04/25/24
December 01, 2012
Kansas City Chiefs' Linebacker Jovan Belcher kills girlfriend, self: Belcher drove to the Chiefs' practice facility where he was confronted by coach Romeo Crennel and general manager Scott Pioli before shooting himself.
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posted by Bonkers at 12:25 PM on December 01, 2012
Shocking story. How does Crennel coach tomorrow after experiencing that?
This reminds me of when Chiefs star Derrick Thomas crashed his car on the way to the Kansas City airport in 2000, causing fatal injuries to himself and a passenger.
posted by rcade at 12:33 PM on December 01, 2012
How does Crennel coach tomorrow after experiencing that?
Badly. Which is also how he would have coached without experiencing it.
posted by yerfatma at 12:53 PM on December 01, 2012
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posted by Ying Yang Mafia at 01:43 PM on December 01, 2012
They had a 3 month old daughter. There are no words I can think of.
posted by insomnyuk at 05:20 PM on December 01, 2012
I'll grieve for the girlfriend he killed and the infant daughter he left parentless, but not for him. He's a murderer. And if it turns out the guy was this messed up and nobody did anything, shame on them.
posted by dyams at 06:42 PM on December 01, 2012
^ this
posted by insomnyuk at 07:30 PM on December 01, 2012
They won't postpone the Chiefs-Panthers game, but they should. This incident is just too much for Pioli and Crennel to process. Play it Monday or something, even if it's still sort-of too soon.
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posted by NerfballPro at 08:20 AM on December 02, 2012
I agree. This game needs to be called off. If I were a Chiefs fan, I'd be demanding they give Carolina the forfeit. It's not going to make a lick of difference to the postseason, and no one's going to fondly remember any heroics in this game if Matt Cassel throws for 600 yards and 14 TDs.
Also, I hate that this is going to be another non-sports story that will be exclusively covered by ESPN and SI. We'd just gotten rid of the Sandusky crap spamming up the front pages.
posted by Etrigan at 08:48 AM on December 02, 2012
not for him. He's a murderer.
Can't we wait more than 12 hours? Who knows what kind of mental anguish leads to something like this. I'm not excusing it, but I'm not in a rush to judge the guy either.
posted by yerfatma at 10:20 AM on December 02, 2012
Many experience "mental anguish" without blowing people away. Son of Sam experienced extreme mental anguish, but his response is in no way, shape or form tolerable or acceptable, regardless of his mental stability. In this case, most are willing to remain objective because it doesn't personally impact them. Belcher taking his own life would be very sad, but taking a 22 year old mother of a 3 month old also? Absolutely horrible.
I can't help but wonder what the reaction to OJ Simpson would have been if (assuming he really did kill his wife and another person) he would have killed himself right then. Would people have been more accepting of a tragedy having unanswered questions about his possible mental state, past brain trauma, etc? Instead, all many were intent on was to make sure he was "murderer."
There will obviously be more information to come, but I doubt it will change my reaction. If it does, I'll gladly admit it.
posted by dyams at 10:39 AM on December 02, 2012
I think at the least, even if you want to judge the guy to the hilt and don't believe that severe mental issues could have driven him to this, it doesn't do anything positive for this guy's daughter to be as vicious about this as some have been. She's already been signed up for some of the worst torment in life anyone has ever had to face.
posted by sweetkid at 12:32 PM on December 03, 2012
Haven't really seen anyone be "vicious." At least not as "vicious" as a person gunning down a 22-year-old mother of a very little girl.
As for the little girl, the fact she's this young works to her advantage. Hopefully she can be raised in a normal environment throughout her life and doesn't have to be consumed with the fact the person in life meant to protect her killed her mother then took his life, too.
If anyone can paint me possible scenarios where any of this is justified or understandable, I'd really like to know.
posted by dyams at 04:54 PM on December 03, 2012
At least not as "vicious" as a person gunning down a 22-year-old mother of a very little girl.
You set a low bar, indeed.
I think the point being made was that true compassion seeks understanding, not blame. A lack of such seems vicious to some.
posted by Hugh Janus at 08:19 PM on December 03, 2012
This is terrible. Their season was not going well before, but now it has become an unimaginable season from hell for the Chiefs.
Of all the teams in the league, what a cruel twist of fate that the Chiefs are due to play the Panthers this Sun.
I don't think any team has had as many bad things like this happen to them as Carolina has.
This is new territory, though, with Crennel and Pioli having been present and witnessed the suicide. Hard to know where to start in trying to figure out how to help the team process this.
Hopefully, Carolina can help KC start finding its way through this.