Jim Mashek  

Instant memory: McNair's Bravery

There are many lasting images of Steve McNair.

We've seen him stand in the pocket and take more punishment than seemed humanly possible. We've watched him challenge opponents by throwing into the teeth of NFL defenses. We saw him guide the Tennessee Titans to the only Super Bowl berth in club history.

We've witnessed a big, strong, quiet guy become one of the most admired players in pro football.

He willed the Baltimore Ravens into becoming a winning team in the twilight of his career.

He handled the Houston Oilers' awkward departure for Memphis, and then Nashville, with an uncommon grace. He was banned from the Titans' training facility two years ago before they finally traded him to the Ravens, and endured it with a shrug and a smile.

That's one thing that set McNair apart. The dude could endure a lot.

And he'd keep coming back.

McNair had a lot to prove in Baltimore, and we thought he'd be back for the 2008 season. But he arrived at the Ravens' minicamp on Thursday morning with some sobering news. The former Alcorn State star could push himself no further. He thought he was up to it, mentally speaking, but his body told him otherwise.

McNair announced his retirement and told the world he was ready for the next chapter in his life. And he did it six weeks or so after another Mississippi quarterbacking legend, Brett Favre, walked away from the game.

Steve McNair was able to walk away, too.

And he did it in time for the Ravens to plan accordingly, with the NFL Draft on the horizon.

"It's been a great ride," McNair told The Associated Press. "It's a sad, emotional day for me. I'm trying to do the best I can to hold it in. But at the same time, I'm opening a lot more doors for the future. I can become now the father I need to be to my kids."

McNair had a strong arm, but an even stronger will. He was an effective runner, but an even better leader. He was the third player chosen in the 1995 NFL Draft, and finished third in the Heisman Trophy balloting the previous year.

Think about that for a minute.

McNair was a Heisman Trophy finalist playing for a historically black university in remote Lorman, Miss. And when he played at Alcorn, he was the closest thing to a one-man team I've ever seen.

McNair's final season of college football coincided with my first year in Mississippi, so I was able to see him play twice that year at Jack Spinks Stadium. He was nothing short of amazing.

The media had left the press box for the sideline when McNair delivered in the most improbable of situations on Oct. 23, 1994, in the Braves' game against Southern University. McNair was called for intentional grounding with 35 seconds left, trailing Southern by three points and leaving Alcorn in a ridiculous second-and-40 situation. Coach Cardell Jones and his staff were scrambling to get the right people on the field. McNair just took matters into his own hands.

First, he hit Tim McNair, his older brother, on a sideline pass for 22 yards. And then he let the ball fly about 60 yards in the air before Robert Hinton, a seldom-used sophomore receiver, caught the ball and was knocked out of bounds just short of the goal line.

McNair scored on a quarterback sneak on the next play with 10 seconds left on the clock, giving Alcorn the 41-37 victory.

"In the huddle," McNair said that day, "I was telling (his teammates), 'There's no pressure.' I told them... 'Show me on the field what you can do.'

Words McNair could always live by.

McNair passed for 4,863 yards and 44 touchdowns in that memorable season, and he also led the Braves with 936 yards rushing. Alcorn State reached the Division I-AA playoffs but ran into Jim Tressel's Youngstown State squad, which rolled to a 63-20 victory in Youngstown, Ohio.

I'm just happy to have seen the wild postgame scene after McNair beat Southern University on that sun-splashed afternoon in Lorman.

"It's going to be a privilege," Hinton said afterward, "to tell my kids I caught a pass from Steve McNair."

It was a privilege to watch him play, too.

Jim Mashek can be reached at 896-2333 or jwmashek@sunherald.com