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A Laurel newspaper will close its doors this Thursday. Credit: File Photo

The Associated Press is reporting that former NFL quarterback Steve McNair, formerly of Mount Olive, Miss., is dead:

Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair and a woman were found shot to death Saturday inside a residence in Nashville, police said. Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron confirmed that authorities were called to a condominium and found McNair and a woman shot to death inside. Aaron said police donโ€™t yet know the circumstances of the shootings.

โ€œI donโ€™t have any answers for you now as to whatโ€™s happened, whoโ€™s responsible,โ€ Aaron said.

Aaron said police tentatively have identified the woman but did not release her name.

โ€œThere are persons who were around the complex today, visitors, who have been taken to headquarters for questioning, just to see what they know, what they may have seen,โ€ Aaron said. โ€œNo one is in custody right now.โ€

The condominium where the bodies were found is one that McNair was known to frequent, but police spokeswoman Kristin Mumford could not say whether he was the owner.

Detectives from the police departmentโ€™s centralized homicide unit were on the scene.

McNair played 13 seasons in the NFL and led the Titans within a yard of forcing overtime in the 2000 Super Bowl, which they lost 23-16 to the St. Louis Rams. He also played for the Baltimore Ravens before retiring in April 2008.

Previous Comments

I blopgged about it, too. This is so sad. I wonder who could have done this, and why.


This is so very shocking. He was one of the toughest NFL players I ever saw play the game. RIP, Steve.


Prayers to his loved ones. So tragic.


Very sad indeed. I met Steve a couple of times, once at Alcorn and a 2nd time in V’burg. He was was joy to watch during his Alcorn years and a damn good NFL player. I feel bad for his family.


The word “hero” is overused in sports, but Air McNair was a hero on the field and, more importantly, off of it. After Hurricane Katrina, he spearheaded a relief drive that ultimately delivered 20 tractor-trailer loads of supplies to the Mississippi Gulf Coast. And that was just the beginning of the help he sent to Mississippi. The Sporting News recounted McNair’s relief efforts when it put together its good guys list in 2005.


ok, so no one is saying it. maybe i will get hated on for this, but are we overlooking the elephant in the room? this “hero” was a married man who it now seems was indeed in an affair. it also seems maybe his wife may have found out about this affair like the rest of us did? he and his wife celebrated their anniversary last week for god’s sake. i can’t attach the hero tag to someone who has done this to their family. but maybe that’s just me and i’m deluded by past family experience. i could be wrong.


2599, you can never be wrong about who you, personally, see or don’t see as a hero. But the worst time to say you don’t see somebody as a hero is right after their passing.


I was talking about Steve McNair the public figure. As a football player and philanthropist, he did heroic things. As for McNair’s personal life, I wouldn’t presume to accuse or excuse him.


I understand both sides of it 2599, Tom, and Doc. In my book McNair is a hero. I thought him to be a classy player and a good person off the field. Like the biblical character David, who was ” a man after God’s own heart”; but, yet had issues with adultery and other sins even murder, McNair like all of us was not perfect. This does not excuse his wrong; however, it certainly does not negate the many positive things he did in life and his many accomplishments.


More details from CNN:(CNN) — The death of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair was a homicide, though police said Sunday they have not classified the death of woman who was involved in a romantic relationship with him. Police found McNair, 36, and Sahel Kazemi, 20, fatally shot in a condominium in downtown Nashville, Tennessee, Saturday afternoon after receiving a phone call about an injured person. McNair was shot twice in the head and twice in the chest, while Kazemi was shot once in the head, Nashville Metropolitan Police Department Spokesman Don Aaron told reporters Sunday after announcing the autopsies were complete. Asked whether the shooting was a murder-suicide, Aaron said investigators had ruled out nothing. “I would expect that it would be a number of days before the classification is placed on Miss Kazemi’s death,” he said. McNair, a married father of four, and Kazemi “apparently were involved in a dating relationship over the past several months,” Aaron said. […] McNair’s body was found seated on a living room sofa, Aaron said. A semi-automatic pistol was found under Kazemi’s body, which was on the floor, he said. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was assisting local authorities in tracing the gun, Aaron said. Witnesses told police that McNair had been at the Blue Moon Lagoon Bar and the Loser’s Bar, both Nashville establishments, late Friday into early Saturday, Aaron said. Staff and management of both bars will be interviewed, he said. Neighbors said a Cadillac Escalade driven by Kazemi — registered to her and McNair — was already in the condominium parking lot when McNair arrived at about 1:30 a.m. “The presumption is she was there when he arrived,” Aaron said. Police are also interviewing Kazemi’s former boyfriend, Aaron said.

Founding Editor Donna Ladd is a writer, journalist and editor from Philadelphia, Miss., a graduate of Mississippi State University and later the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, where she was an alumni award recipient in 2021. She writes about racism/whiteness, poverty, gender, violence, journalism and the criminal justice system. She contributes long-form features and essays to The Guardian when she has time, and was the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Jackson Free Press. She co-founded the statewide nonprofit Mississippi Free Press with Kimberly Griffin in March 2020, and the Mississippi Business Journal named her one of the state's top CEOs in 2024. Read more at donnaladd.com, follow her on Twitter and Instagram at @donnerkay and email her at donna@mississippifreepress.org.