Titans QB McNair charged with DUI, gun possession
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Steve McNair can try to turn his attention back to football Friday when he returns to the field for the Tennessee Titans. McNair spent Thursday dealing with his arrest just after midnight on charges of drunken driving and illegal possession of a handgun. He had to post bond, spend 90 minutes talking with coach Jeff Fisher and then delivered an apology in the afternoon. “It’s something that you don’t usually see out of me,” McNair said. “But I put myself in a situation. I’ve got to get out of it, and I will bounce back from it.” McNair didn’t take any questions from reporters after making his brief statement flanked by Fisher, general manager Floyd Reese and team president Jeff Diamond. The quarterback had wanted to practice Thursday, but Fisher told him to skip it. He apologized for putting himself into a situation where a police officer noticed his luxury SUV weaving on a downtown street and stopped him. McNair admitted he had been drinking. His breath smelled of alcohol and his eyes were bloodshot, police said. He failed a field sobriety test and a blood-alcohol test produced a reading of 0.18 — well above Tennessee’s level of presumed intoxication level of 0.10. He was released on $3,000 bond after appearing in night court and is due back in court June 26. McNair was “pleasant and cooperative,” police spokesman Don Aaron said. The weapon charge involves a 9 mm handgun found in the console between the front seats of his SUV. McNair has a permit for the handgun, but an intoxicated person may not legally carry a loaded weapon. The pistol was seized. Fisher said McNair made a mistake and called it ironic, considering how good the quarterback has been feeling in his first offseason in five years in which he has not been healing from surgery. The coach said Monday he had not seen McNair better emotionally and physically, or with more enthusiasm in recent years. But Fisher said McNair will deal with this situation he created. “He’s a standup man, and he will face this. He made a bad decision, and he will face this and he will push through this,” Fisher said. McNair is coming off his best season, in which he finished third in the NFL’s MVP race. He played through a variety of injuries and rallied the Titans from a 1-4 start to the AFC championship game. McNair had career highs in yards passing (3,387), touchdowns (22) and a franchise best for consecutive games with at least one touchdown pass (23). Now the DUI charge will result in the NFL evaluating McNair for an aftercare program. “This is something I didn’t think that would ever happen, but this is something that we’ve just got to deal with, and I will with the support … of my teammates, coaches, family and friends,” McNair said. |