Why Steve McNair is the Greatest Black College Football Quarterback of All Time

There are four pillars that ingrain black college football into the psyche of sports fans everywhere. Eddie Robinson,  Walter Payton, Jerry Rice, and Steve McNair.

Eddie Robinson served as the tenured ambassador of black college football, ushering the sport from segregation into a brave new place of worldwide exposure and acceptance. Everything that the common sports fan knows about black college football, is a direct result of Coach Rob’s influence on the game.

Walter Payton was the first standard of excellence in a post-desegregation sports landscape. The first round pick out of Jackson State in 1975 set a standard of performance, production and humility with one of the NFL’s flagship franchises.

Jerry Rice brought black colleges into the 80’s spotlight with a story of quiet greatness. While he was a highly-touted player out of Mississippi Valley State, no one could’ve anticipated the longevity and prolific impact Rice would have on the game.

And then there is Steve McNair, a player who turned the attention of the 1990’s from many power conference teams and forced it in the direction of Lorman, MS. McNair’s exploits as an Alcorn State Brave were legendary, and unlike black college quarterbacking stars who preceded him, his career spanned more years, yielded more accolades, and did more to legitimize not only the quality of talent at black colleges, but the ability of black quarterbacks entering the NFL.

Steve McNair was the black college football star furthest removed from a desegregated system of NCAA Division I football. With a talent pool all but drained by television exposure and multi-million dollar facilities and payouts at larger schools, McNair excelled in a place and time where talent was judged by who recruited you more than what you produced. And his production was impressive enough for scouts and media to regard his work in high comparison to other potential professionals.

Doug Williams, even with his success on football’s biggest stage, can’t make that claim.

Steve McNair played longer, made more Pro Bowls, won more MVP’s than any other black college quarterback before him. And with every accolade and win he collected, the perspective of him as a black quarterback diminished, and was replaced with the perspective of whether he was a productive quarterback or not.

McNair was the first to take color out of the equation, and while color likely still plays a role in the assessment of  QB’s like Donovan McNabb, Jason Campbell and Vince Young, they now enjoy a fairer assessment than they would’ve received without the influence of Mac-9.

There is much to be made about the life and contributions of Steve McNair, but there is no question about his impact on black college football. The numbers are there, the cultural change is apparent, and while the discussion now forms under the most tragic of circumstances, it is nonetheless worthy of having.

Steve McNair is the greatest black college quarterback of all-time.