Jovan Belcher is a name that you may have never heard of before. He was a 25 years old, the father of an infant child and a linebacker in the NFL. He played, and earned, his spot on the field and made 1.9MM a year. He was a college graduate, from the University of Maine with a degree in childhood development, and by every measure he was a success.
So what would make him shoot the mother of his infant child and then go to the Chiefs facility and shoot himself in front of his coach and general manager?
There is no way to know what strange and toxic brew was mixing underneath the surface of his life. By all accounts from everyone who was close to him this was completely out of character. There was no warning, and there is no explanation.
( Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
This brings to question something we call a game. Today, there will be many other players hitting the field and pretending to play a game. Clearly this is not a game. When you watch your favorite teams play today you should remember the late Mr. Belcher and know that all is not how it seems in the National Football League.
As a former football player I feel a deep sense of sadness hearing this story. I hope that all attention focuses on their little daughter. She is now parentless but she should never be without direction and love. She should never have to know the personal pain that caused her mother and father to abandon her*
Jovan Belcher is a name you should only have heard of when he did something so amazing on the field that he play would command your attention. Maybe that is part of the problem. Maybe Mr. Belcher needed a whole lot more people paying attention to the man and less to the football player.
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*A comment was made on facebook about this comment from a woman that I went to elementary, middle, and part of high school with, she said:
" read your article, and i am a big fan of your writing, the one thing i question in this piece is the reference to their infant daughter being abandoned by by her father and mother, is it fair to say her mother abandoned her? it seems that even though all the facts are not yet known, that it was Jovan that took her life and robbing their daughter of both of her parents."
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