• Voodoo priestess: Curse didn't cause Superdome blackout

    The Super Bowl was delayed in the 3rd quarter for more than 30 minutes due to a power outage at the Superdome in New Orleans, Louisiana. MSNBC's Milissa Rehberger reports.

    By Tracy Connor, Staff Writer, NBC News

    The powers-that-be are blaming an "abnormality" for the half-hour blackout that delayed the Super Bowl. But on Twitter, at least, they have another term for it: The Curse.


    Legend has it that New Orleans' Superdome is vexed by the angry spirits of the poor souls once buried beneath the stadium, their remains uprooted by backhoes during construction in the early 1970s.

    The Superdome became, of course, the site of many losses for the New Orleans Saints and later the misery of thousands of Hurricane Katrina refugees who sheltered there.

    Perhaps it's only natural -- well, supernatural, anyway -- to suggest that the alleged curse was working again Sunday night in a city that loves its superstitions as much as its football.

    Voodoo priestess Miriam Chamani was once enlisted by a radio station to bless the Superdome, using a live python and a pumpkin, before the Saints faced off against the Cleveland Browns in 1999.

    So what does she think zapped the juice in the third quarter as the Baltimore Raves sacked the San Francisco 49ers' quarterback Colin Kaepernick?

    "I think any time you put that much tension on the circuits in a short time, something is bound to happen," Chamani said Monday.

    Mystical tension? Beyond-the-grave type tension?

    "No, just a lot of people using power," she said.

    But Superdome officials said the stadium was actually using less electricity than it does during a typical Saints game. None of its equipment, all upgraded since Katrina in 2005, failed.

    And you can forget the Curse of Beyonce because her half-time show used its own generators.

    The investigation is ongoing. For now, all officials will say is an "abnormality" at the point where power company Entergy's feed intersects with the arena's equipment prompted a circuit breaker to make the Superdome go dark.

    Courtesy Miriam Chamani

    Miriam Chamani, a voodoo priestess, doesn't think the Superdome is cursed -- more than any other place in New Orleans.

    Bob Remy, the statistician for the Saints, who was at the game, agrees the outage was "strange."

    "But it's hard to believe it's a curse," he said, pointing to the Saints' 2009 Super Bowl championships and some winning seasons by the New Orleans Hornets, who play in an arena adjacent to the Superdome.

    The stadium is built over the old Girod Cemetery, where 30,000 people, including many victims of cholera and yellow fever epidemics, were buried.

    The dilapidated graveyard was deconsecrated in 1957 and many of the remains relocated. But when Superdome construction began, many more were dug up, according to the New Orleans Times-Picayune.

    The Saints opened their first season there with a 2-12 record and did not have a winning season until 1987 -- and the idea of a curse was born.

    "I guess if you're a true believer in voodoo you might might take it seriously," said Tulane University professor Lawrence Powell, a local historian. "Most people talk about it tongue-in-cheek. At least in the circles I move in."

    But the Saints themselves bought into the curse enough to hire a voodoo priestess, Ava Kay Jones, to perform rituals before two games in 2000 and 2001. Her record: 1-1.

    Chamani's own ritual resulted in a Browns victory, she said, casting further doubt on the idea of a curse.

    Maybe she isn't the best expert to consult, though. After all, she admits that when the lights went out Sunday, her own lights were already out.

    "I went into a snooze," she said.

    "I guess sometimes life is a curse itself."

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    This ad for Bud Light, featuring Stevie Wonder and his hit song "Superstition," aired during the second quarter of Super Bowl XLVII.

     

     

     

     

     

  • In churches and stadiums, Americans mourn school shooting victims

    By M. Alex Johnson, NBC News

    Jessica Rinaldi / Reuters

    New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady wears a decal on his helmet Sunday, Dec. 16, 2012, in tribute to the victims at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn.

    Updated at 8:26 p.m. ET: Americans came together in the thousands Sunday to honor the memories of the 26 victims of the shootings at a Connecticut elementary school.

