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| Jovan Belcher's agent, who also represents Romeo Crennel: "There's no word for this other than shocking." (US Presswire) |
Joe Linta was the agent for Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher , who took his own life on Saturday morning after shooting and killing his girlfriend. Linta is also the agent for Kansas City coach Romeo Crennel. On Saturday afternoon, he told Sports Illustrated's Peter King that "never in a million years" did he think Belcher could do the things he did just hours earlier.
"Jovan was a happy, proud father, with pictures of his baby on his Facebook page," Linta said. "This is shocking. Something went crazy wrong, and we'll probably never know what it is."
Belcher had a 3-month-old daughter with his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins.
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Linta told King that he hadn't spoken with Crennel by mid-afternoon Saturday but that he knew the coach would respond to the challenge of playing a game 27 hours after Belcher's murder-suicide.
"With dignity, like everything Romeo does in his life,'' Linta said regarding how Crennel would handle the tragedy. "Life doesn't hand you roses all the time. But Romeo is a salt-of-the-earth kind of person who will rely on his faith and his determination to do what he has to do, to do what's right. He will know what to say to his team, because he always knows what to say.''
Linta said he typically spoke to Belcher several times a month and saw no signs that the Chiefs linebacker might have been troubled.
"Never until four hours ago did I think Jovan was anything but a model citizen,'' Linta told King. "He came to my youth clinics in the offseason and worked with kids. He was a gracious, unselfish, hard-working, dedicated kid -- very, very caring of some of the underprivileged kids who came to the clinics. I saw him in a real positive way.
"I never take on anyone as a client I wouldn't be proud to take home and spend time with my wife and kids," Linta continued. "Jovan was one of those types of people. There's no word for this other than shocking. That's all I can think of."
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