There is never an easy way to put it, but to say it as you see it. Steve McNair was a great football player. By all accounts a great person in the community and for his family. The way he left will forever be a dark cloud that will hang over him though. To allegedly be unfaithful to his wife will taint what many considered to be a squeaky clean image. This is a tragedy that happens far too much in our society.

Two questions will come up in the aftermath. Does this make McNair’s image any different? Will this have an impact on today’s athletes? This will undoubtedly have an impact on today’s sports stars. Your taught that there is a right and a wrong way. This is the same here. Who would’ve thought that the woman he was seeing was going to buy a gun to kill him and herself. The question is why be with someone when your already married and have four sons to look after. This had the makings of a bad situation that would only get worse. And it did. It was horrible to hear they were both gunned down, but to gradually hear the circumstances of their death was making this disturbing.

His image is and will take a beating. It hasn’t happened full force. It doesn’t make it right though. I don’t like it anymore than you probably do, but that is how those with loud voices will say. Steve McNair will be remembered here as a football player first and this will be second. We won’t be able to forget these details because of the 24/7 news cycle were in. I won’t forget the only Super Bowl appearance he was in with that final drive, just one yard short. We lost a great player, husband, father, and son. Not to mention the young woman whose life was also cut short. The fourth of July was not a great day in 2009.