Struggling for words on Steve McNair

This past 4th of July weekend, I went out of town to my family's vacation house near Stevenson, WA. As a result, I had no phone reception, no TV, no Internet, and practically no contact with the outside world. Usually, it's always fun to come back into town and see what messages/news I missed, which tend to be only unimportant voicemails or a obscure free agent signing.

What I didn't expect to get upon returning to cell phone reception on Monday was a text message from my friend Anthony sent a day earlier: "Dude! Steve McNair got shot to death!"

There are certain sports figures so notorious that any strange or shocking news about them wouldn't surprise anyone. Steve McNair wasn't on that list. He was a successful MVP quarterback whose career was riddled with injuries, but he never was the subject of much controversy. He quietly went about his business and had a long and productive career.

So to find out that, at 36, he had been murdered, came as a complete shock.

Like any other major sports star's death, the media coverage followed a certain path. There were the initial reports, followed by updates from police as the investigation continued. There were reactions from former coaches and teammates, and sentimental looks back on his career as analysts talked highly of his playing ability.

But after only a few days, the story seemed to have run its course. Sportscenter now led with baseball highlights instead of the McNair story. Sports sections in newspapers pushed the story inside to page D5. Outside the Lines was doing puff pieces on Manny Ramirez's hometown. After the initial wave of news to this story, there wasn't much beyond that.

Last night I was listening to a sports talk radio show, and the host mentioned that, as a radio host, he viewed the McNair death partly as "here's our news story for the next few weeks." He said that while TV simply reports, radio is a medium solely dedicated to discussion, and that the discussion could continue indefinitely on radio. He then proceeded to rehash the same topics that had been beaten into the ground since McNair's death: His toughness, his legacy, and the updates on the investigation.

But this is what happens in the media when a man who had been free on controversy dies.

McNair wasn't a polarizing figure, he wasn't vehemently hated or involved in off-field antics. He was just a good football player who died tragically, and in the media's eyes, sometimes that just isn't as sexy to report on. Media outlets are doing the honorable thing by replaying his highlights and commenting on the great football player that he was, but there's only so much time you can devote solely to that before producers think the story's been told. So after just a few days of this, the media is finding that now, they have to let it go.

With a controversial superstar, the coverage would be endless. Maybe the athlete was once arrested for drugs, maybe he was a clubhouse cancer, or maybe he was vilified by fans for one reason or another. In those cases, coverage of their untimely death would go on for weeks, because after the initial report and reaction, the airwaves and pages would be filled with life lessons learned from his death, and the effect his poor decisions had on him and others.

But in the case of Steve McNair, there are no morals to be learned, or lessons his death can teach us, because his public life was not filled with warning signs or bad choices.

For once, a superstar athlete's death isn't being over-saturated with coverage and messaged. The media is finding out how hard it is to create controversy or unnecessary hype out of more than what the story really is: a tragic death of a good athlete. So, faced with this realization, the media is doing something new: letting a highly publicized story naturally play itself out. There's no speculation of a "secret life of Steve McNair" or the hounding of family members. There is simply a celebration of his life, before eventually letting go.

When a controversial athlete dies, there's no limit to the rampant analysis that permeates the airwaves regarding his life and death.

But when someone like Steve McNair dies, suddenly no one has anything more to say. Which is the way it should be.