Neil O'Donnell
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Neil O'Donnell | |
---|---|
Date of birth | July 3, 1966 |
Place of birth | Morristown, NJ |
Position(s) | Quarterback |
College | University of Maryland |
NFL Draft | 1990 / Round 3 |
Statistics | |
Team(s) | |
1990-1995 1996-1997 1998 1999-2003 |
Pittsburgh Steelers New York Jets Cincinnati Bengals Tennessee Titans |
Neil O'Donnell (born July 3, 1966 in Morristown, New Jersey) was an NFL quarterback for 14 seasons from 1990 to 2003. He started for the Pittsburgh Steelers, New York Jets, Cincinnati Bengals, and was backup for the Tennessee Titans from 1999 to 2003. He played college football at the University of Maryland, College Park.
O'Donnell is best remembered for two passes which were intercepted because of incorrectly run routes and returned by Larry Brown to set up two very short Dallas Cowboys' touchdown drives in Super Bowl XXX. He also threw an interception on the game's final play.
Following the Super Bowl letdown, O'Donnell signed as a free agent with the Jets, where he was 0-6 in his first season as starter. He would play much better under new coach Bill Parcells the following year, 1997.
In 1998, with the then 1-3 Bengals, O'Donnell threw a 25-yard touchdown pass to Carl Pickens with 20 seconds remaining to score the winning touchdown against 3-1 Pittsburgh. It was one of the few highlights for the Bengals that year. Though O'Donnell's 90.2 passer rating was 6th among regular starting quarterbacks, the poor defense would not allow the team much success.
From 1999 onwards, O'Donnell was Steve McNair's backup in Tennessee. He performed well, even leading the team to a Week 17 47-36 victory in Pittsburgh. He would be frequently released and re-signed during this period, as the Titans tried to control their salary cap.
O'Donnell was lured out of retirement in December 2003, when McNair and Billy Volek were injured. O'Donnell started the regular-season finale and was highly effective, completing 18-of-27 passes for 232 yards and two touchdowns, leading the Titans to a 33-13 victory over the Buccaneers.
O'Donnell would retire after the season, this time for good. He now works as an analyst at WTVF, Nashville's CBS affiliate.
[edit] External link
Preceded by Bubby Brister |
Pittsburgh Steelers Starting Quarterbacks 1992-1995 |
Succeeded by Jim Miller |
Preceded by Boomer Esiason |
New York Jets Starting Quarterbacks 1996-1997 |
Succeeded by Vinny Testaverde |
Preceded by Jeff Blake |
Cincinnati Bengals Starting Quarterbacks 1998 |
Succeeded by Jeff Blake |
Categories: American football quarterbacks | Maryland Terrapins football players | 1966 births | Living people | Pittsburgh Steelers players | New York Jets players | Cincinnati Bengals players | Tennessee Titans players | American Conference Pro Bowl players | Irish-American sportspeople | People from New Jersey | The NFL on FOX