THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
THURSDAY, DECEMBER 6, 2012
PAGE 7B
NFL
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Details surface on Javon Belcher murder-suicide
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Romeo Crennel pauses while talking about the murder-suicide committed by linebacker Jovan Belcher during an NFL football news conference Monday at the team's practice facility in Kansas City, Mo. Belcher shot and killed his 22-year-old girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, at their Kansas City home Saturday before driving to Arrowhead Stadium.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The days since Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend then shot himself in the head have been very difficult for his mother, who said Wednesday that the slayings have not diminished her love for the couple.
Belcher's mother, Cheryl Shepherd, had been living with the Kansas City Chiefs linebacker and 22-year-old Kasandra Perkins to help care for their 3-month-old daughter, Zoey, and was at the couple's home Saturday morning when Perkins was shot.
Shepherd declined to say anything more about her son.
"That's my son, and I love him," Shepherd said in a brief telephone conversation Wednesday. "She's my daughter-in-law, just like my daughter."
Belcher shot Perkins at their Kansas City home then drove with a handgun to Arrowhead Stadium, where he thanked Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli and coach Romeo Crennel for all they had done for him. The men tried to persuade Belcher to put the gun down, but when police arrived, Belcher moved behind a vehicle in the practice facility's parking lot, knelt down and shot himself in the head, police said.
Shepherd, 54, said she was not happy about the release Wednesday of recordings of the emergency phone call she made Saturday after Perkins was shot.
"I just got a phone call that they did that, and I don't appreciate it," she said. "Right now I don't want to talk about it."
In the emergency call, Shepherd begs Perkins to "stay with me" while frantically asking for an ambulance. She tells the dispatcher that Perkins is "still breathing but please hurry. ... They were arguing, please hurry."
Shepherd also told dispatchers that Perkins was bleeding, "just barely" awake and that it looked as though she was wounded in the back. She said Perkins moved when she spoke to her.
When a police dispatcher asked about Belcher, Shepherd says only: "He left"
Police arrived at the home about 7:50 a.m. They said in an incident report that they found Perkins' body on the floor of the master bathroom. She had been shot multiple times.
Shepherd, who has temporary custody of the couple's baby, said she and Perkins were very close.
"She was a lovely, beautiful young woman. And we had a beautiful relationship," Shepherd said.
The estate or guardian of Belcher's 3-month-old daughter will receive more than $1 million under terms of the NFL's collective-bargaining agreement.
The child stands to receive $108,000 annually over the next four years, $48,000 in the fifth year and then $52,000 each year until age 18. She'll continue to receive that amount until age 23 if she attends college.
The beneficiary of Belcher, who was in his fourth season, also will receive $600,000 in life insurance, plus $200,000 for each credited season. There is also $100,000 in a retirement account that will go to his beneficiary or estate.
Shepherd said family members have been helping her a great deal since the shootings, but that she had trouble eating and sleeping while working on her son's funeral arrangements.
Mourners, including several Chiefs players, attended an hour-long private memorial service for Belcher on Wednesday in Kansas City. Retired Chiefs Hall of Famer Bobby Bell said afterward that Pioli and Belcher's uncle spoke during the service. He said it was "rough" on Pioli.
Players' beneficiaries are kept confidential.
"This is a sad situation," Bell said. "You never want to be put under those situations. Never. It's not good. You don't want to see things like that. I don't know how they got through it."
Runners starting winter season
TRACK AND FIELD
MAX GOODWIN
mgoodwin@kansan.com
Kansas track and field will compete in its first meet of the season today with the Bob Timmons Challenge.
Coach Stanley Redwine and his athletes begin the process of building on the success they achieved last year.
Senior Andrea Geubelle, an NCAA champion last season, enters the season with the best triple jump mark of any American in 2012. The women's 4x400 meter team was one of the fastest ever, and all four runners of the relay are returning.
For the women's team, nearly 90 percent of scorers from the team that finished runner-up at last year's indoor national championship return this season.
In his 13th season at Kansas. Redwine is now seeing an average of 10 athletes per season earn First-Team All-American awards.
Sophomore Michael Stigler
broke a 37-year-old Kansas school record in the men's 400 meter hurdle race last season, and he also won a Big 12 title in the event while being named conference Freshman Track Athlete of the Year.
