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Will Steve McNair's legacy be tarnished by his death?

It's the big question that ESPN's NFL Live says is on the minds of those close to the former quarterback.

Will the circumstances surrounding the 36-year-old's tragic death cast a pall over his achievements on the football field?

Maybe, for some people. But it shouldn't.

As anyone who's watched the news in the last few days knows, Steve McNair played 12 seasons in the NFL, was one of just five quarterbacks to throw for 20,000 yards and rush for 3,000, and led the Tennessee Titans to their only Super Bowl. Closing his career out with the Baltimore Ravens, he holds the record for the longest touchdown pass in franchise history.

That McNair was shot to death by the 20-year-old woman widely assumed to be his girlfriend should not diminish those accomplishments. Raise eyebrows, sure, since most of his fans thought him a devoted husband and father of four. But it shouldn't change the way we view the fallen QB. 

McNair's only fault was a common character flaw, which in his case proved fatal. He cared for the wrong person, because she was not his wife, and because she proved to be an irrational nutjob with a firearm.

Like everyone else, I was shocked to hear of McNair's death. I'm not the least bit surprised that a recently retired former football star was romantically involved with a fairly attractive woman 16 years his junior. He was on top of the world when he led Tennessee to the Super Bowl, falling just short of the Championship and earning the right to be called one of the greatest quarterbacks who never won a Super Bowl. But football is a rough sport and those who play it only have so many seasons in the spotlight. McNair had been out of the league for two years and may very well have been restless. It's not easy to dial back the intensity and settle into civilian life, when all you've ever known was football stardom. Many people in the same situation are reluctant to "go quietly into that dark night" or are struggling against irrelevancy.

As personally fulfilling as the small restaurant he opened near Tennessee State was, it wasn't on par with what Steve McNair was used to. So if a pretty young girl fawned all over him, even fell for his advances, it's logical that he would want to keep her around, to boost her ego, to buy her cars and take her on trips to make him feel good, feel important, feel on top of the world again.

I'm certainly not condoning Steve McNair's extramarital dalliance with Sahel Kazemi. It was stupid, but it was one bad choice. A lot of sports legends have done worse, with little wear and tear on their legacies. A lot of people have done the same thing, and gotten second chances. As Baltimore Sun commenter Peter wrote: His personal choices are certainly immoral. But this country holds up Clinton and JFK on altars (well liberals do) and they were super shady themselves." If every cheater met McNair's fate, people would be dropping left and right.

It was a bad decision, an error in a lifetime of otherwise decent judgment, that led to Steve McNair's tragic death. Nothing he did or said to his alleged girlfriend can justify his fate (and honestly, if he's cheating on his wife with you, how can you possibly think he won't do the same thing to you, someone he's known for only a few months and who hasn't borne his children??)

The circumstances of his death, and the last months of his life, can't be changed. But neither should his legacy and the way he's remembered change. Steve McNair lived much of his life in a way that earned him widespread respect and admiration, and he is no less deserving of that respect and admiration now that he's gone. Maybe in the end it turned out that he's not a perfect role model but instead a fallible human being. We all make mistakes, and Steve McNair has more than paid for his. So, as his longtime coach Jeff Fisher said, let's "honor what he did on the field and in the community, and what he was as a tremendous teammate."