'Hurting' Chiefs hold pre-game moment of silence

The Kansas City Chiefs took the field with heavy hearts Sunday, a day after police said linebacker Jovan Belcher shot and killed his girlfriend then turned the gun on himself. The Chiefs hosted the Carolina Panthers in an NFL game. The team's chief executive officer, Clark Hunt, told The Kansas City Star newspaper the hours leading up to the contest had been "incredibly difficult." "It's been an incredibly difficult 24 hours for our family and the entire organization," Hunt said. "We have so many guys on the team and on the coaching staff who are really hurting." Hunt said he left the decision on whether to play up to players and head coach Romeo Crennel, who was among the Chiefs staff members who police said were watching when Belcher, 25, arrived at the team training facility on Saturday shortly after shooting his 22-year-old girlfriend Kasandra Perkins, and fatally shot himself. The couple left an infant daughter, and Kansas City police said she was in the custody of Belcher's mother. The Chiefs opted not to memorialize Belcher specifically on Sunday, but they scheduled a moment of silence before the game in recognition of victims of domestic violence. Belcher, who was originally from Long Island, New York, had been with the Chiefs for four years. He joined them as an undrafted free agent out of university and worked his way into a starting position.