Of course, Diamond Dixon's Olympic gold medal at the summer Olympics is the accomplishment that most people know of, but last season was a success for more than just a few individuals. It was a good season
to do it continuously, and that's the goal is to continue to do it every meet and every year"
There is a lot of work left to do, which is something that Redwine seems to embrace. As many of the athletes he coaches will say.
for the program as a whole.
If everything goes as Redwine has planned, then Kansas track and field will continue this success and may one day be the same kind of powerhouse program as Kansas men's basketball.
"This is their first time putting on the Kansas uniform. We have to see how these athletes are competing.
"It's not just a one-and-done thing," Redwine said over the phone earlier this week. "You have
STANLEY REDWINE Track and field coach
he has pushed them to work hard and has not shied away from working hard himself.
"We still have a lot to work for," Red-wine said. "So we're nowhere near an accomplished program.'
obviously there.
Last season the Jayhawks managed to win individual national championships and even compete for team championships, but even more is expected from this season. There is no reason why Kansas can't win a Big 12 championship or even a national championship. On the women's team the talent is
Redwine said that the coaching staff has put last season behind them. Their focus is on the success they will work toward this season. There are 12 true freshmen competing in today's meet.
"This is their first time putting on a Kansas uniform," Redwine said. "We have to see how these athletes are competing."
Some of those who are returning have accomplished a lot in the past year. The newcomers will compete alongside them today. The freshmen may add something to the team this season, but the talent that returns is already capable of winning championships. The question is, can these freshmen continue that success?
The process of building consistent success for Kansas track and field continues today at 3 p.m. in Anschutz Pavilion.
WOMEN'S BASKETBALL
— Edited by Stéphane Roque
Jayhawks ready for road test at Arkansas
NATHAN FORDYCE
nfordyce@kansan.com
With all but one game in the comfort of Allen Fieldhouse so far this season, the No.17 Kansas Jayhawks will face a stiff challenge as they prepare to face the Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville, Ark., on Thursday.
The Jayhawks (7-0) have had the luxury of having a home-heavy schedule to start out the year besides the trip to Omaha, Neb., where they defeated Creighton 58-48 on Nov. 25.
The Razorbacks bring a 7-1 record with their only loss coming at the hands of the No. 13 Oklahoma Sooners, Jayhawk sophomore forward Chelsea Gardner said she is aware of how good the Razorbacks have played so far this season, and they have to be ready to play.
"Just bring energy from the start of the game. Being aggressive and throwing a punch, the first punch," Gardner said.
Gardner has been a huge asset for the Jayhawks the past couple of games coming off the bench. After consecutive games of double-figure scoring, including a career-high 26 points against Grambling State, Gardner has seen her points per game double from 4.2 per to 8.7.
As Gardner brings a presence off a bench that has been a strong point for the Jayhawks this year, the Jayhawks will rely on senior forward Carolyn Davis to get through a tough road test.
"We can't go into it thinking we'll have time to come back or time to play hard and take off for five minutes to rest. We always
Davis, averaging 16.6 points and 5.3 rebounds per game, said the team has to avoid taking the first punch and play strong throughout the entire game.
talk about when the starters are out and the second team is coming in, they have to know that they have to keep the same tempo going." Davis said.
Lately, the Jayhawks have been able to keep the tempo once the starters take a seat. They have seen bench players such as junior CeCe Harper, sophomore forward Bunny Williams and Gardner give them good minutes on both the defensive and offensive side of the ball.
Kansas coach Bonnie Henrickson said the bench play is absolutely critical in road games.
"You're not in friendly confines and all the crazy things that can happen on the road," Henrickson said.
The Razorbacks bring in two players averaging more than 12 points per game in junior forward Keira Peak and senior guard Sarah Watkins, who average 16 and 12.3 points per game respectively. Also the Razorbacks have senior forward Quistelle Williams who averages 9.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game.
Even though it's a key to every game for the Jayhawks, defensive pressure will need to be on the plus side as the Razorbacks bring in one of the nation's top offenses.
Arkansas is scoring 76.1 points per game, which is 25th in the nation, on 42.3 percent shooting.
Edited by Stéphane Roque
On whether the defensive intensity for the Jayhawks needs to be great, Henrickson simply said, "It has to. They're good."
TYLER ROSTE/KANSAN
Forward Chelsea Gardner battles a Fort Hays defender to get to the basket. The Jayhawks defeated Fort Hays State on Sunday 88-43.