So many questions surrounding the multiple deaths of Steve McNair and 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi. She, the 20-year-old waitress who days before the tragedy purchased a gun that was found at the scene in the condo shared by McNair and his friend Wayne Neely, who discovered the lifeless bodies of McNair and Kazemi. McNair with multiple holes in his chest and head and she with a single fatal bullet to her head. A murder and suicide? That has not yet been determined, though some things do not add up.
Neely, who shared the condo with McNair, instead of calling 911, called Robert Gaddy, a 20-year cut-buddy of McNair who had played with him in Houston and when the team became the Tennessee Titans and moved to Nashville. Gaddy then called the police.
Why didn’t Neely make the call from the apartment? Why were Neely and McNair sharing a condo? Both married men. Myself? Four bullets to McNair’s chest and head? Could a third person have been involved? Perhaps a jealous friend of either McNair or Kazemi?
Such a waste of life. A young, 20-year-old girl. A 36-year-old McNair, who would have been a strong candidate for the Pro Football Hall of Fame in four years because he officially retired in 2007 when his battered body refused to permit him another game, after 13 record-setting seasons. He was the second Black quarterback in NFL history to quarterback a team in the Super Bowl after Doug Williams made history in Super Bowl XXII, leading Washington to a 42-10 win over Denver at Jack Murphy Stadium in San Diego.
And oh! How I quietly rooted for Doug as I did Steve McNair at the Georgia Dome in Super Bowl XXXIV, when he drove his Titans 70 yards down field, throwing a bullet on the last play of the game to Kevin Dyson, who ran towards the goal and was tackled a yard from the goal line that would have meant victory for the Titans.
Now, all we have are memories. Steve McNair is gone.