
When
Steve McNair retired last week, it became inevitable that his candidacy for Canton would be evaluated. His trip from Alcorn State to the Super Bowl erased the last lingering doubts about the fitness of black quarterbacks and he threw for 31,304 yards in his career.
That's a nice number but it's also less than
Kerry Collins. He only threw for 20 touchdowns three times, though, and the Titans went to the Super Bowl on
Eddie George's legs and a strong defense more than McNair's right arm. They also didn't win that game, falling a yard short of forcing overtime and that may be the defining yard of McNair's chances at enshrinement. Hailed as a tough-as-nails gamer around the league, McNair with a ring would be a much more appealing candidate than without one.
Hashmarks spoke with one HOF voter who is keeping an open mind about McNair's chances, though.
"I can't say that I would never vote for McNair. There are some guys like Warren Moon that I didn't think was a Hall of Famer at first, but as time passed, the numbers stood out and I was convinced that he was."
That's a hard case to make given McNair's era.
Peyton Manning,
Tom Brady and
Brett Favre are guaranteed spots in Canton and there's likely to be one or two others coming from behind that will surpass McNair's modest overall resume. McNair isn't a HOFer right now and time isn't likely to help him much either.