Portrait emerges of Chiefs player's tragic end
BY DAVE SKRETTA Associated Press
Tuesday, December 04, 2012
12/04/12 at 6:01 AM
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Jovan Belcher walked off the field after his final practice, laughing and joking with Chiefs defensive tackle Shaun Smith about who would get into the game the most on Sunday afternoon.
The two walked down the half-dozen steps and into the training complex, past the inspirational signs that coach Romeo Crennel regularly posts on the wall, and through locker room doors.
Never could anybody imagine it would be Belcher's last time.
"We was joking, having fun," Smith recalled quietly.
Friends and family of Belcher and his slain girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, tried to come to grips Monday with the horrible events of the weekend. As they did, a portrait of the 25-year-old player began to emerge, that of a man devoted to his family, who cherished his daughter and loved football after making it to the NFL against long odds. Still, the question remained: What would drive him to gun down the mother of his baby girl and then take his own life?
"I didn't see anything at all," said his close friend and fellow Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson.
Investigators were still searching for a motive behind Saturday's shootings.
Belcher shot the 22-year-old Perkins multiple times in a home not far from where he played, and then drove to Arrowhead Stadium, where he was confronted by Crennel and general manager Scott Pioli. The two of them said they never felt in danger, and that Belcher thanked them for all they had done for him. As police arrived, Belcher slipped behind a car and put the gun to his head.
Nobody from the Chiefs said Belcher showed any signs of depression or other personal problems. Chiefs owner Clark Hunt spoke to team doctors and coaches and, according to him, they said Belcher had no history of concussions.
The NFL has put more emphasis on diagnosing and treating head injuries in recent years. Part of it stems from high-profile suicides involving players such as Junior Seau, and part is a response to numerous lawsuits filed against the league on behalf of players who blame head trauma for depression and other problems.
Autopsy and toxicology reports may indicate whether drugs or alcohol were involved. Those results are expected in six to eight weeks.
Belcher was never a star on the Chiefs, although he played enough so that he was well known around town.
"He laughed a lot," Jerron McMillian, a safety for the Green Bay Packers and Belcher's teammate at Maine said, "but he was always serious about his work."
Belcher met Perkins through Chiefs running back Jamaal Charles and his wife, Whitney, a cousin of the slain woman. Perkins was active in the Chiefs' women's organization, and the two of them recently had a baby girl.
Original Print Headline: Portrait emerges of Belcher
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Jovan Belcher: Family say he was a man devoted to his family, who cherished his daughter and loved football.
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