Steve McNair was drafted by the Houston Oilers in 1995 by new coach Jeff Fisher. McNair became the regular starting quarterback in 1995 and remained so through 2005 with the Tennessee Titans. McNair was fatally shot by his 20 year old mistress in 2009, an apparent murder-suicide. At the time of his death, McNair had two children with his wife Mechelle and two other children by two other women.
Despite his fairly substantial estate (estimated at approximately $20 million), McNair died without a Will. Under Tennessee law, Mechelle was entitled to 1/3 of McNair's estate and the children (legitimate and illegitimate) sharing the remaining 2/3's. After his death, the bulk of his assets were frozen for over a year while their distribution was sorted out in the courts. During this time, Mechelle was forced to pull over $4MM out of a trust to pay estate tax, leaving her nearly destitute while the estate was being sorted out.