Broad Street Heroes

At Broad Street Heroes I usually like to discuss the events surrounding Philadelphia sports, but today I want to honor one of the toughest men to ever play in the National Football League, Steve McNair.  Today, authorities confirmed that McNair was shot and killed by his girlfriend before she committed suicide.  There is a strong possibility that McNair was asleep while he was shot to death in his Nashville, TN condo.  As sad as this story is, I am surprised that they didn’t come to this assumption sooner.  The second I read that the girlfriend was shot once and fell on the gun while Steve McNair was shot twice in the head and twice in the chest I knew how it happened.  How could the investigators not think it was a homicide and suicide when they came across the crime scene?

What most people will remember Steve McNair for is his play in Super Bowl XXXIV.  In that game led took a Tennessee Titans team that fell 1 yard short of the Vince Lombardi Trophy.  The guts that McNair showed in that game summed up his playing career.  McNair was drafted 3rd overall by the then Houston Oilers in 1995 out of the primarily black school Alcorn State.  He soon became one of the premier quarterbacks in the league and was always praised for his toughness, which eventually led to him winning Co-MVP honors in 2003.  He never backed down and never quit.  I can’t count how many Sundays I watched football and whoever was broadcasting the game would say something like, “Steve McNair is starting for Tennessee today, even though he had a fractured hand, sprained knee…”.  The list goes on.  He never complained and played through an ungodly amount of pain, which is near impossible in football, which is such a physical sport.  As an Eagles fan I respect heart from a player, and Steve McNair was the embodiment of heart, grit, and toughness.  On the field Steve would give it his all, and from what I have heard, he had a heart of gold off of the field as well.  I know he got in trouble with the law a couple of times because of DUI allegations, but he donated to many charities and tried to give back to his community.

I want to give my deepest condolensces to Steve McNair’s family as well as the Titans family.  This is a tough loss for you, especially under the circumstances.