04/20/24
July 04, 2009
Steve McNair Killed in Nashville: Former Titans quarterback Steve McNair has been killed. Police said McNair suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head in downtown Nashville. The incident happened near 2nd South & Lea Ave. Police said it looked like a double homicide. A female victim was also found dead.
posted by irunfromclones to football at 04:56 PM - 27 comments
Another media account is calling it a murder-suicide. Tragic.
posted by rcade at 05:08 PM on July 04, 2009
Neither a Titans nor a Ravens fan, but I always liked Steve McNair. From "Air McNair" at Alcorn State to his complete makeover as an NFL quarterback, he handled himself like a true professional. This story sucks.
posted by tahoemoj at 06:23 PM on July 04, 2009
This is a shame, he was too young to go. I hate hearing this. RIP
posted by sgtcookzane at 06:56 PM on July 04, 2009
Oh no. Oh no. McNair was one of my favorite players of all time. Oh goddamn.
Goddamn. Goddamn.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 07:03 PM on July 04, 2009
Lots of speculation about this on Talk-Sports.Net. CNN is reporting that the woman was his girlfriend and their deaths occurred in her condo.
posted by rcade at 08:52 PM on July 04, 2009
The plot thickens... This news report adds some new details that raise the controversy level substantially...
posted by karlo16 at 09:46 PM on July 04, 2009
This is so sad. Rest in Peace, Mr. McNair.
posted by Joey Michaels at 01:18 AM on July 05, 2009
According to the latest news conference, McNair was shot multiple times. So that pretty much rules out a murder-suicide with McNair as the murderer, though the evidence points to the other woman possibly being the shooter. (She was shot once and the gun was found near her.) She had also been arrested on a DUI charge on Thursday, and McNair was a passenger in the vehicle.
This is very sad, regardless of who did it. Good player, better man from everything I've heard.
posted by TheQatarian at 01:18 AM on July 05, 2009
Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron identified the woman as 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi, whom he called a "friend" of McNair's. Nashville police arrested Kazemi on a DUI charge while driving a 2007 Escalade registered to her and McNair. Wonder what his wife thought of that.
The condo was rented by McNair and Wayne Neeley. It was Neeley who found the bodies.
posted by irunfromclones at 02:21 AM on July 05, 2009
CNN's reporting the wife is not a suspect. But I imagine she would challenge the "better man" aspect of his personality that TheQatarian mentions.
posted by evixir at 08:35 AM on July 05, 2009
Great football player. Not a great husband. When you play with fire you usually get burned. He got scorched. What a shame.
posted by Doehead at 10:27 AM on July 05, 2009
Um, we're not at all talking about a "burning bed" situtation here, are we? He was a philanderer, not an abuser right? If he was abusive, then getting shot by his wife would make some kind of "playing with fire" sense.
But he was stepping out- that's not playing with fire, that's just being a dick*. Your comment works better if you said "When you play with silly putty, you usually get burned". Because that makes no sense, just as it makes no sense that having an affair would get you shot multiple times by your mistress.
In any case, it's a shame.
* It's also being a pretty typical sports athlete; don't the wives understand that with the money and support and fame of being an athlete wife, you have to expect or at least tolerate a little playing the field during their heyday?
posted by hincandenza at 03:46 PM on July 05, 2009
Your comment works better if you said "When you play with silly putty, you usually get burned". Because that makes no sense,
I'll still stick to my original statement. He was playing with a hot chick(at least he probably thought so) and it looks like she burnt him!!!!
posted by Doehead at 04:54 PM on July 05, 2009
Sounds like the young lady may have killed him when he tried to break it off. She had recently upgraded her car from a Kia to an Escalade, I guess she liked his lifestyle too much.
posted by wdminott at 05:41 PM on July 05, 2009
RIP, Air McNair
posted by texpat at 07:27 AM on July 06, 2009
We're not really talking at all about McNair's achievements on the field. His Titans in Super Bowl 0x22 lost the Super Bowl by a half-yard. They also were the only team to beat my Jaguars that season, who lost to them twice in the regular season and in the AFC Championship.
I think more of those Titans as Eddie George and Jevan Kearse's team, but McNair could be devastating when he left the pocket and ran when the coverage stopped the pass.
posted by rcade at 10:14 AM on July 06, 2009
His Titans in Super Bowl 0x22 lost the Super Bowl by a half-yard.
Damn you, Kevin Dyson.
