Police are calling the shooting death of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair a homicide, but they haven't yet reached a conclusion about the death of the 20-year-old woman found with him.
Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said Sunday that the two
had been dating the past several months.
Aaron says McNair was shot four times, twice in the head.
The woman, 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi, was killed by a single gunshot wound.
The pistol was found near her body.
The 36-year-old McNair, a four-time Pro Bowl selection who was
married with four children, and Kazemi were found dead Saturday at a Nashville condominium he shared with a friend.
McNair played most of his career with the Tennessee Titans
before he was traded to the Baltimore Ravens. He retired last year.
Police do not believe McNair's wife was involved, spokesman Don Aarons said. Mechelle McNair, mother of two of his four sons, was expected to collect her husband's belongings from authorities.
Funeral arrangements were not expected to be finalized until Monday afternoon at the earliest.
"She's still very upset, very distraught," agent Bus Cook
said.
Titans owner Bud Adams, who lives in Houston, called it a "terrible tragedy."
Adams recalled what McNair meant to him and his franchise.
"Steve was one of the greatest players that ever played for us," Adams said in an interview Saturday with FOX 26 Sports. "He was loved by everyone in Tennessee.
"He took us to levels of winning that we had never seen before including our only Super Bowl."
McNair was a three-time Pro Bowler and also was named NFL co-MVP with Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts in 2003.
"This is a terrible thing that happened," Adams said. "He was such a great guy and a great player.
"He was something else. He never hesitated to run and he took so many hits for a quarterback. This is a sad day."
Adams reminisced about the day McNair was inducted into the Oilers/Titans Hall of Fame.
"I still remember him being on the field that day," Adams said. "It was a happy day. This is so hard to understand."
Former NFL assistant coach Jerry Rhome was McNair's first offensive coordinator and quarterback coach when both were with the then Houston Oilers.
"I am just devastated and heartbroken," said Rhome in an interview with FOX 26 Sports Saturday. "I can't believe it."
Rhome and McNair worked together for two years.
"When he first joined the Oilers he didn't report until August because of his contract situation." said Rhome. "So he played sparingly that year.
"Steve wanted to catch up. So in February after his first season he came into my office four days a week for three-hour sessions all the way through May. He was very dedicated. His hard work boosted him and the following year he took over."
Rhome said he respected and liked McNair.
"Coming from Alcorn State a lot of people doubted him," Rhome said. "The Houston Oilers never doubted him."
And after the Oilers became the Titans McNair took the franchise to within an eye lash of winning the NFL Championship.
McNair led the famous Tennessee Titans' drive that came a yard
short of forcing overtime in the 2000 Super Bowl. He retired in
last year. "On the field, there isn't a player that was as tough
as him," the Ravens' Derrick Mason said.
Friends declined to describe the relationship between McNair and the woman, Sahel Kazemi, who was a waitress at a restaurant quarterback and his family frequented. Police only described her as a "friend."
But a neighbor saw McNair, 36, at Kazemi's apartment so often --
two to three times a week -- that he thought McNair had moved in.
McNair never tried to hide his presence but kept to himself.
Neighbor Reagan Howard said Kazemi often was dropped off in the early morning hours by a limousine and upgraded recently from her Kia to a Cadillac Escalade.
"It was pretty obvious that she was taken with him," Howard
said.
McNair and Kazemi had been together just two days earlier, when she was pulled over driving a 2007 Escalade registered to her and McNair. She was arrested on a DUI charges, and he was allowed to leave in a taxi.
The bodies were discovered by McNair's longtime friend, Wayne
Neeley, who rents the condo in the upscale Rutledge Hill neighborhood with McNair.
Neeley then called Robert Gaddy, who had been friends with McNair since they played at Alcorn State. Gaddy alerted authorities.
"People have certain things that they do in life," Gaddy told The Associated Press on Sunday. "We don't need to look on the situation at this time (but) on the fact we just lost a great member of society."
Cook said he was not aware that McNair was seeing Kazemi, a
woman whose name the agent learned about through reports of the shooting.
"It doesn't make any sense. I don't know what to say," Cook said.
Police said a witness saw McNair arrive at the condo between
1:30 and 2 a.m. Saturday and that Kazemi's vehicle was already there.
The condominium is located within walking distance of an area filled with restaurants and nightspots, a few
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