1995 Classic Draft
Here's Air McNair scrambling for the Alcorn State Braves. Steve passed for 5,377 yards and 47 TDs his senior season and was chosen 3rd overall by the Houston Oilers.1995 Flair RC
The thick, glossy, foil textured Flair set was about as classy as football cards got in 1995. I like this card because is shows Steve in both his Alcorn State and Houston Oilers uniform.1995 Fleer Metal Gold Blasters insert
Fleer Metal is just incredible, isn't it? You should see it in person. This is before blaster meant what it means today - there's an smoldering explosion on the back of the card.1997 Playoff Absolute Beginnings
The theme behind the '97 Playoff Absolute set was the players' hometowns and high school feats. Mount Olive, Mississippi can be seen in the map behind Steve. That's where he was an All-State and All-American quarterback and free safety. Steve also got drafted by the Seattle Mariners in 1991.1996-97 Fleer Goudey
What you thought Upper Deck was the first company to ripp off Goudey? Oh no. This card is original Goudey size and has very dark borders and back to mimic an old well worn card, which seems a bit odd on a card that is perfectly mint.1997 Donruss Elite Promo
I though Donruss jumped the shark when Elite went from a limited insert set to a card brand. The inserts always seemed more classy and high end than the foilboard mess the set eventually became. This here is a promo card and not one of the inserts that could be pulled from packs.1997 Marvel Metal Universe insert
I wish this card scanned better, because Captain America flying out from behind Steve is really cool. I'm with Mario on this one, Upper Deck should really just dump X or Artifacts or Spectrum or one of those worthless products they poot out and bring back Metal Universe in all its excessive gaudiness.1998 Leaf Rookies and Stars MVP Contenders #1946/2500
Steve went from MVP Contender to MVP Winner when he shared the award with Peyton Manning in 2003 after a career season where he had a career high 24 TDs and a 100.4 QB rating.1998 Skybox Soul of the Game insert
This card is so cheesy, but I love it. '90s die-cut cards could get really crazy, but the record coming out of the '60s style album cover is just perfect to me. The back suffers hilariously from the late '90s Skybox horribly fake "street" copywriting. Dig this crazy writeup, baby:You definitely don't fake the funk. Not now and especially not back in the day. NCAA was your house. The one and only to ever gain 16,000 yeard in his collegiate career. Not good enough? Boom! Big Mac also set the collegiate record by averaging 400.5 total yards of offense per game. If you don't know now, you better ask someone.
HOW AWESOME IS THAT. Word to your mother's uncle.
1999 Fleer
Thankfully Fleer was a lot more sober with their late '90s offerings. This photo of McNair thowing in the snow at Lambeau is incredible.1999 Playoff Momentum SP
This is probably my favorite football set ever. The first 100 cards were etched foilboard, the next 50 were one per pack acetate cards whole the last fifty were wtched acetate rookies. The whole set is gorgeous and this card with the holographic flaming Titalns logo behind Steve is one of his best looking base cards.1999 Donruss Preferred Bronze, Silver and Gold base card versions
This rainbow of McNairs isn't made up of parallels, these were all base cards in the Preferred set. The Bronze cards were common, Silvers uncommon and Golds fairly tough. What do you expect from a set that came packaged inside a tin?2000 Score
Steve jumps in the arms of a lineman during his Super Bowl year of1999.2000 Score Team 2000 insert #1541/1995
This reprint of Steve's 1995 Score rookie card honors the fact that Score chose him as one of their top 20 rookies from their first ten years of football sets.2000 Collector's Edge Supreme Route XXXIV insert
This insert set commemorates the Super Bowl matchup between the Rams and Titans in Atlanta. One of the greatest Super Bowls of all time - in my home city - and I had to listen to the first three quarters of the game on internet radio because the ice storm knocked out my cable.2000 Pacific Crown Royale In the Pocket insert
Now why the heck is Steve McNair listed as a 2000 rookie?
Because there's a tiny little card of Thomas Jones stuck in the back! The Rookie logo is peeking out a clear window with a holographic Titans logo embedded in the McNair card. Pacific thought up some weird card ideas.2000 Private Stock PS2000 New Wave #116/202
I love all tobacco card sized mini cards. Not so sure about the big serial number on the front though.2002 Topps Heritage
Steve is on a vintage 1957 Topps football design here. I'm kind of bummed that Heritage never caught on in Football, I really like those old designs.2002 Pacific Atomic
Whatever happened to the all die-cut base card designs? This kind of wacky idea just doesn't happen anymore now that there's only one or two manufacturers producing cards in every sport.2006 Fleer The Franchise insert
Steve certainly was the Titans' franchise player (well, along with Eddie George) for a decade. However, 2006 was the year Steve moved on to lead the Ravens.2007 Score
My football collection since about 2002 is pretty spotty and I don't have a lot of cool recent McNair cards to show off. After the card companies got greedy in 2001 and short printed virtually all rookies that year to cash in on Michael Vick I became somewhat disillusioned with football cards. Funny how when customers get screwed, sometimes they never come back. I was able to find this Score card of McNair from his Ravens days. After being let go from the Titans, McNair had a fantastic year with the Ravens in '06, going 13-3 before losing to eventual NFL Champs Indianapolis in the playoffs.After looking through my Steve McNair colletion, I discovered I have quite a few doubles of McNair. If anyone out there is a fan and would like some McNair cards, shoot me an e-mail and I'll see what I can do.
