‘‘The resources the league and the teams offer are always good,’’ Chiefs offensive lineman Ryan Lilja said, ‘‘it’s just up to guys to take advantage of it.’’

Too often, that doesn’t happen.

‘‘Literally, I said I'll get down on my hands and knees and beg you to do this because it’s the most important thing there is,’’ Garrett said. ‘‘There’s no issue that you have in your life that we can’t somehow solve in some way and in some way make it better. I just say that from the bottom of my heart, because you never know what guys are going through and you just want to let them know they have a place to turn.’’

Chiefs linebacker Derrick Johnson, who was close to Belcher, found himself asking in the days after the shootings whether there was something he could have done. Like Quinn, Johnson wondered whether his teammate was giving off signs that something was amiss in his personal life.

Ultimately, Johnson said, the shootings may serve as a wake-up call to people everywhere to put down their cell phones and start having real conversations.

‘‘We need to talk to each other more as men, not as football players,’’ he said. ‘‘Generally men don’t talk about their feelings. They don’t cry. They don’t show their emotion. As a teammate, we have to do more.’’

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AP Sports Writers Howard Fendrich and Schuyler Dixon, and freelance writer Jason Young contributed to this report.

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