Could This Have Been Prevented?

This weekend in sports we witnessed a horrific tragedy within the NFL. Kanas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher murdered his girlfriend while then taking his life at the Arrowhead stadium in front of his head coach and general manager. This is a touchy and sensitive topic that I really don’t want to get into much detail with but as always things happen in life and people like me talk about them. Belcher was a star football player in Long Island, NY and then at the University of Maine; which I visited on the weekend for my birthday and I must say it’s a beautiful state to see. I learned about the tragedy while in my hotel room and I was lost for words. Tragedies are a part of life but when we hear about them in sports many of us are very surprised. Not to say that these players are saints and do no wrong but we’re not expecting it; that’s all.

There are many different stories going around why he shot his girlfriend multiple times but we would never know the full story because what’s behind closed doors usually stay behind them. I don’t know much about Belcher and his personal life but what I do know he just had a beautiful daughter which is 3 months old. It’s just sad that this young baby will not only have her mother but her father as well. We don’t know what was going on in his mind to want to kill his girlfriend but people snap sometimes and we would never know why people do what they do. The only thing we can do as people is just to pray for the families involved and hope that these tragedies don’t happen often.

There were reports that Belcher was having problems with his girlfriend after the baby was born. It takes more than some problems to kill yourself and girlfriend. I don’t usually listen to gossip or some stories that come out but we all can say that we hope to get the truth behind this incident. The reason why is because sports figures aren’t immune to these situations happening in their lives. They are humans as well and they go through the same things that we go through; maybe some kind of programs that the NFL can implement for players that might face adversity within their personal lives or for depression. We don’t know who Jovan was personally but as the reports keep pouring in daily and even by the hour many say that he was a good kid and was a role model to many.

I think that the Chiefs did the right thing by playing the game yesterday against the Panthers and to win just made things a little more at ease within the organization. Lives will never be replaced with a win but sports in America can heal the hearts for some. I guess the questions that we all ask ourselves and each other are why did he have to murder his girlfriend and then himself? Was their another way to handle the situation? We aren’t the ones to judge a man for what he does but we as citizens can be concerned for our children and fellow neighbors that being at peace is the best way to be in life.