    This Sunday was Gaudete Sunday, the Advent observance of joy and celebration, but in churches and cathedrals across the country, the message was one of reassurance and comfort for the distressed and the afflicted.

    Hundreds of people signed a book of condolences and prayed special prayers Sunday morning at Our Lady of the Cross Parish in Holyoke, Mass.

    "I lost a little child once, just a matter of days old, and that's still with me although it's 50 years later," Paula Brunault of Holyoke told NBC station WWLP of Springfield, Mass.

    "I just know that prayers surround the people, really and truly. It's the best thing we can do for them," she said.


    The Rev. Scott Kubinski, pastor of Christ the Redeemer Parish in the Elmira, N.Y., area, denied that the shootings were the will of God. Instead, he told parishioners at St. Casimir's Catholic Church, it was the fruit of the free will that God allows people to have, NBC station WETM of Elmira reported.

    Full coverage: Tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary

    "God isn't happy about it, but God is with us through it all, giving us strength," he said. "That's why people do turn to faith in times of sadness and why they turn to prayer."

    Lanza was student at school where he killed 26, shot mom multiple times

    More than 150 chaplains of the Law Enforcement Chaplaincy of Sacramento, Calif., dressed in full police uniform Sunday and visited churches, restaurants and shopping malls to offer hope.

    A twin, talented teachers, a jazzman's daughter: Portraits of the victims

    At Bayside Church, an Evangelical Covenant megachurch in Roseville, Calif., Senior Chaplain Mindi Russell told thousands of families who packed inside to pray for the victims and families of Friday's massacre.


    Russell said it was understandable that children were asking why the shooting happened and why so many people were killed. 

    As families hugged one another and prayed for the violence to end, Russell reassured the congregation that while there are bad people in the world, there are many more good people, NBC station KCRA of Sacramento reported.

    NFL teams also honored the shooting victims, lowering flags to half-staff  and observing a moment of silence before all of Sunday's games. Some teams brought young children onto the field, and players — many of them visibly moved — stood hand in hand with them.

    The New England Patriots — whose owner, Robert Kraft, also owns a box company that has a factory less than a mile from Sandy Hook Elementary School — were wearing black-ribbon logos on their helmets for Sunday night's game against the San Francisco 49ers. 

    The Patriots also planned to fire 26 white flares — one for each of the victims — at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.

    The New York Giants wore decals bearing the letters SHES — standing for Sandy Hook Elementary School — on their helmets Sunday for their game in Atlanta against the Falcons. Coach Tom Coughlin told NFL.com that his team had been "very, very much affected" by the shootings.

    The New York Jets were to wear the same decal Monday night for their game against the Tennessee Titans.

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  • Friends: Chiefs' Jovan Belcher and girlfriend had strained relationship

    The day after Kansas City Chiefs' linebacker Jovan Belcher fatally shot his girlfriend and then killed himself, fans mourned a tragedy. NBC's Than Truong reports.

    By Isolde Raftery, NBC News

    The relationship between Kansas Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher and his girlfriend, Kasandra Perkins, became strained after the birth of their daughter, family and friends say.


    Belcher, 25, fatally shot Perkins, 22, Saturday and then drove to a stadium parking lot where he committed suicide in front of two coaches and the team's general manager, leading many to wonder what went wrong in Belcher's promising young life.

    Perkins’ friends and family described a fraught relationship, though Belcher's family said outsiders can't really know what was going on between them.

    The night before she was killed, Perkins went to a Trey Songz concert with some friends "to take a break," Lynell Diggs, a friend who was with her told Newsday.

    "He [Belcher] didn't want her going out with the baby at home," said Diggs.

    PFT: Coach says he 'wasn't able to reach the young man'

    According to police reports, Belcher and Perkins were arguing around 7 a.m. on Saturday. Also at their home was Belcher's mother, who was visiting to help care for their three-month-old daughter, Zoey Michelle.

    Around 7:50 a.m., Belcher shot Perkins several times. She was later pronounced dead at a hospital.

