NASHVILLE, Tenn. (July 6) - Steve McNair's 20-year-old girlfriend
bought a gun a couple of days before she was found dead alongside
the slain former NFL quarterback, her relative said Monday.
Sepide Salmani, left, 23, comforts Soheyla Kazemi Sunday, July 5, 2009 in Orange Park, Fla. as they talk about the death of Soheyla Kazemi's sister, Sahel Kazemi, 20, in Nashville, Tenn. Sahel Kazemi and former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair were found dead Saturday at a Nashville condominium that he rented with a friend. (AP Photo/The Florida Times-Union, Will Dickey)
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Soheyla Kazemi reacts at her home in Orange Park, Fla. Sunday, July 5, 2009 as she talks about the death of her sister, Sahel Kazemi, 20, in Nashville, Tenn. Sahel Kazemi and former Tennessee Titans quarterback Steve McNair were found dead Saturday at a Nashville condominium that he rented with a friend. (AP Photo/The Florida Times-Union, Will Dickey)
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People look over the condominium complex in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, July 5, 2009, where Steve McNair was found dead Saturday, July 4. McNair, a former NFL quarterback with the Houston Oilers, Tennessee Titans, and Baltimore Ravens, was found dead of gunshot wounds along with a 20-year-old woman, according to police. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
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A biohazard warning sign is posted on the door of the condominium in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, July 5, 2009, where Steve McNair was found dead Saturday, July 4. McNair, a former NFL quarterback with the Houston Oilers, Tennessee Titans, and Baltimore Ravens, was found dead of gunshot wounds along with a 20-year-old woman, according to police. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
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People look over the tributes and memorials left to Steve McNair at McNair's Gridiron 9 restaurant in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, July 5, 2009. McNair, a former NFL quarterback with the Houston Oilers, Tennessee Titans, and Baltimore Ravens, was found dead of gunshot wounds along with a 20-year-old woman in a downtown Nashville condominium July 4, according to police. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
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Melanie Lewis writes a tribute to Steve McNair at McNair's Gridiron 9 restaurant in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, July 5, 2009. McNair, a former NFL quarterback with the Houston Oilers, Tennessee Titans, and Baltimore Ravens, was found dead of gunshot wounds along with a 20-year-old woman in a downtown Nashville condominium July 4, according to police. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
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Jim Hardaway wears a Steve McNair jersey as he looks at the tributes left to McNair at McNair's Gridiron 9 restaurant in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, July 5, 2009. McNair, a former NFL quarterback with the Houston Oilers, Tennessee Titans, and Baltimore Ravens, was found dead of gunshot wounds along with a 20-year-old woman in a downtown Nashville condominium July 4, according to police. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
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Police spokesman Don Aaron answers questions about the death of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair at a news conference in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, July 5, 2009. McNair, a former quarterback with the Houston Oilers, Tennessee Titans, and Baltimore Ravens, was found dead of gunshot wounds along with a 20-year-old woman in a Nashville condominium July 4, according to police. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
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Police spokesman Don Aaron answers questions about the death of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair at a news conference in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, July 5, 2009. McNair, a former quarterback with the Houston Oilers, Tennessee Titans, and Baltimore Ravens, was found dead of gunshot wounds along with a 20-year-old woman in a Nashville condominium July 4, according to police. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
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Police spokesman Don Aaron answers questions about the death of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair at a news conference in Nashville, Tenn., Sunday, July 5, 2009. McNair, a former quarterback with the Houston Oilers, Tennessee Titans, and Baltimore Ravens, was found dead of gunshot wounds along with a 20-year-old woman in a Nashville condominium July 4, according to police. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
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Farzin Abdi said police told him about the gun purchase by his
aunt Sahel Kazemi, who was raised with him like a sister. Kazemi
and McNair were found dead on Saturday in a Nashville condominium
leased by the former Titans star.
Abdi said police told him they are almost sure Kazemi was the
shooter, but the 27-year-old nephew said he doesn't believe she
would do it. Abdi didn't know what day of the week the gun was
purchased or what type of gun it was.
