Tag: Steve McNair

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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Why Joe Douglas compared Zach Wilson to Steve McNair

The Jets weren’t scared off by Zach Wilson’s easy college schedule at BYU, no more than the Oilers were of Steve McNair’s out of Alcorn State.

Zach Wilson’s easy schedule at BYU was one of the biggest knocks against him heading into the 2021 NFL draft. But Joe Douglas didn’t consider Wilson’s competition in college a major concern.

“That’s not his fault,” the Jets GM said Thursday night, according to ESPN’s Rich Cimini, “no more than it was Steve McNair’s fault about Alcorn State’s schedule when he was coming out.”

Wilson had a spectacular junior season in 2020, throwing for 3,692 yards, 33 touchdowns and just three interceptions while completing 73.5 percent of his passes. The Cougars, however, only played two top-25 teams last season, Boise State and Coastal Carolina. Wilson threw for 360 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions against the Broncos in a win, but struggled against the Chanticleers with just 260 passing yards, one touchdown and one interception. Wilson went 2-4 against top-25 teams with eight touchdowns and five interceptions during his college career. 

This didn’t scare Douglas and the Jets away, though. He went as far as to compare Wilson to McNair. The Houston Oilers still picked McNair third overall in 1995 out of Alcorn State, an FCS school. McNair went on to have a successful 13-year NFL career before retiring in 2008. He tragically died in 2009 from multiple gunshot wounds.

Douglas saw McNair’s ability firsthand in Baltimore from 2006-2007. The GM also wasn’t scared off by Joe Flacco’s competition at Delaware before lobbying the Ravens to pick him 18th overall in 2008.

The Jets have a lot riding on Wilson to be their franchise quarterback. He’s the third one they’ve taken in the top-five of the draft since 2009 and will play in one of the most heavily scrutinized sports markets in the country. Douglas believes in Wilson, though, despite what he faced in college.

“Love the confidence, love the energy, love the passion,” Douglas said. “One of the things that really stood out was just his intensity. He sat on the edge of his seat. He was close to the camera. You could tell how intense and focused he was. The mental horsepower… was just really impressive.”

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Former Titans OL Michael Roos shares great story about Steve McNair

Steve McNair was as great of a teammate as he was a football player.

Valentine’s Day is one people share with that special someone in their life, but for Tennessee Titans fans it’s also a day to remember the late, great Steve McNair, who was born on that date 48 years ago.

We saw a lot of people share their memories of McNair on his birthday on Sunday, but perhaps none were better than that of his former teammate and Titans offensive lineman, Michael Roos.

Roos told a story about how McNair gave up his seat for him when he was a rookie in his first team meeting back in 2005, which we would venture to guess is a rare occurrence on most NFL teams.

Until that day, it was a seat that only McNair had sat in since the facility opened, and it’s something Roos has clearly never forgotten.

“As a rookie walking into my 1st team mtng trying to figure out where I can sit among all the older vets McNair gave me his seat,” Roos tweeted “His back was hurting so he sat on the steps. He was the only player to ever sit in that seat from the day the facility was built til that day!! Legend!”

This is a perfect example of the selflessness of McNair. He was as great of a teammate as he was a football player, and his legacy will forever be cemented because of both of those things.

Gone but never, ever forgotten. Rest in peace, Air McNair.

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Quarterbacks born on Valentine’s Day have been the most prolific in NFL history

If your son or daughter is born on Valentine’s Day, the odds are pretty decent that you have a future NFL quarterback in your midst.

When you woke up this morning and realized it was Valentine’s Day, hopefully you weren’t in a panic about getting that special gift for your significant other. And if you woke up this morning with the awareness that you’re going to have a baby today… well, depending on all kinds of circumstances, you might be unleashing a highly prolific NFL quarterback on the world in the next 20 years or so. Per Chase Stuart of Football Perspective, the odds favor you and your progeny.

Three of the best quarterbacks of all time from a statistical perspective — Jim Kelly, Steve McNair, and Drew Bledsoe — were all born on February 14, and former Jaguars quarterback David Garrard also shares the birthdate. As Stuart points out, Valentine’s day is the only date of birth for four different quarterbacks who have thrown for over 16,000 yards — Garrard brings up the rear at 16,003. No other date of birth has four quarterbacks with even 7,500 yards between them.

The totals for quarterbacks born on Valentine’s Day, when you pack in Patrick Ramsey and a handful of other guys (including Jared Lorenzen, the “Hefty Lefty,” and former Dolphins quarterback/halfback/punter Larry Seiple)?

How about 11,723 completions in 19,916 attempts for 137,342 yards, 808 touchdowns, and 615 interceptions? That’s a lot of numbers.

If there’s a Fredo Corleone on the Valentine’s Day list, it’s unquestionably Christian Hackenberg, the former Jets second-round pick who never threw a regular-season pass, washed out of the NFL completely, and was last seen swearing his way out of the Alliance of American Football, and trying to become a major league pitcher.

But hey…. it’s a day of love, so let’s accentuate the positive. Are there future February 14th birthday kids with bright NFL futures? Don’t bet against it.