    Belcher drove 15 minutes to Arrowhead Stadium where he stood in the parking lot and thanked general manager Scott Pioli, head coach Romeo Crennel and linebackers coach Gary Gibbs, for what they had done for him, news reports said. Belcher had played three seasons for the Chiefs and had started in nearly every game.

    Then he pulled the trigger.

    Angela Perkins, 32, Perkins' cousin, told Newsday that Belcher and Perkins hadn't been getting along for some time. She had visited around the time the baby was born, she said.

    She said having a baby and Belcher's busy schedule strained their relationship, according to Newsday.

    Ed Zurga / AP

    Kansas City Chiefs general manager Scott Pioli, left, and coach Romeo Crennel stand together before an NFL football game against the Carolina Panthers at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Mo. on Sunday, the day after witnessing linebacker Jovan Belcher kill himself.

    Perkins' Instagram profile suggested a different story. On Friday, fewer than 24 hours before she died, she posted photos of Belcher smiling and kissing their daughter.

    Outside Belcher’s mother’s home Saturday in West Babylon, N.Y., where he grew up and attended high school, friends and family gathered. Jerseys and Letterman jackets had been hung up along the outside of the house. Trophies and photographs lined the ground beneath.

    They raised plastic cups to toast Belcher, who was described as quiet, thoughtful, a role model.

    Belcher played football in West Babylon but wasn't recruited to play college ball, according to the Boston Globe. Rather, he was a star wrestler who kept trim — 6-foot-2 and under 200 pounds. 

    In 2008, Belcher told the Globe: "I do like being the underdog because you can come up and surprise people."

    At the University of Maine, Belcher became the team captain and was named national defensive player of the year.

    "When he got to campus, he was a phenomenally impressive young man, in how he conducted himself in and around the young men in our program," Maine coach Jack Cosgrove told the Globe at the time. "We were fortunate nobody else recruited him." 

    Cosgrove described Belcher's "infectious smile" and said he was a great role model who worked well with children — the football player had been a child development and family relations major.  

    MSNBC's Alex Witt talks with The Nation's Dave Zirin about the Kansas City Chiefs playing on Sunday, a day after linebacker Jovan Belcher killed his girlfriend and then himself.

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  • Police: Kansas City Chiefs linebacker kills girlfriend, then himself

    Around 8 a.m. Saturday, police say Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher shot his girlfriend and then drove to the stadium where he shot himself in front of staff there. NBC's Thanh Truong reports.

    By NBC News staff and wire services

    Updated at 8:15 p.m. ET: KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Jovan Belcher shot his girlfriend several times after an argument and then drove to Arrowhead Stadium, where he committed suicide, authorities said.


    Standing in the parking lot of the team's practice facility, Belcher held a gun to his head and spoke to his coach and general manager, thanking them for all they had done for him. Then he pulled the trigger.  

    NBC Sports: Agent remembers Jovan Belcher as 'a happy, proud father' 

    Authorities did not release a possible motive for the murder-suicide, although police said that Belcher, 25, and his girlfriend, 22-year-old Kasandra M. Perkins, had been arguing recently.

    The two are parents to 3-month-old Zoey. Belcher's mother, who reported the shooting at the Kansas City home, had moved in with the couple to help care for the infant. 

    The team said it would play its home game against the Carolina Panthers as scheduled on Sunday at noon local time "after discussions between the league office, Head Coach Romeo Crennel and Chiefs team captains."

    A spokesman for the team told The Associated Press that Crennel plans to coach on Sunday.

    NBC Sports: Chiefs to play Panthers at regularly scheduled time

    Belcher was a native of West Babylon, N.Y., on Long Island, where he had played football but wasn't recruited to play college ball, according to the Boston Globe. Rather, he was a star wrestler who kept trim -- 6-foot-2 and under 200 pounds. 

    In 2008, Belcher told the Globe: "I do like being the underdog because you can come up and surprise people."

    At the University of Maine, Belcher became the team captain and was named national defensive player of the year.

