I never saw Steve McNair play a game at Alcorn State, but I distinctly remember listening.
Back in the early '90s, a wide choice of digital channels didn't exist. Live college football
was unheard of British TV. The best college football fans in the UK could hope for was to
micro–adjust AM radio and hope to get a waft of Armed Forces Network. Even then,
those would be big–name colleges, not Alcorn State.
Those being the days before every street had internet access, college football news meant
a daily subscription to the UK's abridged edition of USA Today. I followed, as the story
of Steve McNair grew – every week, another clutch performance, another clutch of gaudy s
tatistics, the growing debate of whether it meant anything against the lower level of competition.
None the less, 'Air' McNair was worth increasing column inches, getting his picture on the front of
the sports section, then in the top corner of the front cover itself as an icon of college football highlights.
And then, one Saturday, it happened. Normally, during the gaps between the end of one featured 1–A
game and the start of the next, listeners would be 'returned to their scheduled programming', but not
on this occasion. As my girlfriend and I redecorated our flat that evening, we received bonus
coverage — a 1–AA game, an Alcorn State game. We couldn't believe our luck. Nor
could we believe McNair would pull off another come–from–behind win for our benefit,
right on cue. But he did, pulling off a two–score escape act with his arm and feet —
live before our very ears.
That was 'Air' McNair — bringing Alcorn State football to downtown Bournemouth. That year,
McNair not only won the Walter Payton Award as the best 1–AA football player, he even came
third in the Heisman voting, unheard of for a player from the second tier of play. Rashaan Salaam
and Ki–Jana Carter — the players who polled ahead of him — never translated their
talent into long NFL careers. McNair did, transitioning the Houston Oilers into the Tennessee Titans,
and then leading the Titans to within a yard of Super Bowl glory. After 13 years, 11 with
Houston/Tennessee, 2 with Baltimore, McNair retired from the NFL as a 3–time Pro Bowler.
Saturday, McNair and an unnamed female victim were found dead of gunshot wounds in what
police are viewing as double homicide.
Plenty of players and coaches will be able to conjure memories of the man, the player, the
legend. All I have to offer is a recollection of an evening painting the walls and listening
to 'Air' McNair. But it was magic. It was the stuff of legend.
