Kordell Stewart says a rumor was meant to ‘destroy’ him. Now he’s confronting it

Kordell Stewart notes a rumor was meant to 'destroy' him.

Key points

• He finished fourth in the NFL MVP voting behind current Pro Football Hall of Famers Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk and Brett Favre.
• Those are the star quarterbacks of today, led by Baltimore's Lamar Jackson and Kansas City's Patrick Mahomes.
• When the Steelers missed the playoffs with Stewart playing quarterback, the rumor originated in 1998.
• "We were doing that stuff back in the '90s, the mid-90s, when not everyone was ready for that, " Stewart informed USA TODAY Sports.
• He now has a son and is living in Atlanta near where he helps coach the South Forsythe high school football team in Georgia.

Kordell Stewart notes a rumor was meant to 'destroy' him. Now he's confronting it. Brent Schrotenboer USA TODAY.

Former NFL quarterback Kordell Stewart remembers the moment vividly. It was a Tuesday night, Nov. 3, 1998. He was watching a movie in his basement when his house phone rang.

For context, a friend was calling to tell him a rumor he heard at a barbershop. The friend remarked he heard Stewart had been arrested at a park in Pittsburgh "because of lewd acts being performed on me by a transvestite, " as Stewart describes it.

"None of this stuff ever happened, " Stewart remarked on Oct. 28, 28 years afterwards. But the rumor spread like wildfire, triggering gossip for years and making such an impact on the former Pittsburgh Steelers star that it's led to a new film regarding it on HBO entitled "Slash & Burn."

It's a 40-minute documentary that focuses on how Stewart, now 54, was ahead of his time as a Black dual-threat quarterback in the NFL and how he was subject of a rumor designed to take him down.

Stewart caught up with USA TODAY Sports regarding it after it was issued on Oct. 27. Below is some context regarding the film and feedback from Stewart. What was the context of the rumor?

As he notes in the film, stewart believed the intent of the rumor was to "destroy" him. It came at a time when homophobia was much more common in society and the NFL. And it came when he stood out since of the position he played and the way he played it. He was known as "Slash" since of the slashes in his job description in Pittsburgh. He played quarterback/running back/receiver/punter. But he primarily was a quarterback.

"Man, if I (only) play wide receiver, that wouldn't be happening to me, " Stewart remarked in the film. "Hell, yeah. African-American quarterback in that city? A guy that's an unconventional player?"

Stewart remarked "I'm not a gay man" and never was arrested. Those who are gay, "that's their business, but that's not my business, " Stewart notes in the film. He's publicly talked regarding this previously, including in his book in 2016. But he remarked this film gives him an even bigger platform to share his story the way he wants it to be informed. Why would someone start this rumor regarding Kordell Stewart?

When the Steelers missed the playoffs with Stewart playing quarterback, the rumor originated in 1998. Stewart was a pioneer back then as a Black quarterback in Pittsburgh, where only Joe Gilliam had broken through with a brief stint as a Black quarterback for the Steelers in the 1970s. Stewart additionally was a pioneer as a different kind of quarterback – not a tall, White drop-back passer in the mold of John Elway but a Black all-around athlete who could run as well as throw.

But back then, Stewart was too far ahead of the state of the game.

He stood out for those reasons. It additionally produced him a target when he didn't win. After he threw three interceptions in a 41-31 loss against Tennessee on Nov. 1, 1998, Stewart remarked he was leaving the field when a white Steelers fan called him a racial slur and threw beer on him.

"Those were some of the things that Kordell had to endure that the other players really didn't have to deal with, " former Steelers teammate Jerome Bettis remarked in the documentary. The Steelers investigated the rumor.

On the Tuesday after that loss against Tennessee, Stewart remarked the phone rang with the rumor from the barbershop. It shortly spread throughout the nation with such speed that Stewart was hearing regarding it from players throughout the league – years before social media existed to support accelerate false information or debunk it. "It started having a life of its own, " Stewart remarked.

Stewart additionally observed how certain players in Pittsburgh become larger than life there after having success. His jersey No. 10 had become popular after he was drafted by the team out of Colorado in 1995. But after the rumor began, Stewart stated young fans wearing his jerseys were bullied.

"You become very mythical in that city, and this is the stuff you think I would allow to be continued to be talked about, on my name?" Stewart informed USA TODAY Sports. "No, no, no, that's not what we're doing here. And it's not a thing of vigor or malice or anger. It's just storytelling. When telling stories of this magnitude, you don't really obtain a platform to do it all the time.", and sometimes.

Stewart remarked the Steelers investigated to find the source of the rumor and determined it came from a Pittsburgh police officer but "nobody wanted to say who it was." What is Kordell Stewart doing now?

Stewart felt vindication in 2001 when he led the Steelers to the top seed in the AFC playoffs with a 13-3 record before eventually losing to New England in the playoffs. He finished fourth in the NFL MVP voting behind current Pro Football Hall of Famers Kurt Warner, Marshall Faulk and Brett Favre.

He now has a son and is living in Atlanta near where he helps coach the South Forsythe high school football team in Georgia. He remarked players and coaches from the team watched the film this week, with some telling him that "I didn't know you went through all of that."

"That kind of stuff I love because they were able to understand it and see it a certain way, " Stewart remarked. "And that mattered to me because a lot of kids were being bullied in Pittsburgh wearing those jerseys." Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer. Email: [email protected]. Share your feedback to support improve our site!

In short, kordell Stewart says a rumor was meant to 'destroy' him. Now he's is the central thread here, and readers can expect follow-up reporting as the picture becomes clearer.