OT: Kansas City Chiefs player commits suicide

Submitted by Jmilan on
Very sad news an unnamed play from KC has committed suicide at the team facility. It's also rumored that he killed his girlfriend as well. This just puts sports in a way different perspective when this type of thing happens. Thoughts and prayers out to he families in this tragic time.

Jmilan

December 1st, 2012 at 11:13 AM ^

I've also heard that the coaches may have been present when he killed himself. I think they went out to the parking lot to check on him and that's when he shot himself. This is a rumor I heard so the validity of it is questionable. I also heard that his girlfriend just recently had a child as well, this just gets even worse after hearing that.

MGoStrength

December 1st, 2012 at 11:28 AM ^

I am a volunteer strength coach at UMaine.  Not that this is ever good for anyone, but it's not something you see often in Maine.  I didn't know him becaues I only started working there this summer, but his pictures are all over our walls and he's a member of our Iron Man group in the weight room.

Michiganfootball13

December 1st, 2012 at 11:41 AM ^

Sometimes we forget that professional athletes are people too with their own personal struggles.  My prayers go out to his family and her family during the tragic time.

Dilla Dude

December 1st, 2012 at 11:43 AM ^

Such a tragic event...my thoughts and prayers go out to the organization and all those involved. I think they should cancel tomorrow's game out of respect for the situation.

Magnus

December 1st, 2012 at 12:14 PM ^

Go repeat this on the "Early Games Thread" and the Spurs thread and the Arkansas/Syracuse thread and...

News flash: Sometimes things get posted on here that don't have anything to do with Michigan athletics.  That's what the whole "OT" thing is for.

blueheron

December 1st, 2012 at 12:25 PM ^

Agreed -- it's no more OT than those other threads.

Here's the thing (which I should have included in my original post): There's little chance that any discussion of value (information / entertainment / whatever) will occur here. As for the news value, numerous other sites better suited to the task will cover the story.

Look at the replies -- nearly all of them are some variety of "That's awful. Thoughts and prayers, etc." What else is there to say?

Stike A Pose

December 1st, 2012 at 12:46 PM ^

That's what I always wonder.  If you don't want to read it, why read it?  On top of that, why read it, then complain about reading it?  I don't get it.  It's not like every thread posted on here has a blank title and you have to click on it to see what's inside.

I don't think that some people realize that a lot of MGoBlog users see this news for the first time on MGoBlog.  Some users don't even visit other sports sites such as ESPN or SI. 

If the mods didn't think this thread was worthy enough of being here, it would have been taken down already.  It's as simple as that.

CO Blue

December 1st, 2012 at 12:17 PM ^

Though this appears to be an unpopular stance, posting this kind of information here is a bit of a boundary violation for those coming to a Michigan blog as an escape from the world's challenges. Clearly losses in the Michigan sports community should be addressed here as this blog community is connected in a sense to our players, staff, etc. but I personally would prefer not to be exposed to traumatic news such as this when it holds no relevancy to the blog's content. I do understand the need/desire to connect with others when exposed to such traumatic news, but consideration should be given to the audience and their needs as well. For example, one probably wouldn't share this bit of news with someone who themselves are dealing with a significant loss- and given that we have no idea what other readers are going through, it would be prudent to assume there are other readers experiencing losses themselves, or just don't want to be exposed to this kind of news for whatever reason.

/justmy2cents

  

MGoCombs

December 1st, 2012 at 12:47 PM ^

People post things like this on here because MGoBlog is a unique place for sports-related discussion on these here Internets. I enjoy seeing the perspective of mostly rational people on a myriad of issues, particularly when it is related to football. Now if Justin Bieber did something like this, I'd agree there's no place, but it's sports related, so I think it makes sense.

Jmilan

December 1st, 2012 at 1:36 PM ^

The reason I posted this was because I appreciate any and all sports related topics on this board. I usually see a thread about something before Espn or any other main media has put any info out and that's why I check this board so frequently every day. I understand that the topic is sad and sensitive, but you were going to hear about this no matter if you post on this board or not. It wasn't posted for discussion really because like you said there isn't much to say, it was more for spreading information on a sports related topic.

mGrowOld

December 1st, 2012 at 12:10 PM ^

How on earth can these these guys coach/play a game tomorrow?  I cant even imagine what must be going through the minds and emotions of Crennel, Pioli and the rest of the team right now.  So sad...so very, very sad.

User -not THAT user

December 1st, 2012 at 5:01 PM ^

It doesn't matter that this was either a fringe player from the practice squad (and he wasn't; he was a four-year, gameday roster player)...basically, this young man was witnessed at the team facility in a distressed state, directly contacted by both his GM and his head coach, and he THANKED THEM for all they had done for him before shooting himself to death in their presence with a firearm.

You can't understate the violence of a wound caused by a firearm, especially a fatal wound.  To anyone who has never seen such an event, trying to explain it is meaningless.  There is absolutely no way in Heaven or Hell that the Chiefs should be expected to play an NFL game tomorrow.  Teammates who did not witness this will not be prepared to play once they realize that a four-year fixture to this team is not coming back to it.  As for the head coach, the playcaller who is responsible for making sure that this team (which admittedly has won a single game all year), he actually SAW this man kill himself.

No one with a heart in their chest would expect a man to prepare and lead a team of athletes for a game within 24 hours watching that. 

ShariaLawFan

December 1st, 2012 at 6:11 PM ^

The NFL played on after the JFK assassination.  No reason why some player murdering the mother of his child then righteously executing himself should rank ahead of that on the tragedy scale.

grumbler

December 1st, 2012 at 9:20 PM ^

This was a far greater tragedy for the coaches and players involved than the JFK assassination was for the typical NFL player (and maybe for ANY NFL player) in 1963.  We're talking here about people who lost a personal fiend and team-mate, not a distant, though famous, figure.

The tragedy scale is based on personal tragedy, not fame.

RobGoBlue

December 1st, 2012 at 12:38 PM ^

Professionalism is one thing, yes. But I think you'd be hard-pressed to find too many businesses (non-essential personnel, etc.) who'd be less than understanding if employees were reluctant to come into work the day after an employee shot and killed himself on company grounds in front of two organizational leaders.

Not to mention the camaraderie and unity required to 'work' in professional football. This guy was a starter... um, imagine being told "hey so-and-so, you're starting tomorrow" under these circumstances. Hard to prepare--this isn't exactly a tweaked hamstring. 

Then again, I'm fully aware we're talking about the NFL here.

Erik_in_Dayton

December 1st, 2012 at 12:55 PM ^

I lived in KC and the KC area for several years, and this is going to be devastating to a lot of people (in addition to the families and team, obviously).  It's a small city in a lot of ways, and the Chiefs are a huge part of it.  I hope some good can come of this at some point down the road, but it's hard to imagine what that would be...It's always so sad that people cannot get beyond that particularly painful moment in situations like this and get some help. 

Lionsfan

December 1st, 2012 at 4:03 PM ^

So the NFL has decided to go through with their regularly scheduled games. I guess Goodell really is all about the money, regardless of the player's well-being