NEW ORLEANS -- One car rear-ends another on a Saturday night. People argue. It escalates.Ten or so gunshots later, one driver is dead and the other waits nervously to give his side of the story to police.Conflicts settled by gunfire are tragically common in New Orleans but there was nothing routine about this one: the dead man was retired football player Will Smith, a star on the 2006 Saints team that help lift the stricken citys spirits with a winning season after Hurricane Katrina, and on the team that won the franchises only Super Bowl three seasons later.The accused is a 29-year-old former semiprofessional football player named Cardell Hayes. The owner of a tow-truck company and the father of a 5-year-old son, Hayes is described by friends as soft-spoken, even-tempered -- hardly the type to erupt into a lethal road rage. His attorney has been laying the groundwork for a self-defense argument ahead of a trial that opens Monday, but he may face an added burden in Smiths local popularity and national renown.Will Smith obviously was a beloved member of the New Orleans community, Loyola University law professor Dane Ciolino said in a recent interview. And thats going to make the defense of this case all the more difficult.Smiths shooting death is strangely similar to that of Joe McKnight, another former NFL player who was shot and killed just last Thursday in a New Orleans suburb after a road rage incident on a nearby bridge spiraled out of control. The man authorities identified as the shooter in that case -- Ronald Gasser -- has been released from custody with no charges as the investigation continues.Hayes has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in Smiths death. Conviction carries a mandatory life sentence. Hes also charged with attempted second-degree murder in the wounding of Smiths wife, who was shot in the legs. Hes been jailed since the April shooting, unable to make the $1.75 million bond.Snippets of surveillance video from near the scene, police statements plus testimony from pre-trial hearings paint this picture of what happened on April 9:Smith, his wife and two friends left a restaurant in New Orleans Lower Garden District and were heading downtown on Magazine Street. At one point Smiths SUV appeared to bump the rear of a Hummer that had come to a stop on the street.Rather than stop, Smith swerved his SUV around the Hummer and continued downtown. Moments later, the Hummer hit Smiths SUV from behind, shattering the rear window and pushing it into the rear of another car -- in which more friends of Smith were riding.Who the aggressors were in the ensuing conflict will be at issue in the trial. Hayes acknowledged to at least one police officer that he was armed when he got out of his vehicle. He said he was accosted by an unarmed Smith and others, and that Smith struck him, although police said there were no obvious signs of injury.The first officer to approach the scene after the crash was an off-duty rookie who had been at a nearby bar. Christopher McGaw has testified that he approached the scene as the argument grew more heated, ducked for cover when gunshots rang out, then approached again, finding Smith slumped across the front seat of his car, one hand extended toward the glove box.What was I supposed to do? Hayes is heard asking McGaw, on a recording of a 911 call McGaw had placed at the scene.Why Smith drove away from the scene of the first, apparently minor accident; whether Hayes intentionally rammed Smiths vehicle moments later; whether Smith was reaching for a gun when he was shot to death -- all are issues that will likely be addressed at trial.On the side of the defense is a toxicology report showing that Smith was legally drunk at the time of his death. Other factors Ciolino cited: The fact that Will Smith was, by some reports, so loud and belligerent; the fact that the forensic evidence, arguably could support that Will Smith was reaching for a gun.Smith had returned to his SUV when he was shot and police said there was a loaded gun in the vehicle. That might help the defense argument that Hayes shot in self-defense, Ciolino said. But its an argument that could be blunted by the fact that Smith was shot eight times -- seven in the back, one in the side -- Ciolino added.Prosecutors also have made much of the fact that Hayess Hummer had hit Smiths SUV from behind so hard that the rear window shattered.Another odd twist in the case: A friend of Smiths who wound up at the scene the night of the shooting is William Ceravolo, a retired New Orleans police officer who had dined with the Smiths before the accident. Ceravolo was among six officers sued by Hayes after police killed his father, Anthony Hayes, in December 2005. Police settled the lawsuit in 2011, and terms were confidential. Eli Manning Youth Jersey . The Canadian squad, skipped by Jennifer Jones of Winnipeg, got on the board first with two in the second end, and followed that with two more apiece in the fourth and sixth ends. Mark Bavaro Womens Jersey . 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Jaroslav Kulhavy trained so hard for the Olympics that he didnt have time to finish work on a new house.It took a broken left hand to finally slow him down on the mountain bike, though its not the kind of break he needed as he works to get back atop the medal stand in Rio. There is little time to rest with some of cyclings best-known names looking to unseat the Czech champion.In March, Kulhavy had surgery on the hand he broke during a race in Cyprus. After a five-week recovery, he was back on the World Cup circuit in May.The main thing is that I didn*t fall anywhere, because the terrain was very slippery, Kulhavy said on his website after finishing fifth at La Bresse. I have the points and my performance looks good. I was riding in a good feeling especially at the end.Some notes and other things to watch in mountain bike during the Rio Games:FAMILIAR FOESThere are two familiar names atop the world rankings: Nino Schurter of Switzerland and Julien Absalon of France. Schurter won silver in 2012 and bronze in 2008. Absalon, a two-time Olympic gold medalist, had his hopes dashed for another first-place finish in London by a flat tire.SAGAN WHAT?World road race champion Peter Sagan will try to win gold at Rio on a mountain bike. The Slovak Cycling Association said Sagan agreed to give up his road spot for the mountain biking berth. Sagan tested the difficult road course in Rio in January and decided it was too hilly for him to contend. Hes a former junior world champion in mountain biking.TOP WOMENAnnika Langvad of Denmark was the top-ranked female rider internationally going into the world championships in late June, with three World Cup series wins over the last year. Langvad was followed closely by Switzerlands Jolanda Neff, the World Cup winner in 2014 and 2015.dddddddddddd Julie Bresset from France, who won gold in 2012, is an alternate this year.LEA IN THE LEADThe top U.S. contender is Lea Davison , ranked 20th in the world. She finished 11th in London and since the last Olympics, Davison had surgery to repair torn cartilage in her right hip in January 2014, about four years after needing a similar procedure on her left hip.She felt good this spring, though ran into some bad luck after gashing her elbow during a World Cup race in May, stunting momentum for a top finish. Davison finished the race still bleeding, in 18th place. Davison, though, has five top-10 finishes in World Cup races in the last year.The womens mountain bike World Cup circuit is ridiculously competitive and deep right now, Davison said.The other womens spot on Team USA went to Chloe Woodruff, ranked 28th in the world. She won nationals in 2015.This is a dream come true, Woodruff said on Facebook after learning on June 23 that she made her first Olympics.FORWARD LOOKINGThe lone mens spot on the U.S. team is going to 23-year-old Howard Grotts. He was chosen over Stephen Ettinger, who is four years older but higher ranked in the world. With the United States a longshot to medal, Rio will serve as a learning experience for Grotts.ON THE COURSEThe 3-plus mile-long, man-made Rio course has received good reviews from riders. Marc Gullickson, director of the USA Cycling Mountain Bike program, said the course was well-manicured, with challenging, though not extremely dangerous, features. The course, riders have said, makes for a television-friendly event. Heat could be an issue, though, with no trees to provide shade. ' ' '