MURDER/SUICIDE, AGAIN? WHAT’S UP WITH NFL RIPPING OFF WWE , AGAIN?

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When Steve McNair died from multiple gunshot wounds in a Nashville condominium Saturday, an incident Nashville police hinted may have been a murder-suicide committed by his girlfriend, he took with him the image of an unyielding competitor, a tough-as-nails quarterback who fought through pain, discrimination and some of the toughest defenses in NFL history.

The images McNair left were indelible: His face in a twisted grimace after a devastating hit, from which he always managed to get up, always managed to keep going; limping on a badly damaged ankle; holding an aching shoulder; a sternum bruised so badly he had to be hospitalized.

“If you were going to draw a football player, the physical part, the mental part, everything about being a professional, he is your guy,” said former Titans and Ravens cornerback Samari Rolle, who played with McNair on both teams. “I can’t even wrap my arms around it. It is a sad, sad day. The world lost a great man today.”

Nashville police hinted that McNair’s death may have been the result of a murder-suicide committed by 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi, who was found with a single gunshot wound to the head a few feet from McNair’s bullet-riddled body. The two had reportedly been dating for four months, though McNair was married.

McNair, 36, never won the Super Bowl but got awfully close, leading the Tennessee Titans to seven victories in their last nine games of the 1999 season, good for a 13-3 record and second place in the AFC Central. “The man had ice running through his veins. He was so cool under pressure, so calm,” said Eddie George, the star running back from that team. “He never raised his voice, never lost his composure. … He would just go in there and get hit from every angle and get up grimacing and out of breath, limping back, but not once did he ever fold and say that I can’t go today.”

The Titans opened the playoffs at home against Buffalo in a wild-card game that season, winning on one of the most exciting plays in NFL history – the “Music City Miracle” – and using that game to start a playoff run that helped them advance to Super Bowl XXXIV. On that miracle play, similar to one that McNair and his brother Tim used to win the Mississippi state championship in high school, Titans fullback Lorenzo Neal took the kickoff and handed off to tight end Frank Wycheck. Wycheck, who Saturday called McNair “the definition of a true teammate and what a warrior was all about,” then threw a controversial lateral across the field to Kevin Dyson, who ran down the sidelines for a 75-yard TD.

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