Jackson Free Press

Former National Football League Most Valuable Player Steve McNair lived what many would see as a dream life. Born in the Mississippi town of Mt. Olive, McNair began his football career on the smallest of small-town teams. Graduating in 1991, he was named SuperPrep All-American quarterback and defensive back at Mt. Olive high school, and went on to be a record-setting QB for Alcorn State, winning the Walter Payton Award at a top player in Division 1-AA in 1994. He was the only player in NCAA history with more than 16,000 yards in career total offense, reports the Houston Chronicle.

In 1995, he went pro, joining the Houston Oilers. He played his first full season as an NFL starter in 2007, guiding the team to an 8-8 record. He took the team, now the Tennessee Titans, to the Super Bowl in 1999. In 2003 he shared the MVP Award with Peyton Manning, and in 2006, he became one of only three quarterbacks in NFL history to pass for 30,000 yards and rush for 3,500 in a career. He retired from football after the 2007 season.

Teammates and opponents say McNair earned their respect with his tough playing style by showing up for work even when injured, and winning.

The player "endeared himself through his charity work," reported the Associated Press. Not just from the checks he handed out, but for throwing himself into the efforts, like he did when loading boxes onto tractor-trailers bound for Hurricane Katrina victims.

But this epitome of the American Dream wasn't with his wife of 12 years, Mechelle, or the couple's four sons on the day he died. McNair, 36, was found shot to death on the Fourth of July, Saturday, in Nashville. He was with 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi, reportedly his girlfriend of six months. McNair was shot four times, Kazemi once.

Reportedly, McNair had bought Kazemi a black Cadillac Escalade for her 20th birthday. According to The Tennessean, the former waitress frequently borrowed McNair's Bentley before he gave her the Escalade. She told her family and friends that the former football player planned to divorce his wife and marry her.

"I was under the impression that his family knew about (the relationship with Kazemi)," Kazemi's nephew Farzon Abdi told The Tennessean, adding that he believed that McNair recently took his children on a Mexican vacation without his wife. "That he took the children alone with him on vacation is a sign that they were separated," Abdi said.

Nashville police have ruled McNair's shooting as a homicide. They stopped short of calling Kazemi's death a suicide, says the AP, although they found a semiautomatic pistol under her body.

Dr. Sherry Blake, a clinical psychologist who practices in the Atlanta area, has counseled athletes and entertainers about the temptations of easy drugs, alcohol and women. She talked Sunday about the challenges even for those with strong family ties, though not about the McNair case specifically.

"Individuals can't get enough of the limelight. It's easy to have people telling you how great and wonderful you are rather than otherwise," Blake said.

"The sad part is many times the public likes to be close to you not because of who you are but what you do."

Previous Comments

ID

149348

Comment

m

Author

justjess

Date

2009-07-07T10:23:11-06:00

ID

149349

Comment

It was a very sad day for us, Vicksburgers, the hometown of Mechelle Cartwright McNair. Her father died about eight years ago after a long fight with cancer. I can only imagine the pain and suffering for her mother, Melzena, who is now trying to comfort a daughter and her grandsons from this self-caused, self-inflicted trauma brought on by her son-in-law, Steve McNair. In just a quick look at the two (now known) women in his life, one will see Mechelle, a beautiful smart woman who went back to Nursing School and is now employed as a Registered Nurse. One would also see a caring and supportive woman who loves her children and did everything she could to make the beautiful 3 million dollar property a home. My comments are selfish, limited and focused on the sadness, the embarrassment and the trashy nature of what has transpired. Today, I have but one wish and that is the achievement of some level of comfort for Mechelle, her sons and for my friend, Melzena.

Author

justjess

Date

2009-07-07T10:55:56-06:00