"There was no way she was depressed and wanting to do this,"
he said. "She was so happy. ... She just had it made, you know,
(with) this guy taking care of everything."
Nashville police didn't immediately have a response to Abdi's
comments.
Abdi said Kazemi believed McNair was divorcing his wife and she
was preparing to sell her furniture to move in with him.
Nashville courts had no record of a McNair divorce case, but a
14,000-square-foot home he owned in Nashville is on the market for
$3 million.
Mechelle McNair has been described as very distraught about her
husband's death and has not commented on it.
Before their deaths, the public knew nothing of Kazemi's
relationship with McNair, a star who had earned the respect of his
fellow NFL players for shaking off defenders and injuries and the
love of fans amazed at how the quarterback kept showing up for work
- and winning.
He endeared himself further with his charity work. Not just from
the checks he handed out, but for throwing himself into the
efforts, like he did when loading boxes onto tractor-trailers bound
for Hurricane Katrina victims.
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."
Even McNair's longtime agent said he didn't know about the
former quarterback's relationship with Kazemi.
"As good as he was on the football field, that couldn't touch
the person," agent Bus Cook said Sunday, still shaken by McNair's
death. "I mean it just couldn't."
Hints of a problem with alcohol surfaced in May 2003 when a
Nashville police officer pulled McNair over on suspicion of drunk
driving. Police said the quarterback's blood alcohol content was
0.18 percent - well over Tennessee's legal limit. He also was
charged with having a 9mm weapon with him, but all the charges were
later dropped.
McNair was charged with drunken driving in 2007 because he let
his brother-in-law drive his pickup truck. Those charges were later
dropped when the DUI charge against the brother-in-law was reduced
to reckless driving.
And McNair could have been charged again Thursday night when the
same officer who arrested him in 2003 stopped a 2007 Cadillac
Escalade driven by Kazemi and registered to both her and McNair.
Kazemi was arrested on a DUI charge, and he was allowed to leave in
a taxi.
Police labeled his death a homicide Sunday, revealing McNair had
been shot four times - twice in the head, twice in the chest - when
found in a rented condominium he shared with a longtime friend,
Wayne Neeley. Police found a semiautomatic pistol under Kazemi's
body.
But police spokesman Don Aaron said they were reviewing every
possibility, interviewing friends of both and an ex-boyfriend
before labeling Kazemi's death.
On the football field, he simply was "Air McNair," a winner.
McNair still holds the NCAA's Football Championship Series
(formerly Division I-AA) records for career yards passing (14,496)
and total offense (16,823) from his days at tiny Alcorn State in
Mississippi.
He played 13 NFL seasons, starting with the then-Houston Oilers,
and led Tennessee to its famous last-second 2000 Super Bowl loss to
the St. Louis Rams. He ended his career in Baltimore last season,
after being traded away by the Titans after they drafted Vince
Young as a replacement to the aching and expensive veteran.
McNair's friends want the quarterback to be remembered for his
generosity. He gave away turkeys and checks in Tennessee, toys in
Baltimore and paid for three football camps himself this year. Cook
talked to someone Saturday who saw McNair cleaning up the field
after one camp at Southern Mississippi.
"That was Steve McNair. That's who he is. And who he was," an
emotional Cook recalled.
A viewing will be held Thursday at a Nashville funeral home,
followed by another viewing at Mount Zion Baptist Church with a
memorial service Thursday night. A funeral service will be held
Saturday in Mississippi, but final details were not set.
McNair met Kazemi at the Dave & Buster's restaurant where she
worked as a server and where his family ate often. The two began
dating a few months ago in a relationship that included a vacation
with parasailing. Photos posted on TMZ.com showed McNair gazing and
smiling at the young Kazemi.
Associated Press writers Travis Loller, Lucas L. Johnson II and
Joe Edwards contributed to this story.
Copyright 2009 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise distributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press. Active hyperlinks have been inserted by AOL.
