Tag: Steve McNair

Titans greats Steve McNair, Eddie George advance in Hall of Fame voting

Former Titans quarterback Steve McNair and running back Eddie George have moved forward in the class of 2025 Hall of Fame voting process.

The Tennessee Titans have two former players who have advanced in the 2025 NFL Hall of Fame voting process: Quarterback Steve McNair and running back Eddie George.

McNair played 11 of his 13 seasons in the NFL as a member of the Titans, although his first two seasons were when the team was still in Houston. He spent his last two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens. Over his career, McNair earned MVP honors, three Pro Bowl appearances, and was an AP All-Pro in 2003.

George played eight of his nine seasons with the Titans, although he also joined the team when they were still in Houston. George played his final season with the Ravens. He earned Offensive Rookie of the Year in his first season and joined the Pro Bowl rankings for the next four seasons. He also had MVP and Offensive Player of the Year shares a few times.

Both McNair and George made four post-season appearances, including the Titans’ 1999 Super Bowl loss to the St. Lous Rams.

Neither McNair nor George is on the ballot for the first time. They’re currently in a group of 50, which will be whittled down to 25 next month. Stay tuned to see if McNair and George finally make it to the Hall of Fame.

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Eight former Titans nominated for 2025 HOF class

The nominees for the 2025 Hall of Fame class have been released and there are eight former Tennessee Titans who received a nomination.

The nominations for the NFL’s 2025 Hall of Fame class have been announced and there are eight former Tennessee Titans who could be among those inducted next year.

Delanie Walker, former Titans’ tight end, is one of 16 players on the list who are in their first year of eligibility. The other Titans include quarterback Steve McNair, running back Eddie George, running back Chris Johnson, fullback Lorenzo Neal, wide receiver Derrick Mason, cornerback Samari Rolle and kicker Gary Anderson.

There are 167 modern-era players nominated for the 2025 Hall of Fame class, including 94 offensive players, 56 defensive players, and 17 special teams players.

Around mid-October, the Screening Committee will announce a reduced 50-player list, and the full 50-person Hall of Fame Selection Committee will reduce the list to 25 players. A second vote will trim the number to 15 before a list of 20 nominees are presented to the full Selection Committee.

Those 20 nominees will consist of 15 modern-era players, three Senior Finalists, a Coach’s Finalist, and a Contributor Finalist. There is no set number of people to enshrine each year, but the selection process bylaws state that four to eight players will be inducted.

The committee will meet next year before the Super Bowl to make a final vote on who will be inducted. To be inducted, finalists must receive 80% of the vote.

Netflix series ‘Untold’ will examine murder of Steve McNair

Netflix will release a new episode of “Untold” on Aug. 20 examining the murder of Tennessee Titans/Houston Oilers legend Steve McNair.

Earlier this week, Netflix revealed that its sports documentary series “Untold” will return in August with three new episodes that “go well beyond the headlines.”

Among those will be the murder of Titans/Oilers Ring of Honor member Steve McNair, who was found shot to death on July 4, 2009, alongside 20-year-old Sahel “Jenni” Kazemi in a Nashville condominium.

Nashville police declared McNair’s death a murder-suicide with Kazemi named the perpetrator.

Over the years, there have been some wild conspiracy theories associated with McNair’s murder, and it’s possible “Untold” will explore those.

McNair was a first-round pick (No. 3 overall) of the Houston Oilers in the 1995 NFL draft. He spent the first 11 seasons of his career with the Oilers/Titans before closing things out with the rival Baltimore Ravens (2006-2007).

McNair earned co-MVP honors with Peyton Manning in 2003, when he also was named a second-team All-Pro. In his 13-year career, he voted to the Pro Bowl three times. In 2019, the Titans retired McNair’s No. 9 jersey.

The episode on McNair will premiere on Tuesday, Aug. 20.

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Best Titans or Oilers player to wear each jersey number in franchise history

The best Tennessee Titans or Houston Oilers player to wear each jersey number in franchise history, from 0-99.

With it being the quiet time of the NFL offseason ahead of training camp, we thought it would be fun to take a look back at Tennessee Titans franchise history and choose the best player to wear each number, from 0-99.

Of course, when you talk about Tennessee Titans franchise history, you have to include the Houston Oilers, no matter how much Houston Texans fans might disagree with it.

While choosing a player for some numbers was quite easy, there were some truly difficult decisions to make for others. For the most difficult decisions, we included an honorable mention below the actual pick, so you’ll know by seeing that just how much I struggled with it.

Some of the criteria included how productive the player was for the Titans or Oilers while wearing the actual jersey number, plus accomplishments such as Pro Bowls and All-Pro nods, and longevity was also factored in.

