NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Shortly before former NFL quarterback Steve McNair’s mistress killed him and then herself, he recorded a public service announcement that urges young people thinking about suicide to call a hot line and “live to see better days.“ The Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities shelved the announcement after McNair’s July 4 death, and it never aired. The state released three versions of it to The Associated Press this week in response to a public records request.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Federal prosecutors filed gun charges yesterday against a convicted murderer who admitted he sold the pistol that was used to kill ex-NFL quarterback Steve McNair. Adrian J. Gilliam Jr., 33, of LaVergne, Tenn., was arrested by agents of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives. He is charged with being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm. Conviction could bring a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000, federal prosecutors said.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Former NFL star Steve McNair was shot dead in his sleep last week by a 20-year-old girlfriend distraught about mounting financial problems and her belief that he was seeing someone else, police said yesterday. Sahel Kazemi “was spinning out of control” when she shot McNair four times as he dozed on a sofa early Saturday, then turned the gun on herself, Police Chief Ronal Serpas said.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - Tennessee’s state medical examiner said yesterday that investigators have been hesitant to conclude that Steve McNair’s girlfriend killed the NFL star and herself because she didn’t appear to have a motive, but that murder-suicide is the most likely scenario. After the couple was discovered shot to death on Saturday, police were quick to label McNair’s death a homicide. He had been shot twice in the head and twice in the chest, while 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi died from a single gunshot to the head. Under her body was a gun she had purchased less than two days before the killings.

Charles Barkley is right. Sadly. Barkley, a former NBA star and current TNT basketball analyst, long has insisted athletes should not be viewed as role models. Still, we cling to the idea, the hope, that these men who are capable of such amazing performances on the field are equally amazing off the field. Yet off the field, they are just like the rest of us, imperfect and prone to bad decisions.

Tennessee’s state medical examiner said Tuesday that investigators have been hesitant to conclude that Steve McNair’s girlfriend killed the NFL star and herself because she didn’t appear to have a motive, but that murder-suicide is the most likely scenario.

Steve McNair’s 20-year-old girlfriend bought a gun a couple of days before she was found dead alongside the slain former NFL quarterback, a relative said police told him.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.—Former NFL quarterback Steve McNair’s shooting death was a homicide, police said yesterday, but authorities stopped short of saying it was a murder-suicide committed by the 20-year-old girlfriend found dead by his side. McNair, 36, was shot four times, twice in the head, by a semiautomatic pistol, Nashville police spokesman Don Aaron said. The woman, Sahel Kazemi, was killed by a single gunshot wound and the pistol was found under her body, Aaron said.

Nashville police are calling the shooting death of former NFL quarterback Steve McNair a homicide, but they haven’t yet reached a conclusion about the death of the 20-year-old woman found with him. Spokesman Don Aaron said today that the two had been dating the past several months.