Former NFL quarterback McNair killed in Tennessee

Yet another day in 2009 where I find myself skimming headlines only to say aloud, "No freakin' way." You'd think I'd be desensitized to all the celebrity/athlete deaths by now, but McNair is yet another shocker.

It's too early to jump to any conclusions on this specific incident. At the moment Wikipedia is citing conflicting reports of murder-suicide versus double homicide.

I'm totally stunned and saddened at the death of Steve,

I met Steve back 1996 when I lived in Houston and he played for the Houston Oilers. For a couple of years he was a regular in my auto repair shop, then when the Oilers moved to Tennessee he would stop by when he was in Houston from time to time.

Steve was a great guy, very friendly down to earth person.

My thoughts and prayers go out his family.

RIP, my friend, we'll miss you.

Wow, yet another one gone.

It's been quite the week or so.

Truly sad.

the weekly arrest, shooting or murder of black pro athletes is just a mirror image of the decay and violence which has erupted in black urban culture.

Steve always belonged to us in Nashville

We are all heartbroken......................

It's a damn shame. A great player and an all-around great guy.

Man, that is just too bad. I really feel for his family.

Unbelievable.

What a sad day, he really was a great guy.

A great loss.

Condolences to his family and friends.

He set a very good example of what leadership, responsibility and hardwork are about and what it means to handle them.

He will be missed, not just in the sports world but in the communities where he did work and made a difference.

Bless you, Steve. You were "the one" who we knew wouldn't be graded on your ethniticity; but now, with this ridiculous coverage of your death, they now are comparing you to other races in the same position in the NFL

You exceeded all expectations in the NFL; they were just afraid to give it to you!

Steve, rock on; we'll see you soon up there!

This looks like an obvious case of murder-suicide. Here's why:

He was shot multiple times while sitting on the sofa. She had a single shot wound to the head. The weapon was still at the scene, not initially visible to detectives, which leads one to believe that her body either partially of fully covered the weapon when she fell. Also, if a third party were involved, most will take their gun with them rather than leaving it at the scene.

My suspicion leads me to believe that he was having an affair with this 20 yr old. He even had a vehicle registered in his and her name. She became angry when he refused to leave his wife for her (for financial reasons?) and in a Friday night mental haze of drugs and/or alcohol, they argued over their relationship and she literally lost it.

We'll see how this plays out in the coming days, but the detectives saying that they are not actively looking for a suspect tells me that what the crime scene investigators saw at the scene, and the evidence collected, lead them to believe this was a classic case of murder-suicide.

Here's my hypothesis:

I suspect that the injuries to his body were from a distance (no powder burns near the entry points) but that the injury to her head had the tell-tell powder burn pattern found in injuries where the muzzle was either pressed directly against the skin or within a very short distance. This occurs because gunpowder will exit the muzzle along with the projectile and will burn off on the skin, leaving "speckled" gun powder burn marks. The closer the muzzle to the skin, the tighter the grouping of burn "specks". The further away, the wider the burn pattern. I suspect that the investigators probably saw this pattern (a burn ring) around her head wound.

Now some of you will say that a third party could have shot him first from a distance, moved in closer for a fatal head shot, then placed the gun close to her head while she stood traumatized and pulled the trigger, leaving this same burn pattern. However, I suspect that they swabbed her hands for trace gun powder residue and also ran a "trace metal swab test" on her hands to see if she recently held a gun. They will swab the web of the hand where this part touched directly below the slide or hammer, depending on whether a revolver or semi-automatic gun was the weapon. They will also swab the fingers to determine whether a finger had the trace metal pattern of a trigger on the skin. And I predict that these tests probably came back positive, proving that she not only held a gun but that she also pulled the trigger. Shooting a gun multiple times will leave plenty of gun powder on a hand that held a gun.

All these pieces of evidence together will be enough to determine that this was a classic case of murder-suicide. We'll see how accurate my theory is in the coming days.

Anyone feel like a betting man??? I could use some extra cash.

I'll bypass all the reasons for now. It is a shocker he has died and this way.

I will simply say fare thee well Steve "Air" McNair. You played for my Baltimore Ravens and you did well for the team.

RIP.

As a NFL fan, I was saddened to hear Steve was dead, but as a husband and family man, when you screw around these things happen. It seems strange that on Thursday Sahel was arrested for DUI, and on Saturday, they are dead. Murder- suicide does seem like the only scenario here. After all, witnesses said Sahel was already at the condo when Steve arrived. I know I will probably be accused of being a racist, but, monogamy is not a word in the African-American culture.