    "When he got to campus, he was a phenomenally impressive young man, in how he conducted himself in and around the young men in our program," Maine coach Jack Cosgrove told the Globe at the time. "We were fortunate nobody else recruited him." 

    Cosgrove described Belcher's "infectious smile" and said he was a great role model who worked well with children -- the football player had been a child development and family relations major.  

    "His move to the NFL was in keeping with his dreams," Cosgrove said Saturday.

    Belcher wasn't picked up as a possible draftee by the NFL. So he signed with the Kansas City Chiefs as an undrafted free agent, made the team and stayed with it for four years, moving into the starting lineup. He'd played in all 11 games this season.

    He also stayed connected with his college passion. The Kansas City Star newspaper has video of the linebacker reading with a third-grade boy. 

    "I love doing stuff like this because I went to school to work with young adolescents," Belcher told the Star. "I feel like I can connect with kids real well." 

    Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt issued a statement Saturday, saying, "The entire Chiefs family is deeply saddened by today's events, and our collective hearts are heavy with sympathy, thoughts and prayers for the families and friends affected by this unthinkable tragedy." 

    A member of the Kansas City Chiefs has reportedly died after shooting himself at the team facility early Saturday.

    NBC Sports: Chiefs' owner Clark Hunt 'deeply saddened'  

    The NFL also released a statement expressing sympathy: "We have connected the Chiefs with our national team of professional counselors to support both the team and the families of those affected. We will continue to provide assistance in any way that we can."

    Saturday breakdown
    Authorities reported receiving a call Saturday morning from Belcher's mother, who said it was her daughter who had been shot multiple times at a residence about five miles from the Arrowhead complex, an identification that initally led to confusion.

    "She treated Kasandra like a daughter," said Kansas City police spokesman Darin Snapp. Perkins was pronounced dead at a hospital.

    Police then received a phone call from the Chiefs' training facility.

    "We kind of knew what we were dealing with," Snapp said. The player was "holding a gun to his head" as he stood in front of the front doors of the practice facility.

    "And there were (General Manager Scott) Pioli and Crennel and another coach or employee was standing outside and appeared to be talking to him. It appeared they were talking to the suspect," Snapp said. "The suspect began to walk in the opposite direction of the coaches and the officers and that's when they heard the gunshot. It appears he took his own life."

    The coaches told police they never felt in any danger, Snapp said.

    "They said the player was actually thanking them for everything they'd done for him," he said. "They were just talking to him and he was thanking them and everything. That's when he walked away and shot himself."

    At Belcher's mother's home on Long Island, relatives declined to talk to reporters. A purple SUV in the home's driveway was flying a small Kansas City Chiefs flag.

    Perkins' Facebook page shows the couple smiling and holding the baby. Jennifer Ashley, a friend of Perkins, told the Star that Perkins was a student at Blue River Community College in nearby Independence and that she wanted to be a teacher.

    Ashley told the Star that Perkins was introduced to Belcher by the girlfriend of another Chiefs’ player. 

    The young mother updated her Instagram account regularly with photos of baby Zoey and Belcher. On Friday, she posted photos of Belcher smiling and kissing their daughter. 

    Football tragedies
    Belcher is the latest among several players and NFL retirees to die from self-inflicted gunshot wounds in the past couple of years. The death of the beloved star Junior Seau, who shot himself in the chest in at his California home last May, sent shock waves around the league.

    Seau's family, like those of other suicide victims, has donated his brain tissue to determine if head injuries he sustained playing football might be linked to his death.

    Belcher did not have an extensive injury history, though the linebacker showed up on the official injury report on Nov. 11, 2009, as being limited in practice with a head injury. Belcher played four days later against the Oakland Raiders.

    Earlier this year, the NFL provided a grant to help establish an independently operated phone service that connects players, coaches, team officials and other staff with counselors trained to work through personal and emotional crises. The NFL Life Line is available 24 hours a day.

    Kansas City Mayor Sly James said that he spoke to Pioli after the shooting.