For example: while Julio Jones had the best career as a whole by a mile of any Titans player to wear No. 2, he didn’t make the cut because he only spent one lackluster season in Nashville. The same goes for Randy Moss.

With that in mind, here’s a look at the best player to wear each jersey number in Oilers/Titans franchise history.

Several Titans, Oilers listed among best to ever wear their numbers

Several Titans and Oilers were listed as either the top choice or an honorable mention on Touchdown Wire’s list.

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The Tennessee Titans/Houston Oilers franchise has had its fair share of truly special talents ever since the organization began its existence back in the 1960s.

A total of 17 Hall of Famers spent time with the franchise, while several others on the list were great in their own right despite not being recognized by the Hall of Fame committee.

Doug Farrar of ‘Touchdown Wire’ recently created an article naming some of the best players to wear each jersey number, and three players from the franchise were selected as the best in NFL history to ever wear their respective jersey numbers:

  • QB Warren Moon (No. 1)
  • RB Eddie George (No. 27)
  • DL Elvin Bethea (No. 65)

Tennessee/Houston also had several players who earned an honorable mention for a handful of different jersey numbers, including:

  • QB Kerry Collins (No. 5)
  • QB Steve McNair (No. 9)
  • RB Derrick Henry (No. 22)
  • RB Earl Campbell (No. 34)
  • LB Robert Brazile (No. 52)
  • OL Mike Munchak (No. 63)
  • OL Kevin Mawae (No. 68)
  • OL Jon Runyan (No. 69)
  • OL Bruce Matthews (No. 74)
  • OL Steve Hutchinson (No. 76)
  • DL Ray Childress (No. 79)
  • WR Derrick Mason (No. 85)

In order to view the rest of the rankings, make sure to check out Farrar’s article to see the list in its entirety.

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Eddie George says he still dreams about Steve McNair in touching story

George also went into detail about what stuck out about McNair the most during their days together with the Titans.

It’ll be 14 years this July since Steve McNair tragically lost his life in a murder-suicide, but his memory lives on in several ways, including in the dreams of fellow Tennessee Titans legend, Eddie George.

George was recently a guest on Shannon Sharpe’s podcast “Club ShayShay” and revealed that he still has dreams about his former teammate, who passed away on July 4, 2009.

“I dream about him a lot, actually,” George admitted. “And, in the dream, we’re out at the practice field — I can hear his laugh, so distinct, his distinct laugh — and he’s laughing and he’s joking with me and I say to him, ‘see, you’re not dead.’ And I wake up and I’m like, damn, he’s physically gone but I think it’s his way of telling me that, ‘I’m not. I’m on the other side, it’s a different phase of life but I’m not [gone].'”

George went on to recall McNair’s career in Nashville, but what stuck out to him the most is how No. 9 battled through the tough times in his career to become the player he eventually was.

“There were some tough times when the fans booed him, when he couldn’t throw a five-yard out with confidence, when he wasn’t Air McNair,” George explained. “He was a manager and he was selfless to the point where he didn’t say much, he knew his role.

“But once he committed to his craft and dedicated to being the quarterback that he wanted to be, he was awesome. I watched him go from not being able to throw a five-yard out to being masterful calling plays within a play on the football field.

“Want five wides, and checking the plays, manipulating the defense with his eyes and the safety, all that stuff. It was awesome to watch that. To watch him go from that to MVP was awesome, man.”

It’s hard not to be sad when you hear George’s story or even hear McNair’s name in general because of the tragic way he died, but it’s also important to remember all the good times McNair gave us during his time in Nashville.

It was truly an honor to watch him play football. He may be gone, but his memory will live on, and George’s story is a prime example of that.

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Malik Willis draws Steve McNair comparison from mic’d up Kevin Byard

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen Willis compared to the Titans great this offseason.

Tennessee Titans safety Kevin Byard was mic’d up for the team’s final preseason game of 2022 against the Arizona Cardinals, and in the clip we hear him compare quarterback Malik Willis to Titans great Steve McNair.

Willis saved his best for last in preseason Week 3, completing 15-of-23 passes for 131 yards and one touchdown to one pick, while also adding 79 rushing yards on four carries.

The highlight of Willis’ performance was a 50-yard run which set the Titans up for a touchdown. It was after that play that Byard made his comment comparing Willis and McNair.

“He can run now,” Byard said. “He’s got some Steve McNair to him. I’m telling you. He’s got some Steve McNair to him.”

Check out the full mic’d up clip featuring Byard below.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard the Willis-McNair comparison, as NFL Network analyst Bucky Brooks also made the correlation back in May.

