1 yard from glory

As a professional athlete retires and fades from the glory surrounding the sport he participated in the athlete also fades from our memory. Usually we do not know or really care about our athletic heroes after sport endeavors. The athletes quickly fade from our memory, while the game winning shot, hard hitting tackle and the Hail Mary pass remain etched in our minds forever.
The only time we open up the past is when we give pause to honor the passing of the athlete who once astounded us by their playmaking abilities, on field courage and heroics. Well today is one of those unwelcome days when we pause to honor the memory Steve McNair.
For me McNair was not a great QB but he was a very solid player and I have great respect for the way he played the game. He was always a leader, always willing to share the spot light and never the troublemaker. McNair did not have the Super Bowl successes of Tom Brady, Dan Marino, John Elway, etc. What McNair did have was a successful career year in year out. In 13 seasons McNair threw for a very respectful 31,304 yards and 174 touchdowns. We tend to measure QBs by their passing yardage and touchdowns and forget about the yardage gained off of a QB scrambles (674 rushing yards for McNair) and the pain they played through.

Steve McNair shot to death July 4, 2009