The fucking media can’t just let a good man Rest In Peace and celebrate the good, no, GREAT shit he did in life. Nah, gotta piss on his faults while he’s in the grave. Meanwhile, a serial adulterer is occupying 1600 Pennsylvania and they have let that shit ride forever.
Story writer is the teams hometown paper too; they should really ice the motherfucker out from here on out.
https://www.tennessean.com/story/sp...ashville-sahel-kazemi-anniversary/1597765001/
The final days of Steve McNair
Ten years ago, former Tennessee Titans quarterback was found dead in his condo alongside his girlfriend, Sahel Kazemi.
Autumn Allison, Nashville Tennessean
Friends of Steve McNair say everything seemed normal. Nothing seemed amiss. What you saw was what you got. A family man. A faithful man. A community-oriented and generous leader of a man.
But there existed another side to the former Titans quarterback and 2003 NFL co-MVP, one that was more susceptible to temptation. That’s the side that opened the door for a young, unsettled mistress to enter his life.
Sahel "Jenni" Kazemi shot and killed McNair before turning the gun on herself on July 4, 2009, the Metro Nashville Police Department concluded. He was 36. She was 20.
Ten years later, those close to McNair reiterate one point but end at another.
“There are a bunch of tragic stories of famous players and entertainers. It happens,” former Titans wide receiver Derrick Mason said.
But for that to happen to the infallible McNair?
“Shocking,” Mason said. “You were just in disbelief.”
Shaping a generation
One of McNair’s final community efforts was opening Gridiron9, a since-closed restaurant on Jefferson Street intended to give Tennessee State students an affordable place to eat.
"He established his business in the heart of the black community over at TSU to have a strong and powerful impact," former Titans running back Eddie George said.
That was McNair.
His career as a professional athlete was dotted with examples of giving back, and he had no plans of halting that trend as he began retirement in 2007.
“He did as much as he possibly could to help the community,” Mason said of the four-time Pro Bowler and 2005 NFL Man of the Year nominee who was the highest-drafted African American quarterback in NFL history when he was selected third overall in 1995.
He established the Steve McNair Foundation to benefit youth charities and hosted his first youth football camp in 1999 at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. He led them multiple times a year in both Nashville and Mississippi, until the summer of his death.
"When Steve started holding his camps, nobody else was doing a whole lot of them," said Mitchell Williams, a Mississippi sports anchor who was close to McNair. "He helped start that trend."
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Williams, who helped run McNair's camps, saw how involved and engaged he was when working with young players.
"Touchable. Just so touchable and approachable and always spending time with those campers," Williams said. "A generation of young people came to Steve's camps."
Williams estimates 11,000 kids attended those camps.
“And all of them for free,” Williams said.
George remembers McNair making a speech before one of his camps. He had something written down — a script. It seemed inauthentic, though, so McNair ripped up the paper before speaking from his heart.
"He gave this really impactful, heartfelt speech that moved the crowd into giving toward his foundation," George said. "I thought that was remarkable."
That was the side of McNair that so thoroughly masked the other.
Not just one mistress
McNair had a crash pad, a condominium at 105 Lea Ave. he rented with a friend. Its function was simply to serve as a place away from family, a sort of bachelor pad where he'd whisk young women away for quiet affairs.
Kazemi wasn’t his only mistress at the time of his death.
There was Leah Ignagni, a 25-year-old with whom McNair had a relationship with while being involved with Kazemi. Police believe that Kazemi finding out about Ignagni fueled her deadly intentions.
Steve McNair: The tragic death of the former Tennessee Titans star
View All Photos
McNair spent the night with Ignagni on July 2, two nights before Kazemi killed him, according to police and court documents.
The investigative summary produced by investigators noted that McNair's cellphone records contained text message correspondence with numerous women.
McNair was dancing with fire, said Gregg McCrary, a retired FBI agent who spent more than 25 years with the bureau, including about a decade with the Behavioral Science Unit.
