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College teammates say Belcher shooting makes no sense

Mike Garafolo, USA TODAY Sports
His college teammates say nothing makes sense about the alleged murder-suicide involving former Black Bear Jovan Belcher.

Anthony Cotrone will remember those eight-hour drives home from the University of Maine with Jovan Belcher, the conversations about football and life, the way Belcher adored his mother, the manner in which he supported his teammates, the effort he'd put forth in practice and the way he'd pick up the checks at dinner once he found success in the NFL.

Because the Belcher who allegedly shot his girlfriend and then took his own life Saturday is a person Cotrone never knew.

"I'm in complete shock. This is one of the most unexpected things I've ever heard," Cotrone, a fullback for Maine and a teammate of Belcher's for three seasons, told USA TODAY Sports by phone Saturday afternoon. "He was such a great kid, all about his family. I got 50 calls and texts from old teammates after the news broke and the reaction was pretty much the same: 'This is so sad. What happened to him?' "

TRACK THE STORY:Chiefs linebacker kills girlfriend, commits suicide

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That's a question investigators will try to answer over the next few days, weeks and months. For those who knew Belcher long before Saturday's events, none of it makes sense.

His college teammates remember him as a hard-working guy on game days and on the practice field, one who often had his nose in the playbook and was willing to do the dirty work.

Long before he was named the CAA Conference defensive player of the year in 2008, Belcher impressed as a freshman.

"He was probably 205, 215 (pounds), which was very small for a defensive end, but he played so much bigger," said Kevin McMahan, a wide receiver who was a senior during Belcher's freshman season. "I just remember defensive players saying they couldn't remember a guy spilling the way he did. That was a job nobody wanted to do."

Spilling means taking on a pulling blocker on a run to the edge, thus forcing the running back to go wider, where another player could make the tackle.

"Jovan, whatever his duty was, he was going to fulfill it," McMahan said. "Contain the play, make the play, take him head on. If he had to go into a guy twice his size, he was going to do it and get the job done."

Cotrone remembers plenty of collisions with Belcher. Even though they occurred on the practice field, Belcher didn't give anything less than full effort.

"To go from being very good in the CAA to being excellent in the NFL," Cotrone said, "that's a special player."

Cotrone and McMahan were undrafted players like Belcher. Cotrone and McMahan never made an active roster, though, and have moved on to new careers -- Cotrone owns his own trucking company, and McMahan is finishing his degree in accounting at Maine.

"He always took us out to dinner. Never let me pay for anything," said Cotrone, who lives in Valley Stream, N.Y., and last saw Belcher while touring Belcher's new house in Long Island this summer. "Just the type of guy you'd want to be around."

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McMahan spent some time with the Chiefs as a member of their practice squad in 2007 and '08.

"I played with some of those guys over there, so I'm sad for them today," he said.

Said Cotrone: "My heart goes out to his mother. She was his biggest fan and would come to the games with all the girls in the family, with their bells and air horns, always making a ruckus."

He added, "Jovan always had a smile, was always looking to have a great time. It just doesn't make sense."