In 2009 West Babylon alum Jovan Belcher signed a free agent contract with the Kansas City Chiefs. He was grateful for the opportunity.
Jovan and I spoke for about 20 minutes on the phone that week for a story I wrote about him for the Babylon Beacon newspaper. We recapped his high school career, the 9-1 season West Babylon put together in 2004 when he was a senior. We spoke about his Defensive Player of the Year honors he achieved at the University of Maine.
He told me he took calls from the Ravens and Rams, but Kansas City seemed like a better fit. By the 2012 season he would be a starting linebacker for the Chiefs making nearly $2 million a season.
Then I spoke to his high school coach, Al Ritacco.
“He’s an outstanding individual,” he said. “When he spoke, people listened. He could hit like a truck and lead by example.”
Belcher, who graduated in 2005 from West Babylon, was at the same All-County football dinner that season that’s being held this Monday in Suffolk County. He wrestled in the same county finals that are held at Stony Brook every year in February. He played on some of the same fields you and I are used to watching high school football games on in the fall. He was a Long Island native and proud of his roots.
A couple years after our initial call I watched Belcher play a pre-season game in Baltimore against the Ravens. Primarily there to watch Sachem alum Chris Manno compete for a roster spot with the Chiefs, I snapped some photos of Belcher talking with teammates during warmups. I remember saying that Belcher was smart, physical and made huge improvements at his linebacker position in two seasons of NFL play. I was proud to watch Manno and Belcher play in person and represent Long Island. He wasn’t just an unknown free agent by 2011, he was a recognizable figure for the Chiefs and their below average defense.
Ritacco, who was proud to say that Jovan was the third player from West Babylon with ties to an NFL team (Len Sears/Gavin Myles), said Belcher was “a buzz saw going down the field.”
“I never stop,” Belcher told me. “I’m always around the ball and let loose when I’m on the field.”
He told me he doesn’t care about injury, waving that reckless abandonment for his body, as long as the job gets done.
Saturday he didn’t care either. He lost control for some unknown and shocking reason. He left behind family, his friends, his teammates and most importantly his 3-month-old baby daughter. He took his own life at the Kansas City Chiefs practice facility, shortly after killing his girlfriend. He was 25.
-Words by Chris R. Vaccaro