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Dr. Saturday

Sun Jul 05, 2009 1:08 am EDT

RIP, Air McNair

By Matt Hinton

My home state doesn't generate much positive news, so we Mississippians hold the heroes we have close. Without question, Steve McNair was one of the biggest, a small-town quarterback so prolific at tiny Alcorn State that Sports Illustrated, the Downtown Athletic Athletic Club of New York and the NFL couldn't ignore him, and so tough as a pro that he brought home an MVP award after his extraordinary scrambling ability had been beaten out of him. McNair was the last great product of Mississippi's historically black colleges, a tradition that nurtured Deacon Jones, Walter Payton, Jerry Rice and countless others before integration diverted their pipeline to the bigger schools, and at Alcorn, he was the biggest.

McNair's sordid, senseless death Saturday doesn't diminish any of that. Godspeed, Air, wherever you are. You came from nowhere, and you came back often.

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615 Comments

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  1. dennis
    1. Posted by dennis Sun Jul 05, 2009 1:26 am EDT

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    A sad,sad thing for his family and for fans of his....man,just stay home,it ain't worth it....Damn I hate it...
  2. just4funsies
    2. Posted by just4funsies Sun Jul 05, 2009 1:26 am EDT

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    A senseless death... It's a cryin' shame.
  3. The World Famous Butt Pirate
    3. Posted by The World Famous Butt Pirate Sun Jul 05, 2009 1:54 am EDT

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    Does anyone know, for sure, where Ray Lewis was at the time of the incident?
  4. Thundershadow, volniac
    4. Posted by Thundershadow, volniac Sun Jul 05, 2009 3:54 am EDT

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    It would probably be prudent to hold comment until all the facts are in. Supposition does not equal fact.
  5. gaborik10m
    5. Posted by gaborik10m Sun Jul 05, 2009 4:14 am EDT

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    4 and 5, couple of classless losers, i'm sure you'll both grow up to be adulterers or worse.
  6. VincentB
    6. Posted by VincentB Sun Jul 05, 2009 1:39 pm EDT

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    Looks like from early reports he was having a mistress on the side. She might have wanted more and he didn't want to leave his wife. Multiple shots to him mean rage and anger. 1 shot for her because she was done.
  7. donny d
    7. Posted by donny d Sun Jul 05, 2009 2:38 pm EDT

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    Yesterday turned out to be the worst day of my life so far.... i cried my eyes out.
    I cannot believe he is gone. That was the biggest role model in my life and for such a nice, gentleman to be killed so brutally just makes me sick.
    and to all the people who are making fun of this situation you will rot in hell.
    Rest In Peace Air McNair #9
  8. Tracy
    8. Posted by Tracy Sun Jul 05, 2009 2:45 pm EDT

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    one tough person to play hurt like he did he was the toughest player in the NFL REST IN PEACE
  9. Nirvana199488
    9. Posted by Nirvana199488 Sun Jul 05, 2009 2:48 pm EDT

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    More than likely it'll probably turn out to have been a murder-suicide, but I definitely wouldn't rule out the ex-boyfriend. Didn't he say he saw them in the car together Thursday or whenever, and he also said he was looking to get back with her. Not to mention stated that "[McNair] was making her believe they were going to be together and everything would be perfect" which sounds like jealousy to me. Multiple gunshots does sound like rage which would obviously be directed more at a guy than a girl. Maybe he shot McNair multiple times out of severe anger and then just decided to end Kazemi's life quickly out of some sorta twisted "love" for her. But who knows.
  10. David D
    10. Posted by David D Sun Jul 05, 2009 2:49 pm EDT

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    you get what you get
  11. KING TUT
    11. Posted by KING TUT Sun Jul 05, 2009 2:50 pm EDT

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    im just saying if he was sinning GOD does the judgement and could have made his call for adultry ? i dont know but we are to all be right by GODS way he knows all our thoughts and . R.I.P man your great ball player and more I'm sure. You were ROBBED OF LIFE
  12. KING TUT
    12. Posted by KING TUT Sun Jul 05, 2009 2:51 pm EDT

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    No one besides god has a right to take a life from anyone ever for any reason. period
  13. bubba_ntj
    13. Posted by bubba_ntj Sun Jul 05, 2009 2:52 pm EDT

