Apologies for interrupting your Fourth of July festivities, but this is just a terrible, terrible tragedy within the NFL family:
Former Titans quarterback Steve McNair has been killed. Police said McNair suffered a fatal gunshot wound to the head in downtown Nashville.
An unidentified female was also found dead at the scene. The police are calling it a homicide. We all remember Steve McNair as a rival for Peyton Manning and the Colts when he played for both the Tennessee Titans and the Baltimore Ravens. We disliked him. We booed him. We were always happy to beat him. But none of that matters now. Despite the rivalry, he was respected by most football fans. He was especially respected by Peyton, who wrote him a personal letter wishing him well when McNair retired. Manning and McNair shared the 2003 NFL MVP award.
Now, Steve McNair is gone. He was only 36. This is a horrible tragedy.
Music City Miracles (our Tennessee Titans blog) has a FanShot up on McNair and the shooting. When we get more information, we'll post it.
Steve McNair
1973-2009
UPDATE: The woman found dead at the scene might be McNair's wife. Rumor and speculation, via Pacman Jonesin', an NFL fansite, says that McNair's wife shot and killed McNair. Then, she turned the gun on herself. Again, that is not confirmed.
UPDATE: Police has confirmed that the second victim is not Steve McNair's wife, Mechelle.
Shake Update:
McNair, the hometown hero who did extensive charity work in Nashville, died of several gunshots and was found on the sofa, police said. Sahel Kazemi, 20, was found alongside him in a Second Avenue condo he rented. She had a single gunshot wound to her head; a pistol was found near her body.
The current reports seem to suggest that McNair was killed by a girlfriend, who then turned the gun on herself.