The public tributes for Steve McNair began yesterday at LP Field in Nashville, a memorial service is set for today and the sad and sordid details of his life and murder keep slowly leaking out.
And all of this pains McNair's former teammates on the Ravens, who say they'll remember a completely different Steve McNair from the one who's been portrayed in the news the last few days.
Look at what was reported about the guy in the past 24 hours alone:
First, a friend of McNair's came forth and said, no, McNair and his wife weren't planning to divorce.
Another friend said Mechelle McNair knew nothing about the other woman, 20-year-old Sahel Kazemi, before she was found shot to death with the three-time Pro Bowl quarterback.
And the police finally stopped tap-dancing around the murder-suicide angle, saying, yes, all indications were that Kazemi shot McNair while he was sleeping with the gun she bought earlier in the week, then turned the gun on herself.
In fact, police said, Kazemi had apparently communicated to friends days earlier that she was ready to end the relationship because of her mounting debt and because she suspected McNair was seeing another woman.
All this came out even as crowds gathered in the stadium where he starred. You could watch rolling video of the former quarterback's 13-year NFL career, sign a book that would be presented to his family and make a donation to his charitable foundation.
Oh, on the titillation scale of 1 to 10, McNair's death ranked a solid 8 and maybe higher.
It had all the elements that kept you riveted to the cable channels or the Internet gossip sites: wealth, celebrity, sex, infidelity, a shocking and horrifying end to the lives of two young people.
Still, here's the first thing you keep hearing out of the mouths of the Ravens: McNair was a great teammate, about the greatest a football player could have.
He was with them for just two seasons, leading them to a 13-3 record and the AFC North title in 2006 before injuries forced him to the sidelines for most of 2007 and he retired the following year.
But three things stood out from the very beginning, said a couple of Ravens I talked to: his friendliness, his leadership skills and his toughness.
"Whether it was 6:30 in the morning or 6:30 in the evening, he was always so warm and welcoming," said wide receiver Mark Clayton. "He was like: 'Hey, budd-eee!' He'd give you that real country [greeting] ... he was always open and unassuming."
