MKRob Sports

UT Martin football Coach Jason Simpson saw redshirt freshman running back Jason McNair in the parking lot last weekend as the Skyhawks returned to campus for preseason conditioning.

Jason McNair, the nephew of former Tennessee Titan quarterback Steve McNair, attended his uncle’s funeral Saturday in both McNairs’ hometown of Mount Olive, Miss.

“We talked about how everybody has their own grieving process,” Simpson said. “He was in that parking lot ready to go. That was his way of moving forward.”

But Jason McNair said getting back to football has made dealing with the loss of his uncle more bearable.

“He loved to play, and I think he was a legend in the sport,” Jason McNair said about his uncle. “With me coming back (to UTM), I am going to take him out on the field with me for every game and every practice.

“I just think about all the pain he went through in his career; it makes me want to train harder.”

Jason’s father is also named Jason McNair, one of Steve’s four brothers. There is also a distant cousin on the UTM team — cornerback Julius McNair.

News hit hard

Steve McNair was known for playing through physical pain in his professional career, and now his nephew must shrug off the mental anguish of losing someone he called his “second dad.”

The former Titans star was found dead July 4 in a Nashville condominium after girlfriend Sahel Kazemi shot him four times.

Jason McNair said he learned about the news when someone called asking if something had happened to Steve McNair.

“They told me that he was found dead,” Jason McNair said. “I didn’t think it would come so soon, so early. He was just retired from the NFL barely a year. It was just one of the craziest things that I had to put my mind through. I couldn’t believe it.”

Jason McNair said he saw his uncle often and said Steve always offered advice.

“Even when he was still in the NFL, he came around when he could,” Jason said.

The quarterback offered the UT Martin team advice last summer when Steve McNair visited his nephew and brought him a vehicle.