Steve McNair: Houston Oilers/Tennessee Titans via of Alcorn State Braves
Mississippi has three historically black universities, and all three have given the NFL some of the best players to play the game. One such player was Alcorn State’s Steve “Air” McNair. McNair followed in his brother Fred’s footsteps to play for the Braves.
By the end of his college career at Alcorn State, McNair was a legend, breaking several records his senior year and finishing third in the Heisman Trophy voting.
McNair also won the Walter Payton Award his senior year and beat arch rival Jackson State for four straight years.
In 1995, the Oilers picked McNair with the third pick in the first round of the draft. He sat most of his first two seasons.
In 1997, McNair led the Oilers to an 8-8 record in his first season as a starter. When the team moved to Tennessee the following season, McNair’s career took off.
In the 1999 season, McNair led the Titans to the best season ever in Houston or Tennessee. McNair led his team to Super Bowl XXXIV against the St. Louis Rams. McNair drove the Titans on a last-second drive that fell a yard short in a 23-16 loss.
Injuries forced McNair into retirement following the 2007 season.
McNair’s career was still stellar earning a Co-NFL MVP in 2003. He was named to three Pro Bowls (2000, 2003, and 2005) and was named an All-Pro in 2003.
McNair passed for 31,304 yards for 28th place all time, to go along with 4,544 pass attempts and 2,733 completions for 23rd and 20th place, respectively, in NFL history.
In his 13 NFL seasons, McNair passed for 174 touchdowns and won 91 games for 29th place and 20th place.
Brett Favre: Green Bay Packers via Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles
Arguably one of the greatest players ever to play quarterback, Brett Favre is one of the handfuls of players from Mississippi to be in the discussion of greatest NFL players.
Favre was a legend for the Golden Eagles way before he ever stepped onto an NFL field.
Favre’s mystique started his freshman year at USM the only school to offer him a scholarship. Favre started his freshman season as the seventh-string quarterback.
Everything changed the third game of the season against Tulane. Favre came off the bench to lead USM to a comeback victory, throwing for two touchdowns while vomiting from a hangover from the night before.
In Favre’s junior season, he led a comeback over the sixth-ranked Florida State. Before his senior season, Favre was involved in a near-fatal car accident.
Six weeks after the accident, Favre was able to get USM a rare win over Alabama as he led a Golden Eagle comeback.
Favre owned nearly every record in the Southern Mississippi record book when he left. To this day, he still owns or is tied for most of the records in the USM history.
Favre was drafted in 1991 by the Atlanta Falcons in the second round with the 33rd pick, but he was not wanted there by head coach Jerry Glanville. That off-season, Ron Wolfe left the New York Jets to become the general manger for the Packers.
Wolfe traded the Packers first draft choice to Atlanta (turned out to be fellow USM alum Tony Smith) for Favre bring him to Green Bay.
In his time with the Packers, Favre was able to lead the team to two Super Bowls (XXXI and XXXII) in back-to-back years, beating the New England Patriots for a Super Bowl win in XXXI and losing to the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XXXII.
Favre was able to win three straight NFL MVP trophies from 1995-97 and was a first team All-Pro during the same time.
Favre was selected to 10 Pro Bowls (1992, 1993, 1995, 1996, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2007, and 2008) during his NFL career.
In his great career, Favre owns just about every passing record in the NFL. He is first in passing yards with 65,127, passing attempts with 9,280, passing completions with 5,720, touchdowns with 464, and wins with 169.
No matter how you feel about Favre’s comebacks to play in the NFL, you have to agree he is one of the best to ever suit up behind center. He's an all-time NFL great who got his start and whose legacy began in the Magnolia State.
Next in this series are great running backs and wide receivers from the state of Mississippi.
We're going to send you the most entertaining Ole Miss Football articles, videos, and podcasts from around the web.
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