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    I never thought he was a great QB. His passer ratings were never up there. However, he took hella hits and just got back up and kept coming at ya. Even if he was too injured to practice, he'd take the snaps on game day. So no, he wasn't a great QB. But he had heart and character that knew no bounds. And in the over all scheme of things, that's a far more important measure of a man. And I'm sorry, but the where was Ray Lewis question is funny.
  14. Dickie Boy
    14. Posted by Dickie Boy Sun Jul 05, 2009 2:53 pm EDT

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    A good guy, a tough guy, a great athlete. Looks like he read the defense wrong and made a bad call. Nonethless, a great QB. and he will be sorely missed by many. So long Air.
  15. Cool Breeze
    15. Posted by Cool Breeze Sun Jul 05, 2009 2:54 pm EDT

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    Steve was very nice and respectful to any one who met him. I felt like a kid when I first met him at the rach. He smiled,shook my hand, offered to take pictures w/me. I still have them. He laughed and joked around with everyone. He loved his Mother,siblings,wife and kids. He loved Mississippi. Everyone has strayed. It was his time to go. A lesson should be learned by all of us from this but the situation won't diminish the respect that I had or anyone else had for him as a person. Okay,he was wrong if he was cheating but we can't be the final judge for his life. I loved him as a friend,football player,and a Mississipian. He was an outstanding person to all the ones who knew him and overall "Air McNair" will be missed tremendously.
  16. vincentvanjoe
    16. Posted by vincentvanjoe Sun Jul 05, 2009 2:54 pm EDT

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    An escalade in her and his name? She's not the maid! It's hard enough to teach our kids how to be good people when our government lies, steals, and cheats, much less, the priviledged that have the world handed to them just because they can play a game, abuse that priviledge. The huge amount of money in sports even has the owners and commisioners of the sports looking the other way...all while everyone else has to pee to get a job--hipocrasy is hipocrasy and our whole country needs to grow up. Granted Steve McNair wasn't Michael Vick or killed someone driving drunk, but he does have a recent DUI, he isn't a complete choir boy. Why is it so hard to pay a cab when you're making too much money playing a game?
  17. vincentvanjoe
    17. Posted by vincentvanjoe Sun Jul 05, 2009 3:01 pm EDT

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    Bad will over rule good when we are all judged. Bill Clinton was judged unfairly along with many other politicians, and many, many other athletes, if we think our bad behaviors don't matter.
  18. emily c
    18. Posted by emily c Sun Jul 05, 2009 3:03 pm EDT

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    wow! So many icons have died in just a manner of days. Take it as a sign and give ur life to CHRIST! As a Mississippian it really hits home. My prayers are with his family.
  19. 777
    19. Posted by 777 Sun Jul 05, 2009 3:13 pm EDT

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    Everyone get over their perfect ego...No person deserves to die the way he did. Im sure vincentvanjoe never did anything wrong. yeah these athletes make millions of dollars a year..but they are people just like the rest of us. Everyone has made mistakes and everyone one will. RIP air
  20. tleaton68
    20. Posted by tleaton68 Sun Jul 05, 2009 3:15 pm EDT

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    This is a great lose for the NFL, but mostly for the family left behind. My thoughts and prayers are with you all. Stay encouraged.
  21. juliacutie10
    21. Posted by juliacutie10 Sun Jul 05, 2009 3:16 pm EDT

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    Its so werid everyone is dieing first ed mcmanlon ,farwwet,mj,billemays,now him its crazy
  22. craig
    22. Posted by craig Sun Jul 05, 2009 3:17 pm EDT

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    I guess Stevie should have stayed home last night instead of running around on his wife.
  23. tleaton68
    23. Posted by tleaton68 Sun Jul 05, 2009 3:19 pm EDT

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    no. 7 the only way she could have shot herself more than once was not take the first shot to the head, Think about it
  24. Joe
    24. Posted by Joe Sun Jul 05, 2009 3:21 pm EDT

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    To #19. Dead celebrities does not equal the Apocalypse. Please go back and re-read your Bible.
  25. Wynn B
    25. Posted by Wynn B Sun Jul 05, 2009 3:21 pm EDT

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    knowone is perfect!! only god can judge...

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