Thousands Pay Last Respects to McNair

Family, friends and fans gather to pay tribute to McNair.

Photo: Thousands Pay Last Respects to McNair

Fans lined up outside a funeral home to view the closed silvery-gray casket topped with white lilies next to a portrait of the former Titans star. A helicopter provided live TV footage as McNair's body was taken by hearse to the Mount Zion church for a memorial service last night.

There, Titans coach Jeff Fisher spoke fondly of his former quarterback.

"No more turf toe, no more sacks. No more shoulder problems, and no more interceptions, only touchdown passes. I'm going to miss you No. 9," Fisher said, The Philadelphia Daily News reports.

While thousands inside mourned former NFL and Alcorn State University quarterback Steve McNair, Kandyce Holtzclaw stood outside the sanctuary at Mount Zion Baptist Church in Nashville admiring a collage of photographs showing McNair's on-field heroics for the Tennessee Titans.

"I will never look at him any other way," she said. "He is a good man in my eyes."

Airbrushed letters on the back of her T-shirt read, "When I was sick, you took time out to come visit - #9 forever," Jackson Clarion Ledger reports.

McNair, who was married, was shot to death at his condo early Saturday by his 20-year-old girlfriend, Sahel Kazemi, who then turned the gun on herself, The Associated Press reports.

The bodies were found in a condominium on Saturday afternoon in downtown Nashville, authorities said.

McNair spent 13 seasons in the National Football League, mostly with the Tennessee Titans, with whom he excelled as quarterback. He was named the NFL's co-MVP in 2003 and spent his last two seasons with the Baltimore Ravens before announcing his retirement in April 2008, CNN reports.