Three days ago shot and killed his girlfriend, before returning to the Chiefs training compound, to take his own life in front of the coach and management staff.
The very next day, the Kansas City Chiefs lined up at the 50 yard line to tackle Cam Newton and the Carolina Panthers, in a regular season National Football League game.
There are two schools of thought that dominate media and fans around the globe in playing this game.
Theory 1; the team comes together and presents a united front by playing and showing a "business as usual" front through the teams actions.
Theory 2; the team does not play their game the next day, and spends time grieving with family and friends the loss of a colleague, friend and loved one.
Kansas City took option one, they played and won a tight and emotional game.
Once the emotion and adrenalin settles you have to ask, was it worth it? Does it set a good example for the community? I can't type a factual answer to the questions I'm asking, but I can say that playing the next day does not sit well with me.
It would be safe to say that most professional sporting leagues around the world, would not play a game the following day after a tragic loss of one of their athletes. In most cases the entire league would grieve with empathy and compassion. Some leagues would even shut down all games on that weekend.
I'm left to wonder has the NFL juggernaut become so big that the value of its players is diminished at an administrational level. Or is it that there are so many players in each side (around 80) that the grief is not felt as much as other sports where there are less athletes in the squad?
I have spent a fair time dwelling and delving into this moral quandary and all I can say is that it's my personal feeling that sometimes it's ok to say, "Let's stop and take time to grieve and reflect before we move forward".