Friday, November 12, 1999
O'Donnell sits despite success
Titans stick with McNair at QB
BY TOM GROESCHEN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
This week, Neil O'Donnell is more popular in Nashville than Garth Brooks. And O'Donnell didn't do a thing.
O'Donnell, the Tennessee Titans' backup quarterback and former Bengals scapegoat, guided Tennessee to a 4-1 record this season while starter Steve McNair recuperated from back surgery. But McNair comes off a three-interception game in a 17-0 loss to Miami, and Tennessee talk shows wonder if ol' Neil might be a better choice to start vs. the Bengals this Sunday.
To Jeff Fisher, the Tennessee coach, there is no discussion.
“Steve McNair is our starter,” Fisher said this week. “There's no controversy here. I don't believe in a guy losing his job because of injury.”
McNair has been the Titans' starter for three years, and was groomed for that role since being a first-round draftee in 1995. Much like Jeff Blake is just warming the seat for Akili Smith, such is the O'Donnell-McNair relationship in Tennessee.
O'Donnell was virtually run out of Cincinnati last winter, released after being the Bengals' principal quarterback in a
3-13 season. But Tennessee believed O'Donnell, a caretaker quarterback who led Pittsburgh to a Super Bowl in the 1995 season, was a perfect insurance policy.
“Neil was a great acquisition for us, but we were up front with him from the get-go about what his role would be here,” Fisher said. “He understands.”
McNair, meantime, has listened to both heavy criticism and big cheers this season. He was booed at home when Tennessee fell behind the Bengals in the season opener, then cheered when the Titans rallied to win 36-35.
But while O'Donnell's quarterback rating of 87.6 ranks fourth in the AFC, McNair's 77.0 would rank just 11th if he qualified. He has played in only three games this year, completing just 54.4 percent of his passes with five touchdowns and four interceptions.
For McNair, who set an NCAA record with more than 16,000 yards of total offense at Division I-AA Alcorn State, the Miami game marked the first time he'd been shut out in his football life.
“I take full responsibility,” he said after the game. “It's very frustrating. When you turn the ball over, you can't expect to win.”
McNair has been known as a cautious passer under the conservative Fisher, rarely throwing interceptions — or deep passes. He has not completed a pass for more than 55 yards since becoming the full-time starter in 1997.
But McNair, 6-foot-2 and 225 pounds, was also the top rushing quarterback in the NFL in 1997 and '98. At age 26, he still leaves the impression of a work in progress.
“The guy is as talented as any quarterback who has ever played the game,” Minnesota quarterback Randall Cunningham has said of McNair. “The world is right there in his hands.”
But McNair shows the rust of his five-week layoff, having returned just two weeks ago. And there is also a hole in his resume, showing zero playoff appearances in his career.
Fisher hopes that will change this year, with the Titans standing 6-2. The Bengals could be a quick pick-me-up for a struggling McNair, and Fisher said the quarterback is ready to blossom.
“He really has gotten better mechanically and fundamentally,” Fisher said. “But he understands he's got to get even better.”
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