Good evening, everybody...I almost didn't write a post tonight. By now, everyone has heard about the tragedy that happen in Kansas City early this morning. LB Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend Kasandra Perkins in their home before driving to the Chiefs practice facility where he killed himself in front of head coach Romeo Crennel and GM Scott Pioli. It really hit home with me that this 25 year old young man would end his life and the life of his girlfriend in such a manner. I've lost too many people in my life to suicide. Since high school, I've lost five people I've known and loved to suicide, and I've lost three to murder. It is never easy to deal with; there are going to always be unanswered questions. Too many whys that will never have a just answer. As tragic as this morning events were, a larger tragedy lies in the fact that a 3 month old little girl will never know her mother, will never know her father, and will have to live with the fact that her father killed himself and her mother. She doesn't know now, it will be years before she will be able to understand it, and even then, it will not make sense to her, just as it doesn't make sense to me.
I didn't really know Jovan Belcher. He wasn't a favorite player, but I did get to see him play this year. That's neither here nor there. He was a troubled human being. I don't know why he did what he did. You don't know why he did what he did. It is simply an unspeakable tragedy...I'm not going to judge him. It's not my place; nor is it yours.
I couldn't imagine witnessing these events. As much grief as we have given Pioli and Crennel over the past few weeks about the state of the franchise, I wouldn't wish what happened to them this morning on my worst enemy. To see a young man that you have been grooming for the last few years stand a few feet away from you, thank you for your help, and then kill himself in front of you...Or his mother who witness him kill his girlfriend. His teammates who were in the building who are now getting ready to play a football game...a football game. Because ultimately, that's all it is a game.
Last week, I lamented how disastrous a year the Chiefs were having. That 1-10 record matters so little at a time like this. I'm not doing picks this week. I understand that the Chiefs and Panthers will suit up tomorrow and play yards away from where this young man died. I don't want to think about it. I don't even plan on watching games tomorrow. So, I'm not picking this week. I just don't want to. Winning and losing seem so irrelevant right now...I can't get that little girl out of my mind. I can't get his mom out of my mind. I can't get Romeo Crennel, Scott Pioli, and those others that witness this out of my mind. I can't get my students out of my mind. It's too close. Y'all enjoy the games tomorrow. As for me, I think I'll pass. My condolences and prayers go out to the family of Kasandra Perkins, the family of Jovan Belcher, especially his mother and daughter, to the Kansas City Chiefs organization, especially those who witnessed today's events. Remember, suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem...there are people willing to help, please don't allow that darkness to overtake you. You can call the National Suicide Prevention hotline at
1-800-273-TALK (8255). If you feel that you are a victim of Domestic Abuse, don't hesitate to try to remove yourself from a toxic environment, you can call the National Domestic Violence hotline at 1-800-799-SAFE (7233)
Until next week, “No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the
continent, a part of the main. If a clod be washed away by the sea,
Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were, as well as if a
manor of thy friend's or of thine own were: any man's death diminishes
me, because I am involved in mankind, and therefore never send to know
for whom the bells tolls; it tolls for thee.”
―
John Donne
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