Kordell Stewart, Former Steelers QB, Officially Retires

Former Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kordell Stewart officially retired Wednesday — nearly seven years after last suiting up and running onto an NFL field.

Though Stewart, 39, spent his final two years in the NFL with the Ravens, he said filing his retirement papers with the Baltimore club didn’t feel quite right.

“This where it all started, this where all my success was,” Stewart said on Wednesday just before signing a one-day contract so he could retire as a member of the Steelers. “This was the closure I wanted to have and needed to have with my career.”

After a successful college career as a run-pass threat at Colorado, Kordell was taken by the Steelers in the second round of the 1995 NFL Draft. Upon joining the team, Coach Bill Cowher used Stewart as a quarterback, running back, wide receiver and kick returner. His ability to play the multiple positions quickly earned him the nickname “Slash” by teammates and fans alike.

Over the course of his career, Slash passed for 14,746 yards, 77 touchdowns and 84 interceptions in 125 games. In the same period of time, he also accumulated 2,874 rushing yards and 38 touchdowns on the ground, as well 5 receiving TDs and 658 receiving yards.

Although the majority of his time as an NFL player was spent with the Steelers (1995-2002), Kordell also played for the Chicago Bears in 2003 and spent two seasons in a backup role for the Baltimore Ravens.

NFL.com writes that Stewart’s best season as a QB came in 1997, when he tallied up a total of 32 passing touchdowns and led the Steelers to the AFC Championship Game.

He was a Pro Bowl selection for the only time in his career in 2001, when Pittsburgh went 13-3.

Though he officially retires as an NFL player today, Kordell Stewart has remained close to the game by getting a football analyst job at ESPN. As an analyst, he is notorious for bashing Tim Tebow, which can be seen in the video below: