A terrible scene emerged on Wednesday afternoon in Kansas City. A shooting occurred amid the reveling over the Chiefs’ Super Bowl LVIII victory parade.
As last reported, 15 people were injured in the shooting near KC’s Union Station, with one reported death thus far. Kansas City Police have multiple suspects in custody following Wednesday’s incident.
The sports world poured out with reactions following the shooting, which took place after the Chiefs’ victory parade concluded. ESPN eventually led off NFL Live with coverage of the shooting, which led to the panel holding an intense, frank, difficult, and meaningful conversation.
ESPN’s Marcus Spears, a former NFL player and talented LSU standout, made strong remarks about the situation after it unfolded.
Marcus Spears, with some very pointed remarks about the shooting during the Kanas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade:
"When I first heard it, you know what I thought, unfortunately, is this is who we are. This is who we are. So, now the ever-revolving cycle is going to start. The… pic.twitter.com/CR5ZnKoDaU
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 14, 2024
“When I first heard it, you know what I thought, unfortunately, is this is who we are,” Spears said. “So, now the ever-revolving cycle is going to start. The news outlets will talk about gun control. They’ll have politicians from either side to talk about what needs to be done… and then we’ll have a ‘prayers up,’ I’m sure that’s what’s happening right now.”
ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter came in with a strong statement himself.
“We are left here now to try and make sense of this particular situation. These images are happening everywhere all the time, every day, every week in this country,” Schefter said. “It’s disgusting. It’s sickening. It’s enough. How many times do we have to see this everywhere?”
More from Schefter:
“Today, it’s the Chiefs’ turn; it’s at a Super Bowl parade. Tomorrow, it will be somewhere else. Somebody else will lose their life, and we will continue to come on and try to make sense of something that is inexplicable.”
Adam Schefter weighed in with some strong remarks of his own.
"We are left here now to try to make sense of this particular situation. These images are happening everywhere all the time, every day, every week in this country. It's disgusting. It's sickening. It's enough. How… pic.twitter.com/j0DAD2X7zZ
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 14, 2024
Louis Riddick continued the string of emotional and robust responses.
“You know what, we’ll hear people say, ‘It’s not the guns; it’s the people. It’s not the guns; it’s the people.’ OK, I’ve heard that so much that I don’t even really know where to go with that at this point,” Riddick said.
More from Riddick:
Louis Riddick says we've lost the ability to care about others.
"You know what, we'll hear people say, 'It's not the guns; it's the people. It's not the guns; it's the people.' OK, I've heard that so much that I don't even really know where to go with that at this point.
"From… pic.twitter.com/Fl3Mjc8y6N
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 14, 2024
“From a human perspective, we better start looking out for one another and start checking on one another… quite honestly, man, we all need to take a long look in the mirror. What are we doing here? Like, what is happening here? How have we become so numb?”
It’s a difficult subject and often challenging to go about-face on live television. But this was a well-done segment, and the panel should be praised for handling this uncomfortable situation. They shouldn’t be asked to be hung out to dry, and ESPN opting to move to ABC Kansas City’s coverage of the shooting was likely the right move.
But for what they had to do, the NFL Live crew certainly stepped up.
