Kordell Stewart
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| Kordell Stewart | |
|---|---|
 Kordell Stewart as featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated |
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| Date of birth | October 16, 1972 |
| Place of birth | Marrero, Louisiana |
| Position(s) | QB |
| College | Colorado |
| NFL Draft | 1995 / Round 2 |
| Pro Bowls | 1 |
| Statistics | |
| Team(s) | |
| 1995-2002 2003 2004–2005 |
Pittsburgh Steelers Chicago Bears Baltimore Ravens |
Kordell Stewart (born October 16, 1972 in Marrero, Louisiana) is an American NFL quarterback who most recently played for the Baltimore Ravens. Stewart attended the University of Colorado and was drafted 60th in the 1995 NFL draft by the Pittsburgh Steelers. Playing for Colorado in 1994 he completed a Hail Mary pass to beat the University of Michigan 27-26, a play known as "The Miracle in Michigan." Among NFL quarterbacks, his 38 rushing touchdowns ranks second all-time, behind Steve Young's 43. Rumors persist that he is a homosexual.
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[edit] Slash
It was as a Steeler that Pittsburgh radio announcer Myron Cope gave Stewart the nickname "Slash" due to his abilities as a utility player willing to play other positions such as running back/wide receiver/punter. In his rookie role as Slash, Stewart helped revitalize a struggling Steelers team with a 3-4 record in 1995. Thanks to his many talents, the offense began to diversify and make the big plays that led them all the way to the Super Bowl.
After playing him in many novelty and utility roles during the 1995 season, the Steelers gave Stewart the opportunity to compete for their starting quarterback position in 1996. Following a preseason battle, Bill Cowher named Jim Miller as the Steelers starting quarterback and kept Stewart in his Slash role. Miller struggled mightily at Jacksonville on opening day and was replaced by Mike Tomczak for the rest of the season. In a December 1996 game against the Carolina Panthers, Stewart set the NFL record for longest touchdown run by a quarterback, with an 80-yard touchdown.
[edit] First year at quarterback
Stewart got his chance to start at quarterback in 1997. In his first season as a starting quarterback in the NFL, he led the Steelers to an 11-5 record including many thrilling, come from behind victories on the road against teams like the Baltimore Ravens, Arizona Cardinals and New England Patriots and at home against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Stewart also had a huge game at home against the Denver Broncos as the Steelers easily defeated the Broncos 35-24 in the regular season. He eventually led the Steelers all the way to the AFC Championship game in what was thought to be a rebuilding year after the team lost players like Rod Woodson to free agency in the prior off season and defensive coordinator Dick LeBeau.
[edit] 1997 AFC Championship game
Still, he proved to be rather inconsistent; although a potent and mobile quarterback with many ways to score on the field, Stewart was prone to mistakes, often throwing interceptions at inopportune times. One of those times happened to be during the rematch with the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship game at the end of the 1997 season. He threw one crucial interception in the end zone and also fumbled another time deep in Denver territory.
Despite struggling for most of the game, Stewart led the Steelers to within 24-21 by going 6-6 for 54 yards and a touchdown to Charles Johnson on Pittsburgh's final drive. With the clock winding down, Denver pinned inside their own ten yard line by the ensuing kickoff, and the Three Rivers Stadium crowd going wild, the game had the look of all the other thrilling, come from behind victories Stewart had led that season. But alas, it was not to be. Hall of Fame opposing quarterback John Elway converted a late down long situation by hitting tight end Shannon Sharpe in man to man coverage against linebacker Jason Gildon, and Denver ran out the clock on another Stewart comeback and the Steelers season and also went on to win the Super Bowl against Green Bay.
[edit] 1998 and 1999 seasons
Prior to the 1998 season, the Steelers lost their innovative offensive coordinator, Chan Gailey, who was credited with helping Stewart have success in 1997 and with whom Stewart had a good relationship. To replace him, the Steelers brought in Ray Sherman from the Vikings as the new offensive coordinator. Stewart and Sherman did not see eye to eye on a number of things. In addition, Stewart's leading receiver and Pro Bowler Yancey Thigpen also left via free agency after the 1997 season. By mid season in 1998, the Steelers had lost sixty percent of his starting offensive line from the 1997 AFC Championship game. Left tackle John Jackson had left via free agency, and center Dermontti Dawson and right tackle Justin Strzelczyk were injured. This hampered the running game as running back Jerome Bettis had a subpar season (for him). Not surprisingly, Stewart and the Steelers offense struggled. Stewart also lost favor with the Pittsburgh fans after he was seen crying on the sidelines after being benched in the middle of a 1998 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The low point in his Steelers career had to have come in 1999 when he was booed at home games during season. With the team still struggling to build an offensive line around him and first round draft pick Troy Edwards, taken thirteenth overall, not nearly making up for the loss of Thigpen, Stewart and the Steelers offense plummeted into a miserable abyss of futility that was difficult to watch at times. Partially incited by local newspapers that constantly questioned Stewart's ability to be an NFL quarterback, the fans vented their wrath on Stewart. At one point, the home fans actually doused him with beer. By the end of the season, he was Slash again, playing wide receiver with Mike Tomczak at quarterback.
