his rehab, but after seeing his performance last season I was amazed that he even was trying a rehab program. The average quarterback would have retired years before McNair did, and it was an amazing feat that he fought through the injuries he had over his career to lead the 2006 Ravens to the playoffs.

McNair was a great player, the face of the Titans franchise for many years, and a solid role model, however I don’t think he was a hall of famer. Had he won a superbowl in Baltimore or won the superbowl against the Rams, McNair could have been considered hall of fame caliber. It’s no slight on his career that isn’t a hall of famer, he was a great player who should be considered alongside guys like Boog Powell and Gil Hodges who are just a step below the hall.