"I think clearly this relationship and this part of his lifestyle – not only being married but I guess the process of maybe getting a divorce and having affairs with different women and apparently over just these few days ... out nightclubbing a lot, drinking and partying and out late and all of this sort of thing – those variables are where you would look (in tracing his downfall)," McCrary said.
'Searching for something'
"I'm pretty sure that (McNair) was dealing with some things that we don't know about," his teammate George said. "When you transition from the game – mentally and physically and emotionally transition – you go through so much change. Just imagine going from what you do every day and all of a sudden you're forced into doing something different.
"He was probably searching for something. Things in the wrong places."
McNair was exposed to the pressures marquee athletes face.
"The position and the sport and the amount of money you make, any professional athlete, puts a tremendous amount of pressure on them," former Titans general manager Floyd Reese said. "And it's not the kind of pressure that it's for two hours, three hours on a Sunday. It's every day you need to perform to a certain level, you need to do something. Much is given, much is required – that's kind of the motto that they live by."
Titans legend Eddie George on having his number retired alongside Steve McNair
Titans legends Eddie George and Steve McNair become the seventh and eighth players in franchise history to have their numbers retired.
Erik Bacharach, USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee
McNair seemed to handle that well – especially on the field, where George and Mason are quick to say: He's the toughest teammate they ever played with.
"He could literally flip a switch and make the pain go away," Reese said.
Reese's favorite memory of McNair? That time in December 2002 when he scrambled for a tying two-point conversion in an overtime win against the Giants, despite not practicing all week because of a rib injury.
"I go running down to the locker room to congratulate him and he’s laying on the table in the training room, convulsing," Reese said, "because he was in so much pain that he just could barely take it. It took him a while to calm down, but he was fine, got up afterwards."
Mason's favorite memory?That time in September 2000 when McNair wasn't supposed to play against the Steelers because of a bruised sternum, but wound up in the game with two minutes left after the Titans' backup quarterback suffered a concussion. He completed all three of his passes for 55 yards, including the winning touchdown.
"Soon as he stepped in the huddle," Mason said, "everybody knew that we were going to win the game."
He'd give you the shirt off his back
It's those moments, coupled with all those benevolent gestures aimed at bettering his community, that make the circumstances of McNair's death hard to comprehend for those close to him.
"It was like, he has no enemies. Who would want to do that to him?" Mason said. "This guy would give you the shirt off his back, so who would want to murder him the way they did? And then obviously stuff started to come out and whatnot, but still. You're in disbelief that even what you're hearing and how it happened, happened."
Not to mention McNair was a big family man.
Mason remembers the shock he felt in 2007 when McNair told him in the Ravens locker room that he was going to retire. McNair explained he wanted to spend more time with his family after an injury-riddled career, and it made perfect sense.
"He wanted to watch his kids grow, and who wouldn't want that as a man, as a guy that's spent so many years dedicated to one sport that it kept (him) away from a lot of stuff," Mason said. "And then he retires and he got a chance to just spend it with his family."
After his retirement, McNair prioritized making time for his four sons. Former coach Nevil Barr remembers him showing up for "a pretty good amount" of football games at Oak Grove High just outside Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where McNair's eldest son, Steve Jr., played wide receiver and defensive back.
"Steve Jr. always seemed to play exceptionally good when his dad was there," Barr recalled.
As for his marriage with his wife, Mechelle, with whom he had two children after they wed in 1997?
"I didn't know the state of his marriage. I don't ask questions," George said. "Everybody goes through something in their marriage."
10 years later
George, like Mason, remembers being incredulous when he first heard the news about McNair. Infidelity? Long nights out drinking?
"None of it sounded like Steve," George said.
But it was.
George doesn't ignore that. Ten years later, he just chooses to focus on his favorite side of McNair.
"Would've loved to see what he could've blossomed into as a businessman, as a philanthropist, as a man of God," George said. "And I choose to focus on the good times, the great memories."
