Neil O'Donnell 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 2003, when the Titans were desperate for a quarterback when McNair was injured. O'Donnell would retire after the season, this time for good. He now works as an analyst at WTVF, Nashville's CBS affiliate.
