NewsChannel5.com | Nashville News, Weather & SportsMcNair's Hometown Prepares To Bury Local Legend

McNair's Hometown Prepares To Bury Local Legend

MOUNT OLIVE, Miss. - Steve McNair left the tiny south Mississippi town of Mount Olive to become an NFL star with the Tennessee Titans and Baltimore Ravens, though his presence remained.

On Friday family, friends and fans came out to remember Steve McNair. A visitation was held in McNair's hometown of Mt. Olive, Mississippi. Earlier in the day the Mississippi legislature passed a resolution commending his accomplishments. 

The local hero's death on the Fourth of July in Nashville left most of Mount Olive's 1,000 residents stunned and distraught. As they prepared to say goodbye with a funeral Saturday, they again recalled tales of his athletic prowess.

Coach Sonny Magee has mentored nearly every athlete in Mount Olive in the last 35 years. But only McNair provided him a highlight reel's worth of memories. Whether he had his large hands wrapped around a football, a basketball or a bat, McNair made the kind of plays that astounded Magee.

McNair was an Alcorn State Brave throwing bullet-like passes to his teammates at the small Mississippi college.

"We were practicing, he threw a pass. I threw my hand up. Next think I knew my thumb was gone.  He broke my thumb. I threw my hand up, just the velocity of his pass," said former teammate Kalvin Robinson.

Even back then McNair was a leader out on the field.

"Even if you're having your worst game ever, he's always going to come to you with that million dollar smile. ‘Hey man, pick up your head, I'm coming right back at you. You got to redeem yourself,'" said former teammate Donald Ross.

That attitude and his gridiron plays took McNair to the NFL and made the child from Mississippi a star.

"As far as coming from a small town, from a small black college - he set records, and broke records, made records that will never be shattered," said Ross.

McNair has given the locals a lot to talk about. As a quarterback and defensive back, he tied the state record for interceptions in high school and dominated conversations until his NFL retirement after the 2007 season.

On Saturday McNair's funeral will be held at the University of Southern Mississippi at 11 a.m. NewsChannel5.com and NewsChannel5+ (cable channel 50) will stream the funeral live.

(The Associated Press Contributed To This Story)