I always liked McNair. He was so strong (country strong, he said) and so tough. I wonder what his place will be in history.
posted by bperk at 10:39 AM on July 06, 2009
It's just sad to hear that he was murdered by his "friend". What in the world can be so bad that one has to kill someone to make it right? I wonder who's gun she had anyways, was it hers?
posted by BornIcon at 12:44 PM on July 06, 2009
Um, we're not at all talking about a "burning bed" situtation here, are we? He was a philanderer, not an abuser right? If he was abusive, then getting shot by his wife would make some kind of "playing with fire" sense.
Come on. We don't have the details, and I'm certainly not going to judge him, but people are hurt or killed every day over passion and affairs of the heart. Doesn't mean he deserved it, but if it turns out to be the way it looks, of course he was playing with fire.
posted by justgary at 01:06 PM on July 06, 2009
It's possible here that McNair wasn't playing with fire at all. He could have been dating this woman while separated from his wife. He was close enough to her to meet her family, according to the paper here in Jacksonville, which is where her close relatives live.
posted by rcade at 03:41 PM on July 06, 2009
I wish I hadn't read your latest link, rcade. She was a kid. She just turned 20. And, he was out with her while she is driving drunk (while she isn't even old enough to drink). Yuck. I feel bad for his family if they are just now learning about this side of him after he passed away.
posted by bperk at 05:19 PM on July 06, 2009
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - The star quarterback and the waitress met six months ago, at a restaurant where she worked and his family often ate. He was married and 16 years older, but she seemed happy and eager to build a life with him.
Steve McNair was retired from the NFL and spending time again in Nashville, where he had spent the best years of his career. Sahel Kazemi was 20 years old and swept up: He gave her an Escalade for her birthday and took her on trips to Las Vegas and Key West.
"She just had it made, you know, this guy taking care of everything," her nephew, Farzin Abdi, said Monday.
They were found dead on the Fourth of July -- McNair from two gunshots each to the head and chest, Kazemi from a single shot. Police said Monday that Kazemi had bought a gun Thursday night from someone they did not identify. ................
I wish everyone happiness in their own lives, but, this just seems a little skeevy. What would her reason have been to knock off her meal ticket? Most likely he was breaking up with her, or maybe seeing other women as well? Buying a gun in advance suggests some element of foreboding or premeditation.
posted by rumple at 07:50 PM on July 06, 2009
I know that people may want to make a big deal about this girl being 20 years old but she's not a minor. So what if McNair was dating her and there was a 16 year difference, if they are both consenting adults, what's the big deal? We don't know this situation that took place between McNair and his wife, nor do we know what happened the day of the murder.
Most likely he was breaking up with her, or maybe seeing other women as well? Buying a gun in advance suggests some element of foreboding or premeditation.
I thought the exact, same thing but I'll wait until all of the facts are brought forth before I'll speculate into anything.
posted by BornIcon at 11:43 AM on July 08, 2009
if they are both consenting adults, what's the big deal?
You've constructed a straw man. Are people talking about her age? I thought it was more the open affair (who travels the country with a mistress nowadays? Jesus.1) that people were shocked/ upset about. The fact he chose to have it with a mentally-unstable 20 year old just adds to the sordidness.
1. That's an exclamation, not a suggestion Jesus would go para-sailing with Mary Magdalene. I thought the "Travel with a mistress" thing left along with J.P. Morgan's era.
posted by yerfatma at 12:43 PM on July 08, 2009
You've constructed a straw man. Are people talking about her age? I thought it was more the open affair (who travels the country with a mistress nowadays? Jesus.1) that people were shocked/ upset about.
Have you not read some of the comments above where her age made it "a little skeevy" or where it was said that "she was a kid" or how about "yuck"? Also, if you're a local legend and are known in most of the state where you live at and don't really want people in your business and you have the means to do so, why not travel the country with your mistress?
The fact he chose to have it with a mentally-unstable 20 year old just adds to the sordidness.
So have you known the mental stability of all the women you have dated or are dating? That's like implying that McNair knew that this girl wasn't playing with a full deck and proceeded to have an affair with her regardless. Maybe he didn't know just how crazy she was until it was too late.
Who constructed a straw again?
posted by BornIcon at 01:33 PM on July 08, 2009
You did. And if someone's loopy enough to go through with a murder-suicide because you don't love her enough, maybe there is more than just being "consenting adults". I'll cop to never having been killed by a zooey significant other, but I'm guessing they give off some warning signs if you use any senses above waist level.
posted by yerfatma at 02:37 PM on July 08, 2009
Sorry for the copy and paste, but thats all the info currently available.