Neil O'Donnell

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Neil O'Donnell
Date of birth	July 3, 1966
Place of birth	Morristown, New Jersey
Position(s)	Quarterback
College	Maryland
NFL Draft	1990 / Round 3/ Pick 70
Stats
Statistics	Pro Football Reference DatabaseFootball
Team(s)
1990-1995 1996-1997 1998 1999-2003	Pittsburgh Steelers New York Jets Cincinnati Bengals Tennessee Titans

Neil Kennedy O'Donnell (born July 3, 1966 in Morristown, New Jersey) is a former AFC quarterback who played for 14 seasons from 1990 to 2003. He started in the NFL 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 (although O'Donnell did mention that one interception was the result of the ball slipping out of hands upon release) 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. In 2004 he declined an offer to return to the Pittsburgh Steelers by Coach Bill Cowher after Tommy Maddox fell to injury. Rookie Ben Roethlisberger went on to lead the Steelers to a 15-1 record and an AFC Championship appearance. He now works as an analyst at WTVF, Nashville's CBS affiliate.

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• Career Stats

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