McNair offering autographs for donations to Katrina victims

NASHVILLE (AP) — Tennessee quarterback Steve McNair teamed up with Green Bay quarterback Brett Favre and arranged to fill a tractor-trailer with relief supplies bound for Mississippi on Wednesday. McNair also asked his fans to help him raise money for victims of Hurricane Katrina.

The co-MVP of 2003, who has a home near Favre’s in Hattiesburg, Miss., is offering to swap an autographed photo in exchange for each minimum donation of $100 to his foundation. Those funds will be distributed to victims in rural Mississippi such as his hometown of Mount Olive, Miss.

McNair’s personal manager, Raymond White, said the news coverage has concentrated directly on the Gulf, such as Gulfport and Biloxi, which is where the first emergency relief trucks are headed.

“You still have others … that’ve been hit, too. That’s what Steve is trying to do is hit some of those rural areas where there might be only one gas station around, to help out people,” White said.

White said McNair and Favre worked out the details by telephone for the tractor-trailer that was filled with water, canned foods, generators and other supplies.

Mike Mu, executive director of McNair’s foundation, said they had received calls asking how they could help Katrina victims. That prompted the decision to solicit donations that McNair plans to funnel to local charities in Mississippi. The foundation also is offering to collect and distribute supplies donated by businesses.

“He feels very blessed that his family are all OK,” Mu said. “All are without electricity, but you know they’re all safe, and that’s what he’s glad for. Anything he can do now to help the ones that need it more, that’s what he’s here for.”

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To make a donation: Steve McNair Foundation, 209 10th Avenue South, Suite 342-B, Nashville, TN 37203