Romeo Crennel on Jovan Belcher: ‘I don’t know what made him snap’

[proud2BlibKansan]

Oh really, Coach? You take a young kid, fill his head with fame, subject him to head injuries, watch him take drugs (but only the kind that can't be detected on a pee test), know he's been drinking excessively and has a fascination with guns, but you don't know what made him snap? Wow.

Editor’s note: Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel on Monday spoke with reporters about the events of the weekend, when Crennel witnessed linebacker Jovan Belcher commit suicide at Arrowhead Stadium after earlier killing his girlfriend in their home.

Q: How do you reconcile Belcher as a teammate versus his horrible acts?

A: “We will do it like any other family would do. Jovan is a member of the family. What he did, we didn’t like, we’re not crazy about, but he’s still a member of our family. When you go out in society and things like this happen in society because they do happen in society, you don’t see people throwing the family members out the door. They are still loved by their family members, but the act, you don’t like the act. So, you move on. You deal with it, and you don’t have a choice; you have to move on.”

Q: Did he ever express any troubles he was having in his personal life?

A: “No major troubles in his life. Everybody has issues in their personal life. I mean, all of us here have issues in our personal life. Everybody handles issues differently; from dealing with Jovan, he seemed like a strong-willed individual to me. He’s a leader. He was sitting in the front of the classroom; he’s the first to the drills, all of those things. You’re surprised by the events of the last few days.”

Read more here: http://www.kansascity.com/2012/12/03/3947014/romeo-crennel-on-jovan-belcher.html#storylink=cpy

[HereSince1628]

1. Love the murderer hate the murder.

I'll admit that that sounds like a high ideal intended to heal the pain of family members of a criminal.

But, is there other circumstance anyone recalls where an employee killed his wife, and his employer memorialized his work shirt in his locker as a memory of 'one of us'?

[proud2BlibKansan]

6. There was another Chiefs player who killed his wife and then himself.

In 1980. He was retired. He never made it into the HOF.

[liberal N proud]

2. Crennel was the last person Belcher talked to before killing himself

[proud2BlibKansan]

3. Latest rumor is baby wasn't his

Just heard that on local talk radio.

[sadbear]

4. Then why haven't all pro football players snapped yet?

People are different. Obviously, this guy had issues that weren't being addressed constructively.

People do snap. All the time. It's a tragedy when they have access to guns when it happens.

[proud2BlibKansan]

5. Well, mental illness doesn't work like that

This isn't an all or nothing issue. But if you take a young kid, inflict repeated head injuries, mix in drugs and alcohol and add emotional stress, you shouldn't be surprised when he snaps.

[HereSince1628]

7. I'm not sure drug induced impairments are technically mental illness

Maybe someone from the profession can comment on this.

I'm not saying that substance abuse per se is not a mental illness. It is. But, I'm under the impression that chemically induced impairments are intoxifications...which are classically part of medical pathology

The statistics I've read about mental health and violence usually are presented making comparisons between the general population (iow not diagnosed mentally ill), the mentally ill, and then both those populations in the presence of substance abuse.

On edit...for clarification...it seems that general population + substance abuse implies substance abuse isn't tied to mental illness.


Substance abuse in most of those studies is the most important risk factor associated with violence.

[hifiguy]

8. I am not sure the assumptions of head injuries

or drugs are warranted at this point. This young man worked his way up from special teams to being a starting linebacker. He wasn't a "golden boy" who had been touted for stardom since his freshman year in college.

What he did was unspeakable, but any speculation on why he acted as he did is just that.