Story writer is the teams hometown paper too; they should really ice the motherfucker out from here on out.
https://www.tennessean.com/story/sp...ashville-sahel-kazemi-anniversary/1597765001/
The final days of Steve McNair
Ten years ago, former Tennessee Titans quarterback was found dead in his condo alongside his girlfriend, Sahel Kazemi.
Autumn Allison, Nashville Tennessean
Friends of Steve McNair say everything seemed normal. Nothing seemed amiss. What you saw was what you got. A family man. A faithful man. A community-oriented and generous leader of a man.
But there existed another side to the former Titans quarterback and 2003 NFL co-MVP, one that was more susceptible to temptation. That’s the side that opened the door for a young, unsettled mistress to enter his life.
Sahel "Jenni" Kazemi shot and killed McNair before turning the gun on herself on July 4, 2009, the Metro Nashville Police Department concluded. He was 36. She was 20.
Ten years later, those close to McNair reiterate one point but end at another.
“There are a bunch of tragic stories of famous players and entertainers. It happens,” former Titans wide receiver Derrick Mason said.
But for that to happen to the infallible McNair?
“Shocking,” Mason said. “You were just in disbelief.”
Shaping a generation
One of McNair’s final community efforts was opening Gridiron9, a since-closed restaurant on Jefferson Street intended to give Tennessee State students an affordable place to eat.
"He established his business in the heart of the black community over at TSU to have a strong and powerful impact," former Titans running back Eddie George said.
That was McNair.
His career as a professional athlete was dotted with examples of giving back, and he had no plans of halting that trend as he began retirement in 2007.
“He did as much as he possibly could to help the community,” Mason said of the four-time Pro Bowler and 2005 NFL Man of the Year nominee who was the highest-drafted African American quarterback in NFL history when he was selected third overall in 1995.
He established the Steve McNair Foundation to benefit youth charities and hosted his first youth football camp in 1999 at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College. He led them multiple times a year in both Nashville and Mississippi, until the summer of his death.
"When Steve started holding his camps, nobody else was doing a whole lot of them," said Mitchell Williams, a Mississippi sports anchor who was close to McNair. "He helped start that trend."
Subscribe to Talkin' Titans
iTunes | Google Play Music | Spreaker
Williams, who helped run McNair's camps, saw how involved and engaged he was when working with young players.
"Touchable. Just so touchable and approachable and always spending time with those campers," Williams said. "A generation of young people came to Steve's camps."
Williams estimates 11,000 kids attended those camps.
“And all of them for free,” Williams said.
George remembers McNair making a speech before one of his camps. He had something written down — a script. It seemed inauthentic, though, so McNair ripped up the paper before speaking from his heart.
"He gave this really impactful, heartfelt speech that moved the crowd into giving toward his foundation," George said. "I thought that was remarkable."
That was the side of McNair that so thoroughly masked the other.
Not just one mistress
McNair had a crash pad, a condominium at 105 Lea Ave. he rented with a friend. Its function was simply to serve as a place away from family, a sort of bachelor pad where he'd whisk young women away for quiet affairs.
Kazemi wasn’t his only mistress at the time of his death.
There was Leah Ignagni, a 25-year-old with whom McNair had a relationship with while being involved with Kazemi. Police believe that Kazemi finding out about Ignagni fueled her deadly intentions.
Steve McNair: The tragic death of the former Tennessee Titans star
View All Photos
McNair spent the night with Ignagni on July 2, two nights before Kazemi killed him, according to police and court documents.
The investigative summary produced by investigators noted that McNair's cellphone records contained text message correspondence with numerous women.
McNair was dancing with fire, said Gregg McCrary, a retired FBI agent who spent more than 25 years with the bureau, including about a decade with the Behavioral Science Unit.
