Dwayne Bowe Salutes 'Javon' Belcher

[Mr. Laz]

Dwayne Bowe Salutes Jovan Belcher By Wearing A T-Shirt With His Name Misspelled

Full size


DEC 3, 2012 12:00 PM17,080 42Share


Barry Petchesky

I think it's entirely reasonable for people to disagree on the proper way to commemorate a complex tragedy like that of Jovan Belcher, who killed his girlfriend before killing himself. Of those who argued for the Chiefs game going on as scheduled because football provides a distraction from the awful parts of life, and those who said the game should have been postponed because it was unfair to ask Chiefs players and coaches to take the field so soon after a traumatizing event, neither side was "wrong"—they were just stating their opinions.

You can see both sides of the argument on how Belcher should have been commemorated. It's easy to grasp the argument that Belcher was a murderer before he was a suicide, that taking his own life is the only thing that separates him from Rae Carruth or O.J. Simpson and he shouldn't be celebrated for it, that it's an insult to Kasandra Perkins's death to marginalize her for her more famous killer. On the other hand, Belcher was the famous one, and the only reason fans feel a connection to this horror at all. He was clearly a very troubled person, and if he wasn't strictly a tragic figure, it's impossible to expect those who knew him in life to vilify him now.

It's definitely OK to turn this into a public debate on larger issues. If the wake of nationally relevant firearm deaths isn't the time to bring up gun control, when is? But this runs the risk of polarizing a tragedy for political means, and distracting from the perhaps more germane issue of mental illness.

Everyone deals with sadness in their own way, and there's no single "right" way to mourn, especially when tragedy and crime intermix. Maybe the only "wrong" thing you can do is tell someone else that their grief isn't the right kind of grief, as if that's something that can be dictated. Any way someone chooses to react to Jovan Belcher's murder-suicide—yes, even with dark humor—is fine if it works for them.

That said, spelling "Javon" Belcher's name wrong on the commemorative t-shirt is definitely the wrong way to grieve.

[Gary]

Now you all leave Duane Bow alone!

[BigMeatballDave]

Originally Posted by Brock

HE POINTED AT HIS NAME ON HIS JERSEY CUT HIM!!!

OH THE HUGE MANATEE

[Estron]

Originally Posted by memyselfI

No, he's a geneous.

Is he a hetero geneous?

[Sweet Daddy Hate]

That picture was a gift from Spongebob...

[Steron]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

I think the team handled it right, with the moment of silence for domestic violence victims and by choosing not to commemorate the player in any way. He doesn't deserve it.

But at the same time I think Bowe's perfectly entitled to personally mourn the loss of a teammate and friend however he chooses.

Yes

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by theelusiveeightrop

Hard to believe Bowe can't spell. Shocking, really.

The second sentence in the article is the longest "run on" sentence in the history of the world. Bowe gets a pass.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by Chief_For_Life58

keep jerking it to bowe, not too much time left..he wont be here next season

Your and idiot, moran.

[HemiEd]

Originally Posted by keg in kc

If Bowe can be this good giving "60%" with nobody at quarterback, I wonder what he might have been with Peyton Manning pressuring him on and off the field. Or what he could be with Geno Smith or Tyler Wilson or Tyler Bray or Ryan Nassib, with a quarterback able to make plays and get him the ball in favorable positions, able to get him fully invested in the game.

(Not that I don't think he's fully invested now, or that he only gives marginal effort...)

You could say that very same thing about Baldwin and Moeaki as well.

[DLand21]

Point of the story. Don't say nuffin, won't be nuffin.