Kordell Stewart

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The tone or style of this article or section may not be appropriate for Wikipedia. Specific concerns may be found on the talk page. See Wikipedia's guide to writing better articles for suggestions.(December 2007)

Kordell Stewart
'
Position(s): QB, WR, RB, P	Jersey #(s): 10
Born: October 16, 1972 (1972-10-16) (age 35) Marrero, Louisiana
Career Information
Year(s): 1995–2005
NFL Draft: 1995 / Round: 2 / Pick: 60
College: Colorado
Professional Teams
Pittsburgh Steelers (1995-2002) Chicago Bears (2003) Baltimore Ravens (2004-2005)
Career Stats
TD-INT	77-84
Yards	14,746
QB Rating	70.8
Stats at NFL.com
Career Highlights and Awards
Pro Bowl selection (2001) Kansas 101 AFC Offensive Player Of The Year

Kordell Stewart, nicknamed "Slash" (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.

[edit] High School Years

Stewart is from John Ehret High School in Marrero, Louisiana and was a letterman in football. As a junior, he passed for 1,645 yards and 19 touchdowns. As a senior, he passed for 942 yards and 17 touchdowns and ran for another 923 yards and 23 touchdowns, and was named Louisiana's Most Valuable Player and the New Orleans Player of the Year.

[edit] College Years

In 1991, Stewart attended the University of Colorado. Playing under coach Bill McCartney, he would become one of the most prolific quarterbacks in school history, setting several Buffaloes records, including most completed passes, most passing yards, and most touchdown passes.^[1]

Stewart led the option-oriented Buffaloes to a pair of top-5 finishes in the AP and Coaches polls in 1994 and 1995, and wins in the 1993 Aloha Bowl and 1995 Fiesta Bowl. He was selected as a second team All-American his senior year.

On September 24, 1994, Stewart threw a game winning, 64-yard Hail Mary pass to Michael Westbrook in the closing seconds to beat the University of Michigan.^[2]

[edit] Nickname

Pittsburgh Steelers 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.

After confining him to many utility roles during the 1995 season, when the Steelers made it to Super Bowl XXX only to lose to the Dallas Cowboys, the team gave Stewart the opportunity to compete for the 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 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 an NFL record for longest touchdown run by a quarterback with an 80-yard rush.

[edit] 1997 season

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 and the AFC Championship Game.

[edit] 1998 and 1999 seasons

Prior to the 1998 season, the Steelers lost their offensive coordinator, Chan Gailey. To replace him, the Steelers brought in Ray Sherman from the Vikings. 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 its starting offensive line from the 1997 AFC Championship game and, as a result, Stewart and the Steelers offense struggled.

[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, Stewart was tapped to replace him. The team finished 9-7 and missed the playoffs.

[edit] 2001 and beyond

As starting quarterback, Stewart led the 2001 Steelers to a 13-3 regular-season record and the top seed in the AFC playoffs. Under the tutelage of new QB 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. Stewart was elected to the Pro Bowl and was named the Steelers MVP.

The Steelers easily defeated the then-defending Super Bowl champion Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional playoffs. The eventual Super Bowl champion New England Patriots defeated the Steelers in the AFC Championship Game.

Stewart began the 2002 season as the Steelers' starting quarterback, but after 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, and Stewart was released at the end of the season. Stewart did, however, keep the team's playoff hopes alive in his final appearance.

The following season, Stewart signed as a free agent with the Chicago Bears and was named the starter. 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 but did not throw a pass that season. However, he was unexpectedly successful as an emergency replacement for punter Dave Zastudil, being named NFL Special Teams Player of the Week for his punting performance. 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.

Owing to financial restraints, Stewart made guest appearances on the TV shows Deal or No Deal and Pros vs. Joes.

On April 29, 2008, in an interview on the WCNN 680 "The Fan", Stewart expressed interest in returning to the NFL.

[edit] References

1. ^ Colorado Football Individual Records.
2. ^ Ivan Maisel (2007-06-07). Stewart to Westbrook silenced Big House crowd. ESPN.com. Retrieved on 2007-06-07.

[edit] External links

• Entire Career Stats