Ask practically any fan what the key is to Ravens? success this season, and they will likely offer a two-word answer: Steve McNair.
The former Tennessee Titans? quarterback quickly went from being one of the Ravens? most-feared rivals to the player many believe will lead Baltimore back to the Super Bowl for the first time in six years.
McNair?s résumé gives that belief credence, especially if the 12-year veteran remains healthy. Since joining the league in 1995 out of Alcorn State University, McNair has completed 59.5 percent of his passes for 27,141 yards, 156 touchdowns and 103 interceptions. He is also a three-time Pro Bowl selection, the 2003 NFL co-MVP, and he led the Titans to within one yard of winning Super Bowl XXXIV.
The Ravens hope McNair, who despite injury concerns has appeared in 126 of 144 regular-season games since becoming a full-time starter in 1997, provides the franchise stability at quarterback. McNair, whom the Ravens traded for in June, will be the 11th starting quarterback for the team in head coach Brian Billick?s eight years at the helm.
“It?s just an overall sense of confidence, calm, productivity,” Billick said on having McNair at quarterback. “It?s something we need to build on and feed off of.”
That sense of calmness surrounding McNair has reverberated throughout training camp and the preseason for the Ravens, who have missed the postseason the last two years. In addition, the team dealt with numerous injuries, off-the-field legal issues and other controversies impeded their play last season.
McNair understands the responsibilities entrusted to him and is ready to do whatever it takes to get Baltimore back on the winning track.
“There?s been a lot on my shoulders for 12 years, so I feel like the thing I?ve got to do is just continue to play my game and everything else will take care of itself,” McNair said.
One of the big challenges McNair faces is balancing an offense that has relied mainly on running back Jamal Lewis. However, McNair has a number of other options at his disposal, including tight end Todd Heap and wide receivers Mark Clayton and Derrick Mason, another former Titan.
Mason, who spent eight years with McNair in Tennessee, said the signal caller hasn?t changed much in their one year apart.
“He?s dropped a little weight. That?s about it,” joked Mason. “He looks like the same Steve. His [passes] are coming out real well. He?s reading the defenses well ? His passes still come out the same. He?s still on of the elite QBs in the league.”
Ravens quarterbacks coach Rick Neuheisel said McNair is in the perfect situation, where he can lead a veteran-laden team to the postseason while serving as a mentor to fellow last year?s starting quarterback, Kyle Boller.
“The great thing about Steve is there?s no sense of panic whether he?s playing or preparing,” Neuheisel said. “That?s not to convey a lack of urgency. It?s just a very calm sense of, ?Let?s get this done.?”
The McNair file
» Age: 33
» Height: 6-foot-2
» Weight: 230
» College: Alcorn State
» How acquired: Trade with Tennessee Titans on June 8
» Did you know? McNair is one of five players in NFL history to have passed for 20,000 yards and rushed for 3,000. The others are John Elway, Fran Tarkenton, Steve Young and Randall Cunningham ? McNair was originally drafted by the then-Houston Oilers with the third pick in the 1995 draft.