“When I think about an NFL comparison for Willis, I’m going to go with the legend, Steve McNair,” Brooks said. “Much like Air McNair was able to dazzle, not only with his rugged playing style and his legs, he also had big-time arm talent, which allowed him to throw the ball over the top of defenses early and often. I believe Malik Willis has that kind of ability, and it’s one of the reasons why I expect him to be a star at the next level.”

With Willis’ big arm and dynamic athleticism, two things that were on full display during the preseason, it’s easy to see why Byard and Brooks are thinking McNair when they watch him.

After a successful camp and preseason, Willis won the backup quarterback job over Logan Woodside, leaving him one Ryan Tannehill injury or meltdown away from seeing the field in 2022.

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Titans’ Malik Willis draws comparison to Steve McNair

“If it all clicks, we’re talking about a superstar,” NFL Network’s Bucky Brooks said about Titans QB Malik Willis.

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Even before the Tennessee Titans selected quarterback Malik Willis in the third round of the 2022 NFL draft, experts were drawing a comparison between he and Titans legend, Steve McNair.

When you look at Willis’ skill set, it’s easy to see why. Like McNair, the 22-year-old has elite athleticism and improvisational skills, and a big arm.

One expert who was making that comparison was FOX Sports’ Bucky Brooks, who also noted how Willis has superstar potential.

“Willis is a dynamic playmaker who has the talent and tools to be a superstar at the next level,” Brooks said. “When I look at his game, he can do it as a runner, he has big-time arm talent to push the ball down the field; more importantly he is an improvisational wizard on the perimeter. He makes plays in a way that reminds me a little bit of the way Josh Allen made plays early in his career with the Buffalo Bills. Yes, he’s not quite a finished product; he needs to work on his processing speed and his accuracy — but if it all clicks, we’re talking about a superstar. When I think about an NFL comparison for Willis, I’m going to go with the legend, Steve McNair. Much like Air McNair was able to dazzle, not only with his rugged playing style and his legs, he also had big-time arm talent, which allowed him to throw the ball over the top of defenses early and often. I believe Malik Willis has that kind of ability, and it’s one of the reasons why I expect him to be a star at the next level.”

As Brooks notes, Willis will need time to develop, but he lands in the perfect situation in Nashville, where the Titans already have a starter locked in for 2022 in Ryan Tannehill.

We completely agree with everything Brooks said, especially the point about Willis’ seemingly unlimited ceiling. Now, it’s up to the Titans to unlock the mountain of promise the Liberty product has.

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Ex-Titans head coach Jeff Fisher defends his record with QBs

Jeff Fisher defended himself against people who say he hasn’t had enough success with quarterbacks.

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Former Tennessee Titans head coach Jeff Fisher, who is now leading the USFL’s Michigan Panthers, recently defended himself against critics who believe he ruins quarterbacks.

Fisher was a guest on the Number One Ranked Show and cited people on social media mockingly calling him the “quarterback whisperer” and saying he doesn’t know how to develop or coach players at the position.

However, Fisher defended himself and noted his past with the Titans as evidence that his record with quarterbacks isn’t as bad as it’s made out to be.

“I got caught up in some of the social media stuff,” Fisher admitted. “They were calling me – facetiously – ‘quarterback whisperer,’ like I just ruin quarterbacks. Well, go fact check your world … before you start saying things.

“We had success [with the Titans]. We had a lot of success.”

Fisher did oversee at least some success with drafted quarterbacks like Steve McNair and Vince Young, as well as with an already-established Kerry Collins.

McNair won a co-MVP and helped lead the Titans to their lone Super Bowl appearance, Collins was a Pro Bowler in 2008, and Young won Offensive Rookie of the Year in his first season.

“We were patient with him,” Fisher said of McNair. “He was just a fierce competitor, and it took us some time. At that time, we laid it out and said, ‘Look, this is going to be our guy. We’re going to take him. We can’t tell you when he’s going to be ready. But we’ll know.’

“He got all the experience he needed to get over a couple of years, and then we took off and we ran with him. And we did very well with him.”

However, the rapid decline of Young, who has admitted in the past to having issues with Fisher, remains a stain on the head coach’s tenure in Nashville.

Fisher’s stint with the Rams was not good. On top of shoddy quarterback play from guys like Sam Bradford, Nick Foles, Case Keenum and Jared Goff, the Rams went 31-45-1 under Fisher over four-plus seasons.

Fisher, who remains the winningest coach in franchise history, will now be tasked with bringing along quarterbacks Paxton Lynch and Shea Patterson, both of whom were drafted by the Panthers after unsuccessful stints in the NFL.

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