[edit] 2000 season
Coach Bill Cowher named Kent Graham quarterback to start the season, and the team got off to a 1-3 start. When Graham injured his hip and pregame warmups determined that he wouldn't be able to play against the New York Jets, Stewart came to the rescue. He turned the team around and had them alive for a playoff berth until the final week of the season when they were eliminated even though they won at San Diego and finished the season with a 9-7 record, its first winning season in three years. His finest moment came at home against the Oakland Raiders when he came back from injury to rush for a touchdown and throw for another and lead the team to another exciting, come from behind victory.
Another key to the team's first winning season in three years was the offensive line, torn apart and tattered after the 1997 AFC Championship and finally rebuilt in the 2000 season. 1998 first round draft pick guard Alan Faneca came into his own and teamed with 1999 free agent signee tackle Wayne Gandy and 2000 second round draft pick tackle Marvel Smith to give Stewart a fine pocket of protection and security.
[edit] 2001 and beyond
After years of trials and turmoil, Kordell Stewart had again established himself as the man at quarterback in Pittsburgh; and in 2001 Pittsburgh rode a dominant defense and strong running attack to a 13-3 regular-season record and the top seed in the AFC playoffs. Under the tutelage of new QBs coach Tom Clements and new offensive coordinator Mike Mularkey, Stewart had his best year as a pro, throwing for over 3,000 yards, completing 60 percent of his passes, and attaining a passer rating of 81.7. He threw for 14 TDs and ran for 5 more. He was aided by the emergence of wide receivers Plaxico Burress and Hines Ward, as each had over 1,000 yards receiving. Even after running back Jerome Bettis went down with an injury around mid-season, the Steelers continued to win behind Stewart. Stewart was elected to the Pro Bowl and was named the Steelers MVP. It seemed Stewart was coming into his own.
The Steelers easily defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional playoffs. The eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots proved to be more of a challenge in the AFC Championship Game. As Stewart collapsed, throwing no touchdowns and three interceptions in 42 pass attempts, along with a special teams unit that allowed two touchdowns and a blocked field goal, the favored Steelers lost 24-17. The Stewart led offense actually outscored the Tom Brady/Drew Bledsoe led Patriot offense 17-10, but Stewart was not able to overcome the special teams mistakes that had plagued the Steelers all season long and threw two interceptions in the final minutes trying to bring the team from behind. It was bitter loss for Stewart since the Steelers were heavily favored and the Super Bowl was played in his homestate of Louisiana that season.
After his widely publicized implosion, Stewart still began the 2002 season as the Steelers' starting quarterback, but after a disappointing start to the season and throwing an interception into double coverage in the end zone at home against the Cleveland Browns in the third game of the season, he was replaced by increasingly popular backup Tommy Maddox. The Steelers had decidedly lost their first two games to the Patriots and Raiders who aggressively attacked the Steelers secondary, throwing 43 and 64 passes, respectively, and each scoring 30 points. The Steelers seemed poised to lose the third game to the Browns but won in overtime behind Maddox. Maddox was named the starter for the next game, against the New Orleans Saints. Again it was a bittersweet moment for Stewart since the game was played in New Orleans, near his hometown, the first time the Steelers had played in New Orleans since Stewart joined the team. Yet Stewart was classy about his demotion and did not publicly complain. Maddox and the Steelers lost that game, but for the remainder of the season, Maddox was fairly successful in a starting role, and, unsurprisingly, Stewart was released at the end of the season. Stewart did, however, keep the team's playoff hopes alive in his final season by winning couple of key games as a starter after Maddox was temporarily paralyzed at Tennessee, the team that eliminated Pittsburgh from the playoffs that year in a thrilling overtime game.
Stewart went on to start with the Chicago Bears, who were in a transitional period and rebuilding. After several poor performances in 2003, he was replaced by rookie Rex Grossman and again released at the end of the season. Stewart was signed in 2004 by the Ravens to play a backup role to Kyle Boller as a replacement for the injured Anthony Wright, and did not throw a pass (though he was unexpectedly successful as an emergency replacement for punter Dave Zastudil). He was even named NFL Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance as a punter. He was released following the 2004 season, but due to an injury to starting Quarterback Kyle Boller during week 1 of the 2005 season, the Ravens once again signed Stewart to be a backup to Anthony Wright.
Following Boller's reactivation on Wednesday, November 9, 2005, the Ravens cut Stewart instead of keeping him as a third-string player, activating running back Musa Smith instead. Stewart had no comment to make following the low-key announcement of his removal.
Stewart was no doubt a very gifted athlete who could play a number of positions well. Some people, including Steelers President Dan Rooney, speculated that had Stewart remained in the "slash" role, he could have been a superstar. While he never made it to the Super Bowl as a quarterback, he was instrumental in taking the Steelers to two AFC Championship games in 1997 and 2001, and paved the way for the several "slash" type players and mobile quarterbacks who followed (e.g. Michael Vick, Donovan McNabb, and Daunte Culpepper.
[edit] See also
- Featured Athlete on Fox Sports Net's Beyond the Glory
[edit] External link
| Preceded by Mike Tomczak |
Pittsburgh Steelers Starting Quarterbacks 1997-1999 |
Succeeded by Kent Graham |
| Preceded by Kent Graham |
Pittsburgh Steelers Starting Quarterbacks 2001-2002 |
Succeeded by Tommy Maddox |
| Preceded by Jim Miller |
Chicago Bears Starting Quarterbacks 2003 |
Succeeded by Rex Grossman |
