Emotional Titans coach pays tribute to McNair
Female companion bought gun: police
Last Updated: Monday, July 6, 2009 | 7:22 PM ET
The Associated Press
Tennessee coach Jeff Fisher listens to former running back Eddie George speak, with George's son Jaire, at a news conference on Monday. (Mark Humphrey/Associated Press)Tennessee Titans coach Jeff Fisher said on Monday his former quarterback Steve McNair was a "great person" who put the franchise on the map after it relocated from Houston.
Fisher made his first public comments since McNair and companion Sahel Kazemi were found dead of gunshot wounds on Saturday in a condominium owned by McNair.
McNair, a married father of four, was 36.
"The Steve McNair that I knew would want me to say, 'I'm sorry. I'm not perfect. We all make decisions sometimes that are not in the best interests. Please forgive me.' The Steve McNair that I knew would want me to say, 'Celebrate my life for what I did on the field, for what I did in the community, the kind of teammate that I was,'" Fisher said.
"That's what the Steve that I knew would want me to say."
The Steve McNair that I knew would want to me to say, 'I'm sorry. I'm not perfect'. —Titans coach Jeff Fisher
Fisher coached McNair for 11 of his 13 seasons in the NFL. The coach received the grim news while on a league-sponspored trip to visit U.S. troops in the Persian Gulf.
Meanwhile, the investigation into the deaths continued.
Purchased gun 2 days earlier: police
Kazemi, 20, died Saturday of a single gunshot wound to the head alongside McNair, who had two gunshots to the head and two to the chest. The gun was found under Kazemi's body.
Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said Monday that Kazemi bought the semiautomatic handgun found at the scene Thursday evening from a person he didn't name. U.S. federal law prohibits gun sales to those under 21.
Police have characterized McNair's death as a homicide, but have yet to definitively rule on Kazemi's death.
Aaron said that as far as he knows McNair was not with Kazemi when she got the gun. He said testing to determine if gunshot residue was present on Kazemi's hands has not yet been completed.
A public memorial and viewings were being scheduled later in the week for the player, the co-MVP in the 2003 NFL season. Fans were being asked to make donations to the Steve McNair Foundation.