According to the news, she was angry because he was seeing another woman besides his wife. What kind of idiot would do this to women ? Just because you can throw a pass and run with a football does not put morality on hold for you to be a jerk. McNair got what he deserved. He thought he could walk all over his wife and a mistress and have no consequences. Sorry he is dead, but what did he expect? I guess this girl was not as "understanding as his wife." Bottom line - Wife gets the cash and McNair gets trashed. You run with the dogs and pretty soon you become one.
I wonder if the bright detectives in the Music City thought of this . Steve shot her first killing her and then turned the gun on himself, shot himself in the chest 2 times and then once in each temple. That is murder- suicide. Then placed the gun under her body trying to put the blame on her.
not "ALL" people cheat, personally I never have but have been cheated on more then once. I dont wish a cheating mate on anyone because it hurts like hell and is not ever forgotten. when people take vows I feel they should be honored, you give your partner your word to Love and Honor them how is cheating honoring them? and if your word is not good then what damn good are you at all. and to the people who knowingly date married people (not all people know they are because people also lie a lot) get a clue statistics will tell you they are not leaveing their partner for you, your just a piece of tail for them on the side, dont matter how much they spend on you or how much time you get from them fact is they are just out for the thrill and once ********** all over unless they are done with you before they are caught. if they do get caught and their partner puts them out im sure you wont want them. because to most dateing a married person is a thrill to you too and your only in it because you know you dont have to commit to them. plus when a cheater is caught the partner will rake them across the coals as well they should. and they wont have much left for you once the divorce is over and they will more then likely be very bitter because of it. now they are paying alimony and child support and barely getting by paying their bills. and if you knowingly date a married person your not worth haveing because your morals and standards are not any better then a dogs (who will hump anything)
alot of times it isnt only the athlete who is cheating while he is on the road...but the wife who is home and lonely also....sometimes the married couple knows and agrees on an open relationship...so their marriage is no ones business...just offer condolences and move on...rip...
people cheat..people are not perfect..no one deserves to die for it and noone has the right to play GOD and take a life..his mistake was chosing a woman with mental issues ..a woman who obviously became a FATAL ATTRACTION..no doubt he saw this coming..or knew she had some issues.sane people don't kill themselves or others over lost relationships..they move on and heal...
regardless to what happened STEVE was human and he just like all of us has made miststates my heart goes out to his wife and children we loved him when he was our hero lets remember him as the man that we all came to love he is not the only man that has cheated it is not for us to judge but god lets just pray for MICHELL and the whole MCNAIR family STEVE will be missed by all that knew and loved him i met STEVE and he was very nice to me not like some stars that you meet he was real again i say to his wife keep your head up and and keep looking to god because when its all say and done god is the only one that you can count on people will talk and judge but god has the the answer and the plan for OUR OWN STEVE NAIR we love you MICHELL hold your head up like the lady that you are be strong love you and STEVE
FIRST AND FORMOST REST IN PEACE MCNAIR. AND GOD WATCH OVER HIS WIFE, SONS, AND FAMILY. I HAVE NO WORDS TO RESPOND TO ALL THE "SANITS" AND THE PEOPLE WITH THE ROCKS THROWING THEM AT OTHERS "GLASS" HOUSES. I DONT WALK ON WATER, GLOW IN THE DARK OR PART THE RED SEA. BUT I TRY TO THE BEST OF MY HUMAN ABILITY TO DO THE RIGHT THING. MAKE NO MISTAKE IN MY WILL I AM REQUESTING TWO STICKS OF BUTTER TO BE PLACED IN MY POCKETS SO WHEN SAINT PETE STARTS ASKING ME ABOUT MY SKELETONS,. I AM ABLE TO SQUEEZE THROUGHT THE PEARLY GATES.
PS NOT ALL ATHELETES CHEAT BUT THE WOMEN THAT MARRY THEM NO THE ODDS ARE NOT IN THEIR FAVOR,
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PS NOT ALL ATHELETES CHEAT BUT THE WOMEN THAT MARRY THEM NO THE ODDS ARE NOT IN THEIR FAVOR,