Tennessee Titans Tickets - Controversy in Nashville over Legacy of McNair
Steve ‘Air’ McNair was a legend in Tennessee even before he was murdered on July 4, 2009. The three-time Pro Bowl quarterback and one-time Co-NFL MVP helped take the Tennessee Titans to the team’s first-ever Super Bowl in 2000 and also assisted in defining a presence in Nashville for the Titans when the franchise made the big move from Houston to Tennessee in 1997. While it’s undisputed that Steve McNair deserves recognition for his glory years with the Tennessee Titans, the newest controversy surrounding his legacy is how far the team and the league will go in cementing No. 9 into football history. It was decided this week that all Titans players will wear a No. 9 helmet decal this season while coaches have the option to wear a No. 9 lapel pin during games in memory of McNair, and support from Titans fans around the country has recently sparked a debate on whether or not the Titans should retire McNair’s No. 9 jersey.
According to rules set into place by team owner Bud Adams, players can only have their numbers retired if they are already in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. McNair falls short of qualifying for this honor by four years, as he’s not eligible to be inducted into the Hall of Fame until 2013 at the earliest. On top of this, nowhere in the lengthy list of McNair’s astounding credentials is a Super Bowl victory, and NFL analysts are already starting to doubt that McNair will be added into the Hall of Fame at all. That said, Steve McNair already sits in the Titans Ring of Honor and the team’s Hall of Fame, both of which he was inducted into last Year following his retirement, but will are these honors good enough to qualify him for jersey retirement?
While Steve McNair falls short of qualification to have his jersey number retired, he most certainly meets the rest of the criteria for jersey retirement in Tennessee. The other two rules Bud Adams set into place for jersey retirement are that a player must receive recognition for achieving his greatest success with the franchise, and he must also play the majority of years in the league with the Titans. McNair most certainly gets checkmarks for these rules, leaving the question now up to Bud Adams’ discretion on whether or not the franchise should bend the rules for this slain superstar. A petition has already been started among Titans fans to allow his No. 9 to be retired, and football enthusiasts with Tennessee Titans tickets will undoubtedly continue to push to get No. 9 retired in the near future.
As it stands now, the Titans have only retired six jerseys in franchise history, with five of those players also sitting in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton. These players include No. 1 Warren Moon, No. 34 Earl Campbell, No. 43 Jim Norton, No. 63 Mike Munchak and No. 65 Elvin Bethea, with all but Norton making the Pro Hall of Fame. The current rules regarding jersey retirement were set into place after Norton’s number had already been retired, making it that much easier for McNair to become another exception. Will Bud Adams break his own rules and allow No. 9, a jersey that hasn’t been worn since McNair retired, to be put to rest? The football world will likely soon find out, but in the meantime Steve McNair supporters can still show the love for the Titans and get tickets to games this season online and watch the blue, navy and black in action with a No. 9 emblem on each and every helmet.
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