It was the game that his father played well. It is the game that McNair Jr. is trying to master and last Friday, the soon-to-be  high school graduate played his first football game of his senior season. But his father wasn’t there to watch him on  his big day. Sadly for Steve McNair Jr, his father was fatally shot to death just over a month ago.

Though he is still grieving the tragic death of his father, McNair Jr says that he has found solace in football.

“My teammates talk to me every day and we always talk about football and not my dad, so that really helps me a lot,” said McNair.  It gets my mind off things. I’m slowly getting back into it. I’m just going to go about my business and try to do what I’m supposed to do on and off the field. I know if my dad was here he’d be telling me the same thing.”

Although his dad won’t be able to attend any future games , McNair Jr’s mom , Cotina Feazell, will be.

“She has always been right there by my side for me every step of the way. She always reminds me to just keep looking up and see what God has planned for me. Don’t look back at the past, but just look at the future,” McNair said of his mom.

Cotina Feazell and Steve Mcnair Sr. dated throughout high school. Though the two never married, they kept in touch throughout the years. Feazell even admits that McNair Sr.  helped her financially and  would see his son often.

“He saw him each and every time he came home,” Feazell said. “They were like best friends.”

Not only were McNair Jr and Sr best friends, but they were also so much alike.

“They have the same body frame. He walks just like him. Talks like him. He is just like him,” said Cotina.

17-year-old McNair, who will graduate from high school this year, has received scholarship offers from Mississippi State, Ole Miss, Southern Miss, Kentucky, West Virginia, Louisiana Tech and Tulsa.

Steve McNair Sr. had four children in all, two with his widow Mechelle McNair.

See pictures of Mechelle and her two sons

Source:Clarion Ledger for original pirint.