Soulfull of Thoughts: Redskins' Sean Taylor Dies

Redskins' Sean Taylor Dies

The Headline Reads: NFL's Sean Taylor dies of gunshot wound (CNN)

Sickening. This entire situation is just sickening. Yet again, this hood mentality that seems to follow our black celebrities and sports figures has taken another life, just as it was beginning. There are so many news reports speculating that this was not a burglary, but premeditated murder due to some ongoing beef. One of my girlfriends told me this morning that Redskins' Radio was reporting that someone left a knife on Sean's bed the previous day before he was shot and that the assailants also cut the phone lines after entering the house. Wow. To me, something just doesn't seem right...

Taylor, the fifth overall pick in the 2004 NFL draft following an All-American season at the University of Miami, was shot early Monday in the upper leg, damaging the key femoral artery and causing significant blood loss.

"According to a preliminary investigation, it appears that the victim was shot inside the home by an intruder," Miami-Dade County police said in a statement. "We do not have a subject description at this time."

But police were still investigating the attack, which came just eight days after an intruder was reported at Taylor's home. Officers were sent to the home about 1:45 a.m. Monday after Taylor's girlfriend called 911.

Sharpstein said Taylor's girlfriend told him the couple was awakened by loud noises, and Taylor grabbed a machete he keeps in the bedroom for protection. Someone then broke through the bedroom door and fired two shots, one missing and one hitting Taylor, Sharpstein said. Taylor's 1-year-old daughter, Jackie, was also in the house, but neither she nor Taylor's girlfriend were injured.

Police found signs of forced entry, but have not determined if they were caused Monday, or the previous burglary.

The shooting happened in the pale yellow house he bought two years ago. Eight days before the attack someone pried open a front window, rifled through drawers and left a kitchen knife on a bed at Taylor's home, according to police.

"They're really sifting through that incident and today's incident," Miami-Dade Detective Mario Rachid said, "to see if there's any correlation."

Taylor's death comes nearly a year after Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams was killed in a drive-by shooting following an argument at a Denver nightclub on Jan. 1. University of Miami defensive lineman Bryan Pata was shot to death in November 2006 several miles from Taylor's home in an unsolved killing.

Taylor starred as a running back and defensive back at Gulliver Prep in Miami. His father, Pedro Taylor, is police chief of Florida City. [Source]

My goodness. I didn't know his dad was a cop and a police chief, no less. Wow, my heart really goes out to his entire family. Man, a mother and father without their son. A daughter without her father. And a team loses one of the hardest hitters in the league...

"It's hard to expect a man to grow up overnight," said teammate and close friend Clinton Portis, who played with Taylor at Miami. "But ever since he had his child, it was like a new Sean, and everybody around here knew it. He was always smiling, always happy, always talking about his child."

On the field, Taylor's play was often erratic. Assistant coach Gregg Williams frequently called Taylor the best athlete he'd ever coached, but nearly every big play was mitigated by a blown assignment. Taylor led the NFL in missed tackles in 2006 yet made the Pro Bowl because of his reputation as one of the hardest hitters in the league.

This year, however, Taylor was allowed to play a true free safety position, using his speed and power to chase down passes and crush would-be receivers. His five interceptions tie for the league lead in the NFC, even though he missed the last two games because of a sprained knee.

"I just take this job very seriously," Taylor said in a rare group interview during training camp. "It's almost like, you play a kid's game for a king's ransom. And if you don't take it serious enough, eventually one day you're going to say, 'Oh, I could have done this, I could have done that.'

"So I just say, 'I'm healthy right now, I'm going into my fourth year, and why not do the best that I can?' And that's whatever it is, whether it's eating right or training myself right, whether it's studying harder, whatever I can do to better myself."

His hard work was well-noted.

"He loved football. He felt like that's what he was made to do," Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said. "And I think what I've noticed over the last year and a half ... is he matured. I think his baby had a huge impact on him. There was a real growing up in his life." [Source]

Rest in Peace Sean.

posted by Soulfull @ 11/27/2007

2 Comments:

At 11/28/2007 1:37 PM, YAZMAR said...: First time coming thru...Nice blog you got here...commentary is on point!Definitely wont be my last visit!

www.Yazmar.com
At 11/29/2007 10:40 AM, KimPossible said...: That is so unfortunate. Nice blog and a good way to honor Sean. His daughter is so beautiful. I pray that God would give his family the peace to get through such a tragedy.

Keep in touch and stop by my blogspot.

KimPossible