Sweaty Pursuits: Air McNair Errs In the Worst Possible Way

Don't cheat. At best, it's a complete violation of a partner's trust. At worst, you end up dead with everyone knowing the tawdry circumstances that led to your demise. Unluckily, former NFL quarterback Steve McNair, who was murdered by his 20-year-old girlfriend before she turned the gun on herself, suffered the most extreme consequence of being governed by one's crotch. The grim lesson offers little comfort to the wife and children he left behind.

It went down in Nashville, the city where McNair reached his most notable triumphs as the leader of the Tennessee Titans. Police report that McNair and Dave & Buster's waitress Sahel Kazemi had been dating for a couple of months, which is a thorny detail when one considers the existence of his aforementioned spouse. The mistress committed the murder/suicide in a condominium he naughtily shared with her. The fact it took place in the illicit love nest just makes the tragic event even more sordid.

Unfortunately, the circumstances of his death will cloud memories of what he accomplished in life. The 2003 NFL co-MVP was most renowned for his toughness. There was a stretch where McNair was so beat up that he couldn't even practice: he'd spend the week coping with pain before suiting up on game days to get beat up even further. While his numbers over his 13-year career don't quite warrant inclusion in the Hall of Fame, he got close enough that pundits have to make a point of mentioning that he won't get in.

He was also getting recognized following his retirement last year for his charitable foundation. But sadly his legacy won't be based around his attempts to help underprivileged children. Now, he'll always be remembered as the roughneck quarterback whose mistress flipped out after he, perhaps, told her something she found disagreeable about their relationship's future.

Fans won't immediately recall McNair's humble beginnings. Nor will they think of his rise against adversity, from abject poverty in a single-parent household to second-tier college football to pro success. They'll primarily recall his wretched end.

It's true that most affairs don't end like this one did, namely in a Fatal Attraction situation -- only with an unhappier ending. But this severe case highlights what can be lost due to a tangled affair. After all, McNair was set to cruise through the rest of his life, riding on his past glory. The pain he suffered as a player entitled him to a pleasurable second career as a popular luminary.

Universally beloved by Titans fans, he had the chance to spend his post-football days not paying bar tabs or full price for luxury sedans. On top of that, McNair had just opened a restaurant in Nashville, and locals were assuredly ready to patronize it to capacity even if it wasn't very good. It was just another way he would have been cashing in on earlier toils.

It's actually a good lesson: McNair proved that it's impossible to get away with getting what you want all the time. It makes not having a virtually limitless buffet of tail seem appealing. Either way, sports big shots should ignore cynics who claim men are only as faithful as their options.

McNair could have gotten happy and chubby, growing old in his adopted town. But he instead died at 36 while leaving his community, and the rest of us, with nothing more than a cautionary tale. And as a result, four sons are without a father.


Anthony Bialy is SG's no-jocks-required Sweaty Pursuits sports columnist. He follows sports religiously even though he's quite bad at them. He ran cross country and played rugby in college, and was horrid at both. He schedules his life around his favorite NHL team's games, and sadly lists his alma mater winning the NCAA basketball championship as his happiest moment. He likes other things besides sports, too, and requests a minute to think of them.


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