Just seconds after pumping nine bullets into his girlfriend, Kansas City Chiefs Linebacker, Jovan Belcher, kissed her lifeless forehead before heading off to take his own life.
Jovan Belcher with his live-in girlfriend Kassandra Perkins
On Saturday, December 1, Jovan Belcher shot and killed his live-in girlfriend, Kassandra Perkins, at their home in Independence, Missouri. Only minutes after shooting his girlfriend and the mother of their 3 month old daughter, Belcher drove to his training facility where he confessed the murder to team General Manager Scott Pioli, before pulling the trigger on himself.
“Guys, I have to do this,” the four-year NFL veteran told Pioli and Coach Romeo Crennel. “I got to go. I can’t be here.”
The death of the young couple provides a horrible insight into domestic violence and the realization that it is often overlooked in society and is especially overlooked in the sports world.
Hundreds, even thousands of deaths every year are results of domestic violence disputes gone wrong. According to a San Diego Union-Tribune database of NFL arrest records 21 out of 32 NFL teams, at one point this year, have employed a player with a domestic violence or sexual assault charge on his record.
Although, this one statistic isn’t enough evidence to prove that the NFL has a problem with domestic violence the dozen of statistics that include professional athletes and domestic violence acts provide clear evidence that athletes are more than likely to not be committed for a domestic violence act than non-athletes are.
After looking up statistics and typing in “athletes and crime” you can see for yourself the problems that the NFL face along with any other athletic organization. Is it time for athletes to take a stand against domestic violence? Maybe they should start wearing blue AND pink ribbons during October, for breast cancer awareness and domestic violence awareness month.
Sports Rock by K-Rock 