The Dallas Cowboys must play a game on Sunday - as hard as that will be to do. As always in these cases, football is rightly seen as trivial. Its importance, which means so much to us week after week, is suddenly revealed to be just a game. A cocoon away from the ups and downs of everyday life. But it can't always remain safely tucked away from tragedy.
Jerry Brown lost his life, Josh Brent has altered his life forever. The even sadder point - this could have easily been avoided. I won't even go into the senselessness of drunk driving. By now, it should be apparent to all.
It's hard as a fan to know what to do. I'm sure it's even harder for the players and coaches. The schedule says the Cowboys must play, so they will. The Kansas City Chiefs went through something similar last week.
Earlier this week we noted how far Josh Brent had come, how much he had progressed on the field. The loss of Jay Ratliff to injury wasn't as bad as we thought. Brent was young, he was talented, and he was improving. A whole world awaited him. Not anymore.
This is Brent's second time around on DUI charges. It was a red flag coming out of college into the NFL, but he'd made most people forget about it. Brent never made headlines in the NFL for off-the-field behavior, and for a while it seemed the second chance had proven successful. Until the events of Saturday morning.
Say a prayer for, or mourn however you choose, the death of Jerry Brown. Take a lesson seriously from this about getting behind the wheel after drinking. Otherwise, I have nothing more. It's all so senseless and tragic.
The Cowboys season will go on, we at BTB will keep covering it. But some of the joy has been taken away.
* Robert Callaway has been called up from the practice squad and will likely play on Sunday.