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Mourners Flood McNair's Hometown to Pay Respects

By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff

Posted Jul 11, 2009 6:20 AM CDT
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(Newser) – Steve McNair's Mississippi home town boasts only 1,000 residents, but more than 2,500 came to mourn him there yesterday. The murdered NFL star's body was brought home after a memorial service Thursday in Nashville; fans came from all over the country to pay their respects, standing in line for hours in 95-degree heat, the Clarion Ledger reports. McNair will be laid to rest today after a funeral in Hattiesburg, where a capacity crowd is expected.

"Everybody in Mount Olive was proud of Steve, not just because he was famous but because he stayed the same down-home guy who was always doing something to help folks," the town's mayor tells the Clarion-Ledger. "Sometimes, people go off and get famous and forget where they came from. That was not Steve. He was one of us." At the service Thursday, his family and dozens of NFL players listened to tributes to the star's generous nature, the Tennessean reports, while a pastor urged a them to "drop their stones" of judgment over the affair that led to the quarterback's death.

Homemade signs dotted the property of Reeves Funeral Home in Mount Olive, Miss., where about 1,000 people waited in line to pay their respects to former NFL star and native Steve McNair yesterday.
Homemade signs dotted the property of Reeves Funeral Home in Mount Olive, Miss., where about 1,000 people waited in line to pay their respects to former NFL star and native Steve McNair yesterday.   (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity take part in a memorial service for Steve McNair in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, July 9, 2009.
Members of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity take part in a memorial service for Steve McNair in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, July 9, 2009.   (AP Photo/George Walker IV, Pool)
Residents are joined by some out-of-state football fans in preparing a memorial at the sign on U.S. Highway 49 that touts the Mount Olive, Miss., community as the hometown of the late Steve McNair.
Residents are joined by some out-of-state football fans in preparing a memorial at the sign on U.S. Highway 49 that touts the Mount Olive, Miss., community as the hometown of the late Steve McNair.   (AP Photo/Rogelio V. Solis)
Steve McNair looks on during a Baltimore Ravens training camp in this 2006 photo.
Steve McNair looks on during a Baltimore Ravens training camp in this 2006 photo.   (AP Photo/Gail Burton,file)
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Friends and family of Steve McNair gather at a memorial service in Nashville.   (CNN Video)

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COMMENTS
Showing 2 of 2 comments
Shannonals
Jul 11, 2009 10:59 AM CDT
Why do people feel the need to always want to mourn at the feet of sports heroes, and not for for the true heroes of our country?
Robert_Dada
Jul 11, 2009 4:10 AM CDT
Bunch of lunkheads mourning an adulterer. Typical hypocritical Americans.

 
NFL • Tennessee Titans • murder • murder-suicide • Steve McNair • Nashville • memorial service

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