"I think clearly this relationship and this part of his lifestyle – not only being married but I guess the process of maybe getting a divorce and having affairs with different women and apparently over just these few days ... out nightclubbing a lot, drinking and partying and out late and all of this sort of thing – those variables are where you would look (in tracing his downfall)," McCrary said.
'Searching for something'
"I'm pretty sure that (McNair) was dealing with some things that we don't know about," his teammate George said. "When you transition from the game – mentally and physically and emotionally transition – you go through so much change. Just imagine going from what you do every day and all of a sudden you're forced into doing something different.
"He was probably searching for something. Things in the wrong places."
McNair was exposed to the pressures marquee athletes face.
"The position and the sport and the amount of money you make, any professional athlete, puts a tremendous amount of pressure on them," former Titans general manager Floyd Reese said. "And it's not the kind of pressure that it's for two hours, three hours on a Sunday. It's every day you need to perform to a certain level, you need to do something. Much is given, much is required – that's kind of the motto that they live by."
Titans legend Eddie George on having his number retired alongside Steve McNair
Titans legends Eddie George and Steve McNair become the seventh and eighth players in franchise history to have their numbers retired.
Erik Bacharach, USA TODAY NETWORK – Tennessee
McNair seemed to handle that well – especially on the field, where George and Mason are quick to say: He's the toughest teammate they ever played with.
"He could literally flip a switch and make the pain go away," Reese said.
Reese's favorite memory of McNair? That time in December 2002 when he scrambled for a tying two-point conversion in an overtime win against the Giants, despite not practicing all week because of a rib injury.
"I go running down to the locker room to congratulate him and he’s laying on the table in the training room, convulsing," Reese said, "because he was in so much pain that he just could barely take it. It took him a while to calm down, but he was fine, got up afterwards."
Mason's favorite memory?That time in September 2000 when McNair wasn't supposed to play against the Steelers because of a bruised sternum, but wound up in the game with two minutes left after the Titans' backup quarterback suffered a concussion. He completed all three of his passes for 55 yards, including the winning touchdown.
"Soon as he stepped in the huddle," Mason said, "everybody knew that we were going to win the game."
He'd give you the shirt off his back
It's those moments, coupled with all those benevolent gestures aimed at bettering his community, that make the circumstances of McNair's death hard to comprehend for those close to him.
"It was like, he has no enemies. Who would want to do that to him?" Mason said. "This guy would give you the shirt off his back, so who would want to murder him the way they did? And then obviously stuff started to come out and whatnot, but still. You're in disbelief that even what you're hearing and how it happened, happened."
Not to mention McNair was a big family man.
Mason remembers the shock he felt in 2007 when McNair told him in the Ravens locker room that he was going to retire. McNair explained he wanted to spend more time with his family after an injury-riddled career, and it made perfect sense.
"He wanted to watch his kids grow, and who wouldn't want that as a man, as a guy that's spent so many years dedicated to one sport that it kept (him) away from a lot of stuff," Mason said. "And then he retires and he got a chance to just spend it with his family."
After his retirement, McNair prioritized making time for his four sons. Former coach Nevil Barr remembers him showing up for "a pretty good amount" of football games at Oak Grove High just outside Hattiesburg, Mississippi, where McNair's eldest son, Steve Jr., played wide receiver and defensive back.
"Steve Jr. always seemed to play exceptionally good when his dad was there," Barr recalled.
As for his marriage with his wife, Mechelle, with whom he had two children after they wed in 1997?
"I didn't know the state of his marriage. I don't ask questions," George said. "Everybody goes through something in their marriage."
10 years later
George, like Mason, remembers being incredulous when he first heard the news about McNair. Infidelity? Long nights out drinking?
"None of it sounded like Steve," George said.
But it was.
George doesn't ignore that. Ten years later, he just chooses to focus on his favorite side of McNair.
"Would've loved to see what he could've blossomed into as a businessman, as a philanthropist, as a man of God," George said. "And I choose to focus on the good times, the great memories."
