It has become more apparent over the last
few weeks as I have watched the Baltimore Ravens suffer week in and
week out to score touchdowns that the career of a great quarterback is
coming to an end. Steve McNair has aged overnight and his final
play may have come at the end of last Sunday’s game against the
Cincinnati Bengals when his last play of that game was him losing the
grip of the football as he went back to pass.
McNair came to Baltimore before the start of the 2006 season and he was
looked as the last missing piece to an already impressive team ready to
make a run at the Super Bowl. In his first year, McNair led the
Ravens to a 13-3 record, division crown in the AFC North and a first
round bye in the playoffs. He threw for 16 touchdowns, and
exemplified the reputation of being a clutch player and a team
leader. However, the last two games of the season including the
playoff loss against the Indianapolis Colts, McNair threw 3
interceptions and no touchdowns.
This year the struggles for the Ravens offense started almost
immediately. In Week 1, McNair was responsible for 4 turnovers as
he lost three fumbles and threw one interception. McNair also
injured his groin in the game and according to coaches the injury
affected his play for some time after. However, he sat out the
last two weeks before the Ravens Week 8 bye, and when he returned in
Week 9, he proclaimed himself completely healthy. With the injury
excuse gone, McNair’s play did not improve. He threw for an
embarrassing 63 yards against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Monday Night
Football and turned the ball over twice. This past week against
the Bengals, McNair showed that age may have finally caught up with
him. McNair lost 2 fumbles, one while running for a first down
and having a defensive lineman catch up to him and the strip the
ball. The other, when he was attempting to throw the ball.
McNair also threw an interception in the game without throwing a
touchdown. This season in six starts, McNair has 2 touchdown
passes, but none since September 30th. He has also
committed 11 turnovers (4 interceptions, 7 fumbles).
The one-time MVP winner has appeared to lose confidence. After
Sunday’s loss to the Bengals, McNair said he would agree if the Ravens
decided to start Boller ahead of him. Coach Brian Billick who is on the
hot seat himself because of the underachieving Ravens has that hard
choice to make. Bench a borderline Hall of Famer for an
underachieving former first round pick in Kyle Boller, or hope that the
34 year old quarterback could break out of the season long slump that
he has been in. Luckily for Billick, McNair complained of left
shoulder soreness this week and he is now out for the next 2-3
weeks. Boller will take over the reigns of the struggling offense
in one last dash of hope that he could become the quarterback the
Ravens envisioned when they drafted him in 2003.
McNair has been a class act throughout his entire career, but he has
proved over the course of this season that his skills have
diminished. One of the hardest decisions an athlete can make is
when to retire. It has become painful to watch McNair play this
season, but I want my memory of Steve McNair to be the one that led the
Ravens to a 13-3 record, not one that shows him having a hard time
throwing the ball longer than 10 yards.
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