“Our deepest regrets and prayers go out to Steve McNair’s family in Tennessee and Mississippi.

Steve was the absolute best and will be truly missed by all who knew him. We thank everyone for their thoughts and prayers and hope you will continue to pray for his family.

“Memorial services will be held for Steve McNair on Thursday, July 9, 2009, at Mt. Zion Baptist Church, 7594 Old Hickory Blvd., Whites Creek, TN 37189. Phone number: 615-299-1631. Visitation will be from 3:00 PM until 6:45 PM and memorial services will begin at 7:00 PM.

The family requests no photography.

In lieu of flowers, memorials may be made to The Steve McNair Foundation, 1 Willow Bend Drive, Hattiesburg, MS 39402.

A second memorial service will be held for Steve at Reed Green Coliseum, on the campus of the University of Southern Mississippi on Saturday, July 11, 2009, beginning promptly at 11:00 AM.

If further information is needed, you may contact the offices of Bus Cook at 601-264-9490.”

“More teams were reluctant to do all option and no signing bonus because of the victory the PA won in the Ashley Lelie decision,” Levin said. The Lelie decision, he added, “basically said that once an option bonus is earned by the player it is his to keep no matter what.” That decision was a factor in the negotiations between the Lions and No. 2 pick Calvin Johnson, who sat out nine days of training camp while Cook and the Lions worked on a deal without an option bonus.

Cook, who wanted big guaranteed money for Calvin Johnson, said “it wasn’t really a holdout” because money wasn’t the issue — structure was. Johnson ended up with $27.2 million in guaranteed money.