The Nfl

Air McNair Takes Off

Moments after Oiler quarterback Steve McNair ended his first extensive playing appearance on Sunday at the Astrodome, Lion coach Wayne Fontes sought him out at midfield. "Hey, kid," Fontes said, wrapping his arms around McNair's shoulders, "you did a hell of a job today. And you're going to be a great player in this league."

McNair played the second half of Houston's 24-17 loss to Detroit, and his passing numbers (16 of 27, 203 yards, one perfect-strike touchdown and one horrible interception) were heartening to a league burdened by young quarterback flops of recent vintage—Kelly Stouffer, Todd Marinovich, Andre Ware and Browning Nagel. The 6'2", 224-pound McNair displayed good mobility, tight spirals and an almost Aikman-like poise in the pocket.

While second-year quarterbacks Heath Shuler of the Redskins and Trent Dilfer of the Buccaneers still have a tendency to get happy feet when the pocket begins to collapse, McNair stayed cool and made confident, deliberate decisions under fire.

Based on the 22-year-old McNair's performance, the Oilers ought to make an instructional video for other NFL teams that have to develop a young, raw quarterback. Before the season Houston coach Jeff Fisher brought in Jerry Rhome, one of the game's best quarterback teachers, to coordinate the offense and to tutor McNair, who had thrown for more than 14,000 yards at Alcorn State. The Oilers also enlisted four mentors (including former Houston running back Allen Pinkett) who are on call to help McNair contend with the personal and professional burdens of being the putative savior of a troubled franchise.

Fisher tried to minimize the pressure on McNair by declaring early that McNair, the Oilers' first-round draft pick, would get very little playing time this season. Last week, when he decided to give McNair his first playing time since a four-play appearance on Nov. 5, Fisher shaved the game plan and let McNair take nearly every snap in practice.

When McNair entered the huddle for the first time on Sunday, he said simply, "Let's win." He was largely ineffective in the third quarter, and the Oilers trailed 24-10 with 11:26 left in the game. Then, beginning at the Houston 41, he put together his first touchdown drive. He dumped a seven-yard pass to tight end Frank Wycheck and, after a Rodney Thomas run lost a yard, found Thomas over the middle for eight. Next McNair escaped the Detroit rush and scrambled around right end for six. With the ball at the Lion 39, Rhome called a hitch-and-go pass play for wideout Chris Sanders. McNair ran the play to perfection, getting cornerback Corey Raymond, in man coverage, to bite on a pump fake. "I just wanted to make sure I didn't overthrow him," McNair said later. The pass was on the money for a touchdown.

Then came the rookie mistake. After the Lions fumbled the ensuing kickoff, McNair drove the 35,842 fans wild when he quickly moved the Oilers to the Detroit four. On the next play, after taking a short drop from center, McNair locked his eyes on Wycheck at the goal line. Even though linebacker Mike Johnson and safety Willie Clay were stuck to Wycheck like barnacles, McNair threw to his tight end—and Johnson intercepted.

McNair didn't rant or curse. He calmly walked off the field and said to Fisher, "My mistake. I made up my mind to go to the tight end, and I didn't make the right read." In the final seconds of the game, McNair needed a touchdown pass and a two-point conversion to win, but his throw to Derek Russell was batted away in the end zone as time ran out. The crowd gave him a standing ovation as he jogged off the field expressionless but taking it all in.

Afterward McNair said all the right things and praised all the right people and said he thought he would eventually be successful in the NFL for a long time. "A lot of people expect a lot out of me," he said. "It's hard to be so young and be a leader. But I had to do it in college, and I think the Oilers are going to put me in position to do it in the NFL."