    "It's unfathomable ... Think about your worst nightmare and multiply it by five," James said.

    The season has been a massive disappointment for the Chiefs, who were expected to contend for the AFC West title. They're just 1-10 and mired in an eight-game losing streak marked by injuries, poor play and fan upheaval, with constant calls the past several weeks for Pioli and Crennel to be fired.

    Chiefs quarterback Brady Quinn told The Kansas City Star that when the team met later Saturday morning, Crennel broke the news to them.

    "It was obviously tough for coach to have to tell us that," Quinn said. "He really wasn't able to finish talking to us. We got together and prayed and then we moved on."

    But Quinn said the team was so stunned, it was hard to digest what had happened.

    "It's hard mostly because I keep thinking about what I could have done to stop this," he said.

    This article includes reporting from NBC News staff and The Associated Press. 

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  • To battle concussions, NFL, Army seek to change 'warrior culture'

    By Jeff Black, Staff Writer, NBC News

    Progress on limiting the health effects of concussions in the NFL and the Army will take a change in the “warrior culture” that keeps players and soldiers silent and their comrades and leaders inattentive to the problem.

    That’s the message NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond T. Odierno delivered in a panel discussion held at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, N.Y. on Thursday afternoon and streamed online by the Army.


    Goodell appeared on the panel the same day that the NFL filed a motion to dismiss 140 concussion lawsuits, saying the claims are pre-empted by federal labor law.

    Related: Military study finds training concussions for some troops

    Before an audience of cadets, the two leaders, as well as two soldiers, two former players and two brain injury specialists, probed the topics of concussions and mild traumatic brain injury (TBI) in sports and the military and what can be done to help identify, treat and prevent them.

    Brain injuries have been linked with the suicides of former NFL players, most recently Junior Seau,  and suicides in the military.

    All agreed that while coaches, platoon leaders and other leaders should bear responsibility for combating the problem, a third party needs to involved to help decide whether to keep soldiers and athletes active. 

    “It’s not just the medical people or you as leaders’ responsibility,” Odierno said. “It’s you as a fellow soldier or fellow player. If you see that they’ve been injured and you can tell that they’re not necessarily with it entirely. We’re not asking you to make a diagnosis. Make sure you tell somebody. Get them of the field. Get them off the battlefield. And make sure they get the proper medical attention. It’s all of our responsibilities.”

    Related: Concussion crisis growing in girls' soccer

    The panelists pointed out the similarities among soldiers and NFL athletes and cultures in which fierce competitiveness can allow injuries such as concussions to be ignored for sake of winning or completing a mission. Pressure from peers can also lead to players or soldiers not wanting to report health issues for fear of being perceived as weak.

    “There’s been a greater awareness that these injuries are serious because they deal with your brain and they need the proper time to be able to recover from that,” Goodell said. “Hopefully the awareness allows soldiers and players in any sport to understand that when you have these injuries you treat them seriously and make sure you get medical attention before you engage.”

    Watch the Top Videos on NBCNews.com 

    Medical experts on the panel explained how new protocols and tests in the NFL and the military help diagnose concussions. For example, the Army takes an image of soldiers' brains before deployment to create base line that can be compared with an image after combat. Other rules and regulations keep players and soldiers from returning to action before they are cleared by a medical professional.

    The effects of repeated concussions and dangers to children have spurred 38 states to pass concussion laws. Most require schools and leagues to inform athletes and parents about concussions, to remove kids who appear to have suffered concussions from play and to require players to be cleared by a health care professional before returning. The NFL has supported that effort.

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    Former NFL players Troy Vincent and Bart Oates appeared on the panel, as did Staff Sgt. Shawn Hibbard and Maj. Christopher Molino. The medical experts were Maj. Sarah Goldman, Army's traumatic brain injury program director, and Dr. Richard Ellenbogen, of the University of Washington, who co-chairs the NFL's head, neck and spine committee.

