Mike Tanier has a truly wonderful piece up on Football Outsiders about Steve McNair, who was murdered over the weekend. Tanier explores the paradox of a player remembered most for the game he lost - the "one yard short" Super Bowl - who nevertheless was universally respected within the NFL for his legendary toughness.
It's interesting to me that CNN still has wall-to-wall coverage on Michael Jackson's untimely death almost two weeks after, but the MSM and public are all but silent on McNair. Yes, Jackson was a once-in-a-lifetime entertainer who was in the public eye for four decades. But is he more or less of a role-model to the African American community? After all, McNair was one of the only players from an HBCU selected in the first round of the draft. He was a black quarterback who almost won the Super Bowl four years before Rush Limbaugh made his controversial comments about the media giving special treatment to black QBs.
McNair may have had plenty of personal issues, but I choose to remember him as an athlete - a physically and mentally tough athlete and a born leader. My thoughts are with his family and the people who loved him.
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