[Warta News] NFL Chiefs play after murder-suicide

Warta News has posted a new item, 'NFL Chiefs play after murder-suicide'







(CNN) -- The show went on.
One day after police say Kansas City Chiefs player Jovan Belcher fatally shot
his girlfriend and then himself, the team faced off against the Carolina
Panthers on Sunday, as scheduled.
Immediately after the apparent murder-suicide, there had been some question as
to whether the game would happen.
It did, though a moment of silence was held before play got under way, and the
mood at Arrowhead Stadium was somber.
"I think they made the right decision to play the game because you got to
continue on. Life goes on. It's a tough decision, but I think they made the
right decision," said Mark Mendenhall, a long-time Chiefs fan.
Mike Beisner, another fan, said he felt there wasn't really a right or wrong
choice.




"I think either way, the fans would have supported the decision. I think the
league would have supported it," he said.
The Chiefs beat the Panthers 27-21, a welcome boost to the struggling team's
record, now 2-10.
After the game, Chiefs Coach Romeo Crennel spoke to his players in the locker
room, congratulating them on their win and for sticking together.
"Really good, you overcame a lot. You stuck together as a team like we talked
about -- helped each other," he said. "Family and friends, you relied on those
people. You relied on your faith to help get you through this, and we got
through it."
"The win was a really good win," Crennel said.
So far, police have said little about what happened Saturday. What is known,
they say, is that linebacker Belcher, 25, killed his girlfriend, Kasandra
Perkins, 22, before turning the gun on himself just outside the front door of
the Chiefs' practice facility.
He and Perkins left behind a 3-month-old daughter.
Before Saturday, Belcher's name had never come up with police, nor had officers
ever been called to the residence where the first shooting occurred. But later,
they learned the football player and his late girlfriend "had been arguing,"
including "before the shooting occurred," said police spokesman Darin Snapp.
Belcher, a 6-foot-2, 228-pound left-inside linebacker, spent all four of his NFL
seasons with the Chiefs, who signed him as a free agent out of college. In all,
he played in 59 games, including 44 starts.
Belcher was from West Babylon, New York. He played for the University of Maine
Black Bears, where he started in all 45 games of his four-year career.
Asked about the apparent murder-suicide, Jo Brown, another Chiefs fan, described
the situation simply as sad.
"It's sad for that little baby," she said.
In a separate weekend incident, an employee of the Cleveland Browns organization
killed himself, authorities in Cleveland said. Eric Eucker was a member of the
groundskeeping staff, "a good friend and colleague, and an outstanding
employee," said team spokesman Neal Gulkis.
NFL launches help line for current, former players
Engage: NFL star's death puts spotlight on mental health issues
CNN's Casey Wian contributed to this report.






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