The Starting Five

While watching PTI last year I heard Michael Wilbon mention a familiar name, Ed Hill, when asked of his first Steve McNair experience. I’d met Ed Hill, the Sports Information Director at Howard University and also Chevonne Mansfield when Anthony Gilbert, Jeff Young and I drove down to DC to cover Lakers/Wizards.

Coincidentally, that same night, I conducted one of my most excruciating interviews with Lamar Odom. Lamar and I spoke of the death of his son, which leads us to the death of another son.

I contacted Chevonne and she immediately set something up with Mr. Hill. Thanks Chevonne.

This is a conversation I had with Mr. Hill on the day McNair’s death was officially ruled a murder/suicide. Mr. Hill saw the magic in McNair’s arm up close and personal when Howard University competed against Alcorn State in the early 90′s.

I waited a year to drop this on the day after the anniversary of Air’s passing so we won’t soon forget how magnificent the battle tested star was during his career. He willed his team to wins late when it appeared early on his teams would surely suffer defeat.

The man was heart blazed of steel.

I’d written this column because it appeared media opinion of McNair wasn’t right and exact so I sought to preserve his athletic legacy for his sons.

Yeah he was murdered but what about what he did on the field?

Damn…

Michael Tillery: When did you first hear of Steve McNair?

Ed Hill: In 1991, Howard University and Alcorn State played in the Circle City Classic. It was a big event played in Indianapolis inside the dome. It was our first time being invited. It was a big game because it was the only chance…especially for African Americans in Gary, Indiana, Chicago, Detroit and of course Indianapolis to come out and such an event in that part of the country. There were 50,000 people there. In their minds, it wasn’t just about Howard and Alcorn State it was the atmosphere.There’s like three or four games and a lot of events.

We were an OK team that season. That wasn’t one of our better teams. The scouts were out to see Torrance Small and Cedric Tillman, both senior receivers at Alcorn State. During the game, I’m sitting in the press area with a scout from the New York Giants who was giving me the nuances between the Small and Tillman and how they project as NFL prospects.

Watching these guys, you couldn’t help but notice this quarterback. He was throwing 30 yard darts across the field. He’s throwing 50 yard passes up the field with ease.

So during the game and checking this guy out we are like timeout! This kid is a freshman. What stuck out in my mind…and you have to understand I saw Doug Williams, James “Shack” Harris and Willie Totten from Mississippi Valley State…was his ability to make plays, poise and unbelievable arm strength. They beat us 46-27 and he accounted for 400 plus yards of total offense. He threw for 380 and rushed for whatever was left of the his total. He was so strong and so fast. I’d never seen a package like that…especially in an 18 year old kid. He was unbelievable.

I began to tell everyone I knew about him. I would say there’s a dude that plays at Alcorn State who is going to be the next great.

I did a story on him, and found out he was born in Mt. Olive, MS. In high school, he was a tremendous athlete in baseball, football and track and field. Miami and Florida State recruited him not as a quarterback, but a defensive back…safety because he was big and physical. His brother Fred was the quarterback at Alcorn State before him and told Steve that he could start at quarterback at there. He taught him about the game…the nuances…which was a big advantage for him.

So, in 1992, we played them at Greene Stadium on our campus. We’d played them at a neutral site, so we wanted to play them at our place. I was very excited. We had Jay Walker who transferred in from a Division 1 school (Long Beach State) and we were excited over some of the things he was doing. I told everyone to come to the game because it showcased two of the top Black quarterbacks in the nation. I told Michael Wilbon as well and he came out.

The game was hype. People were perched on the rooftop of the gym. They were lined up everywhere because it was not only the quarterbacks, these were great teams.

We jumped out on them Mike, 32-6 at halftime. We were smoking them. At halftime one of the players from Howard stole McNair’s towel. You know athletes can get superstitious. It really upset him because the final score of the game Mike was Howard 48, Alcorn 42. Again, McNair had over 400 yards of total offense and I’ll never forget the final play of the game. Alcorn was at their own 23. McNair heaves the ball 77 yards in the air to a 6’6″ receiver, DeMarcus Hinton, who had caught 3 touchdown passes, the ball was about six inches over his outstretched hands in the back of the end zone. I’ll never forget the collective sigh the stadium let out after the ball fell incomplete…”Ahhh”.

Emotionally and physically? This was one of the five best football games I have ever seen. In the second half, McNair was unbelievable. He ran around, over and through us. He was stiff arming guys. He was throwing darts all over the field. He did whatever he wanted to do. He was his own man.

The next year, we played them in St. Louis, Missouri in the inaugural Gateway Classic. That was the year we were undefeated. Walker injured his ankle the previous week. Our backup, Pep Hamilton, now the quarterbacks coach with the Chicago Bears, did what he could, but Walker came off the bench with a bum ankle and led us to victory 38-36 in a game where McNair had 4 rushing touchdowns.

Derrick Hackett, the SID at Alcorn at the time, called and asked me to help devise a plan with the contacts I had push Steve into the spotlight.

I’m sure you know he led the nation in total offense that year and still has the 1-AA (now FCS) record for passing and total offense (14,496 passing yards career, as well as the division record for total offensive yards with 16,283).

Combined with his physical build, 6’2″ 230 and his great competitive instinct, he was a great player to watch those three years. I watched his progress.

On the NFL level, there are few African-American quarterbacks who have done it for as long as he did. What I mean is his consistency over the course of his career. Moon obviously did some things and so did Cunningham, Williams and McNabb but McNair was the greatest competitor of them all. He came out of the SWAC and showed ability that very few others have ever shown. He put Black college football on another level there period he was at Alcorn.

Mizzo: What was Wilbon’s reaction after that epic 48-42 game?

EH: I don’t know if you remember or not, but Mike was on Sports Reporters and Mike mentioned both Steve McNair and Jay Walker. It took off from there. There was a lot of talk after that game that put both in great positions respectively.

Mizzo: Is he a Hall of Fame quarterback in your opinion?

EH: I think the Tennessee organization did him a great service by sitting him the first year and letting him learn from the sideline. Working him into the system was a great idea.

He progressed in terms of his reads. He never was blessed with above average wide receivers, but his running ability, his leadership, his toughness allowed him to be successful his time there in Tennessee.

There was no one as tough as he was. He should be a strong candidate when the time comes. There will be questions of what has just happened but we are talking about things that happened on the field.

If it comes down to production, then how he produced, his winning record and what he did for the organization makes Steve McNair a strong candidate for Hall of Fame consideration.

ED note: I think the rushing totals of Black quarterbacks are used against them when it comes to career accomplishment balloting and regular season awards. Why is that? Remember the year Randall threw for 3,466 and ran for another 942 (Buddy pulled him early in the fourth of game 16)? That alone is a HOF year.

-Mizzo

Mizzo: Did you get a chance to interact with him personally?

EH: Yes, because of the classics. Obviously media was there and we did interviews. Steve was a laid back, soft spoken dude. He matured a lot once he got into the league. He never was a big talker.

He did a lot of community work in Tennessee, Mississippi and Baltimore. It was definitely a priority.

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