Steve McNair Dies from Gunshot Wound

Steve McNair was shot to death in Nashville, Tennessee on the 4th of July. The former Tennessee Titans quarterback was found dead in a Rutledge Hill condo with an unidentified woman who was also killed. Newspaper website Tennessean.com confirms the woman was not McNair's wife, Mechelle. Online reports have stated that McNair frequents the condo in which his body was found, however it is still unclear whether he owned the condo.

McNair began his professional athletic career as a short stop with the Seattle Mariners. He was chosen in the 35th round of the draft in 1991. He turned down the contract offered by Seattle in order to pursue his dreams to be a professional quarterback. McNair started his NFL career with the Houston Oilers in 1995. McNair didn't see much playing time until 1997 when he became the staring quarterback for the Oilers. The Houston Oilers became the Tenessee Oilers in 1998. In 1999 they changed there name to the Tennessee Titans when they began playing at the brand New Adelphia Coliseum, now named LP Field. In 2000, McNair took the Titans to there only Super Bowl to date. McNair then went on to play with the Baltimore Ravens before retiring in 2008.

Steve McNair knew that it took hard work and perseverance to achieve his dreams. Steve and his four brothers were raised by a single mother in Mount Olive, Mississippi. McNair's mother, Lucille, worked the graveyard shift and the McNair boys woke early to tend to the animals, pick vegetables, and tend to their other chores. The McNair boys often worked odd jobs in the summer to help their mother with the bills.

According to the Steve McNair Foundation website, Steve McNair married in 1997. He and wife Mechelle have 4 sons, Junior, Steven, Tyler, and Trenton. McNair opened the Nashville restaurant Gridiron9 on June 9, 2009, less than a month before his death. The Steve McNair Foundation was created to help support youth activities including a summer football camp.

Steve McNair is just one of many celebrities to meet an untimely death in recent days. His death follows that of Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett, and Billy Mays. McNair's death has stirred up internet discussions of violence and killings in the nation. Although I am not a football fan, I am saddened by the loss this family has suffered and the controversy they will endure until the unidentified woman is named.