A little over and hour ago Jeff Fisher finished a press conference where he addressed the Steve McNair tragedy for the first time since returning from a USO trip to the Middle East. Coach held it together, but was obviously very shaken by this loss. Titansonline.com has Fisher's opening statements on video, and the full speech in audio form here. For anyone who has been affected by this tragedy, it was a heart breaking culmination of the past two and a half days... days most of us have spent dumbfounded and hurting.
Fisher was followed by comments from Eddie George.
Excerpts from Fisher's comments are after the jump (via The Tennessean).
As I sat in my office moments ago pondering what to say, it occurred to me – Say what the Steve McNair you knew, if he were here right now, would want me to say. Mechelle, I love you. Tyler, Trenton, Steven, Junior, I love you – that’s what he would want me to say, the Steve that I knew. Lucille, Fred and everybody, I love you.
The Steve McNair that I knew would want me to say I am sorry. I am not perfect. We all make decisions sometimes that are not in the best interest. Please forgive me. The Steve McNair that I knew would want me to say, Celebrate my life. For what I did on the field and what I did in the community, the kind of teammate that I was – that’s what Steve that I knew would want me to say.
I’ve known him for 15 years, and I endured wins and losses, joy and laughter, sadness. I watched one of the greatest competitors of all time on the field do whatever it took to stay on the field. I watched one of the best teammates you could have be a teammate to everybody, to extend a hand to everybody.
The Steve McNair that I knew was a great person. He helped put this organization on the map here in Tennessee, put is in our first Super Bowl. I will miss him, as you all will miss him. And I asked you to honor what he did on the field and in the community and he was a tremendous legacy. And that is his legacy and I am proud to have been a part of that.