Tragedy struck the sports world again early on July 4, as former NFL QB Steve McNair, who played for the Tennessee Titans and the Baltimore Ravens before retiring after the 2007-08 season due to injuries, was found dead early Saturday morning in a Nashville, TN condominium. He had been shot to death. Also found dead was a 20-year-old friend, also with gunshot wounds. An autopsy is scheduled today but some early reports suggest it was a murder-suicide, with the friend shooting and killing McNair then killing herself. The woman had just been arrested a couple days before for DUI. But police say it’s too early to confirm that.
In a 12-year career that began in 1995, when Tennessee (then Houston) made him the #3 overall pick out of historically black college Alcorn State, McNair played 161 games and accumulated a 60.1% completion rate, 31,304 passing yards, 3,590 rushing yards, 174 pass TDs, 119 INTs, 37 rush TDs, and an 82.8 rating. The 3590 rush yards rank him #5 all-time among NFL QBs, a testament to his being the first QB to be a dangerous rusher as well as a passer, a trend since continued by QBs like Michael Vick and Vince Young. His 11-year career with Tennessee culminated in leading the Titans to the 2000 Super Bowl, where the Titans came within 1 yard of forcing overtime in the loss. After the 2005 season he signed with Baltimore and played the entire ‘06 season before injuries limited him to 6 games in ‘07, He was the NFL co-MVP in ‘03 and was selected to 3 Pro Bowls, and was one of the most popular players in the league. I remember a lot of people wearing his Titans replica jersey around the DC area and still see quite a few of them today. I didn’t like him when he played in Tennessee although I respected his abilities and knew he was a great player, and natrally I was pulling for him when he signed with the Ravens. He was easily one of the top players who never was able to win a Super Bowl, although his efforts in the 2000 game and the finish will never be forgotten.
Steve "Air" McNair, 1973-2009
R.I.P and God Bless. My thoughts and prayers are with the McNair family, the Titans and Ravens organizations, and the NFL community at this very difficult time.
