Steve McNair: A Sad Story
It seems that the last week or so has been the week of celebrity deaths. Ed McMahon, Billy Mays, Farrah Fawcett, Michael Jackson, and Steve McNair all left this world and made their way into eternity. That’s a sobering thought. Even more sobering is the fact that hundreds, if not thousands of people die every day. It kind of gives you a different perspective on just how short life is. The book of James describes our lives as a vapor; here for a moment and then vanishes away. What if the vapor of your life vanished today?
Last Saturday, the football world and others were shocked when they heard the news about the death of one of it’s good guy quarterbacks, Steve McNair. McNair was found shot to death on July 4, 2009 in a Nashville apartment. It was tragic news to those who loved the Tennessee Titans and quarterback Steve McNair. McNair’s death was the result of a murder/suicide as his girlfriend, Sehel Kazemi, shot McNair 4 times before turning the gun on herself.
Perhaps even more tragic than the actual death of Steve McNair were the circumstances surrounding his death. Steve McNair was husband and a father to 4 children, yet he was killed by his 20 year old girlfriend, Kazemi, who may have shot him out of the suspicion of yet another girlfriend. It’s possible that McNair was cheating on the girlfriend that he was cheating on his wife and children with. This is the more tragic story.
It seems that friends, coaches, and confidants have a different way of defining what “greatness” is about a person. While it is true that McNair may have been a leader on the football field and the different charity organizations he was committed to, the fact the Mr. McNair failed at the one responsibility that matters most makes me reconsider His greatness. As a husband and father myself , the responsibility that matters most in my life is the responsibility I have to my wife, Rena and daughter, Jovie Madelyn. That’s it. With that being said, there are other responsibilities I have in life that are important because it affects my family, my greatest responsibility.
Below is a portion of an article I read on Yahoo.com concerning the life and death of Steve McNair…
Publicly, McNair was a happily married man and proud father of four sons who split his time between his Mississippi farm and a home in Music City, where celebrities are cherished, not hassled.
His death, however, thrust a darker side of his private life into the spotlight.
“People have certain things that they do in life,” said McNair’s longtime friend Robert Gaddy, who called 911. “We don’t need to look on the situation at this time (but) on the fact we just lost a great member of society.”
After reading this small portion, my heart sank at the fact that one can be considered such a “great member of society” when that person is not a champion in his own family. Perhaps I’m a little old-fashioned in my thinking, but what was happening in the “darker side of his private life” truly determines the kind of man he indeed was. A man who cheats on his wife and by doing so neglects his children may have been good football player and giver to charities, but by no means does that make him a “great member of society.” It’s one thing had McNair slipped up and got caught in a sticky situation, it’s a completely different and more defining thing when family neglect becomes a lifestyle. While I am not here to judge the eternity of Mr. Steve McNair, I do think there are lessons we can learn about family and the society in which we live.
The question is floating out there concerning the legacy Steve McNair leaves behind. Will his personal life play a role in the history, or has our society simply turned to utter and complete apathy. I am sad today that McNair will never have a chance to make things right with his family. I am sad about the loss of a football giant and one who worked hard for people around the country. I am sadder still for his family who now has to piece together the tragic lifestyle their husband and father left behind.