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  • California high school football star cleared of rape 10 years later

    A former California high school football star, Brian Banks, has been cleared of a rape and kidnapping conviction that derailed his life more than 10 years ago. Now, he is hoping to fulfill his dream of playing in the NFL. NBC's Kristen Dahlgren reports.

    By NBC News

    Former high school football start Brian Banks said he's "happy to be free" after a California judge exonerated him of a 2003 rape conviction because his accuser recanted her testimony.

    "It was bittersweet, you know, just happy to be free now, happy to clear my name, but also very much in a reflective state and just remembering everything I've been through to get to this point," Brian Banks told TODAY's Ann Curry Friday.

    In high school, Banks was awarded a scholarship to the University of Southern California and was regarded as a top college football prospect with good chances of going into the NFL, but his professional sports prospects were derailed by the conviction.

    Though Banks, now 26, had always maintained his innocence, he pleaded no contest a decade ago to charges that he raped a fellow student. A plea deal meant he served nearly six years in prison, instead of the 41 he could have faced.

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    Banks had tried to win release while he was in prison, but Justin Brooks, a law professor and head of the California Innocence Project at California Western School of Law in San Diego, said he could not have been exonerated without the woman coming forward and recanting her story.


    "Brian’s story is so compelling, and his case for innocence so clear, we knew we had to take this on," Brooks said in a press release. “Brian lost a huge part of his life when he was unjustly sent to prison."

    Brooks said it was the first case he had ever taken in which the defendant had already served his time and had been free for a number of years.

    Banks remained on probation, however, and was still wearing his electronic monitoring bracelet at the hearing Thursday. He also had to register as a sex offender. His lawyer said the first thing the two planned to do was report to probation officials and have the bracelet removed.

    "The charges are dismissed now," Brooks said. "It's as if it didn't happen. ... It was the shortest, greatest proceeding I've ever been part of."

    Banks' accuser, Wanetta Gibson, reportedly friended Banks on Facebook after he got out of prison, saying she wanted to "let bygones be bygones."

    According to documents in the case, she met with Banks and said she had lied, and she offered to help him clear his record.

    But she later refused to repeat her statements to prosecutors because she was worried she would have to return a $1.5 million payment from a civil suit brought by her mother against the Long Beach Unified School District.

    Researchers: More than 2,000 false convictions in 23 years

    She told Banks, "I will go through with helping you but it's like at the same time all that money they gave us, I mean gave me, I don't want to have to pay it back."

    In a brief hearing Thursday, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mark C. Kim told attorneys that the case was dismissed based on documents filed by Banks' attorneys.

    "This is a kid who was a superstar,'' Brooks said. "He would be playing the NFL now if this hadn't happened.'"

    Banks tweeted Wednesday, "So many people coming to show support tomorrow!! ‪#fullhouse‬ nothing but love and I love y'all back x2!!"

    According to his website, he wants to produce a documentary about his life, and is hoping to return to football. He's been training since his release from prison in 2007.

    "I think that any team that gives me an opportunity would be really impressed with what I can do despite all of what I've been through these past 10 years," Banks told TODAY's Curry.

    He also said he hasn't thought about what should happen to Gibson.

    "I do believe that everyone should be responsible for their actions, and if that action warrants some type of consequence, then I feel that, you know, it's justified," Banks said Friday, adding that he no longer feels angry and vengeful toward Gibson.

    "I've had my moments where I was very angry and very vengeful but I know it was best for me to try and move forward in a positive manner for the betterment of me," he said. "It hurts no one but myself to hang on to that type of negative energy."

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  • Blacked out: Power outage delays Steelers, 49ers

    Thearon W. Henderson / Getty Images

    The Stadium light go out in the second quarter during the game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and the San Francisco 49ers at Candlestick Park on Monday night.

     

    AP reports:

     Two power outages delayed the Niners' Monday night game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, first just before kickoff and again early in the second quarter after the stadium moved to a backup power source.

     NFL security chief Jeff Miller said he witnessed a transformer blow up while he was monitoring a gate outside the stadium, where a shooting during the preseason already put a negative light on this venue.

    Read the full story here.