It ain’t Kansas anymore as NFL Sunday takes a back seat

The fog that enveloped much of the Kansas City area on Sunday morning dissipated a few hours before the Chiefs and the Carolina Panthers took the field at Arrowhead Stadium.

The sun broke through and temperatures surpassed 16 degrees on the second day of December as children tossed footballs in the parking lots while tailgaters grilled burgers and music blared. Other than a brief moment of silence dedicated to all the victims of domestic violence and their families, the game had the look and feel of a typical NFL Sunday.

But for those affected by the events of the previous morning, when police say Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher died by suicide after shooting himself in the head outside the team’s practice facility just minutes after he shot and killed his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins (the mother of the couple’s three-month old daughter) — it was anything but a typical football game.