Remembering Sean Taylor

Pedro Taylor stood outside his Miami-
Dade County home and spoke of the
person who killed his son, Washington
Redskins safety Sean Taylor.

“I think one day he’ll come to grips
with himself and say, ‘You know what,
it was senseless’ and he’ll turn himself
in,” said Taylor’s father, the Florida City
police chief.

Family, friends, teammates and the
football community across the country
mourned the loss of Taylor, the 24-yearold
who died early Tuesday of a gunshot
wound from an apparent intruder.

“He will truly be missed by all of us,”
Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell
said at Redskins Park in Ashburn, Va.
“I’ll hold him close to our hearts. It’s just
a tough situation right now, and …”

Campbell’s voice drifted off, and his
eyes welled. He could say no more.

Early Monday, Taylor and longtime
girlfriend, Jackie Garcia, were awakened
by loud noises at Taylor’s home in
an affluent Miami suburb, according
to family friend Richard Sharpstein.
Taylor grabbed a machete he keeps in
the bedroom for protection, Sharpstein
said, then someone broke through the
bedroom door and fired two shots, one
missing and one hitting Taylor. Neither
the couple’s 18-month-old daughter, also
named Jackie, nor Garcia were injured
in the attack.

The bullet damaged the femoral artery
in Taylor’s leg, causing significant blood
loss. Taylor never regained consciousness
and died a little more than 24
hours later.

“This is a terrible, terrible tragedy,” said
Redskins owner Dan Snyder, his eyes red
and his voice cracking with emotion.
Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said he
did not know why Taylor returned to
Miami during the weekend. Taylor was
not required to accompany the team to
Sunday’s game at Tampa Bay because of
a knee injury.

Police had no description of a possible
suspect and were investigating whether
the shooting was connected to a break-in
at Taylor’s home eight days earlier, in
which police said someone pried open
a front window, rifled through drawers
and left a kitchen knife on a bed.

“They’re going to be looking at every
angle,” Miami-Dade Police spokesman
Alvaro Zabaleta said. “They’re going to
be looking at every lead.”

Authorities from Miami-Dade Police
and the federal Bureau of Alcohol,
Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were
in and out of Taylor’s home Tuesday.
Police were seen taking a computer from
Taylor’s home.

A stream of family and friends arrived
throughout the day. Some embraced outside;
most came and went without speaking
to a group of several dozen reporters.

At Pedro Taylor’s home, the victim’s
father was met with embrace after
embrace by friends and family members
when he arrived.

“We’re all hurting,” said Taylor’s
father, who spoke privately with Miami-
Dade homicide detectives and expressed
confidence in the investigation. “I mean
that’s my child.”

The Redskins, too, were struggling
to cope, knowing they’re scheduled to
return to the practice field Wednesday
to prepare for Sunday’s game against the
Buffalo Bills.

“I have never dealt with this,” Gibbs said.
“We’re going one hour at a time here.”

Snyder said the Redskins will honor
Taylor by wearing a patch on their jerseys
and his No. 21 on their helmets. The
NFL was expected to decide Wednesday
how it will handle tributes to Taylor at
this weekend’s games.

There is little precedence on how to
go forward, although several teams have
dealt with tragedy in recent years.

Denver Broncos cornerback Darrent
Williams was killed in a drive-by shooting
on New Year’s Day, the day after the
season ended, and teammate Damien
Nash – a running back – collapsed
and died after a charity basketball game
he’d organized in February.

San Francisco 49ers offensive lineman
Thomas Herrion died of a heart attack
after a preseason game in September
2005. Minnesota Vikings tackle Korey
Stringer died of heatstroke at a training
camp practice in 2001. Philadelphia
Eagles defensive end Jerome McDougle
was shot in the stomach by three armed
robbers in southwest Miami in July 2005
and missed the following season.

Taylor was having his best season
on the field. Instead of playing a hybrid
safety position, he was a true free safety.
He used speed and power to chase
passes and intimidate receivers. His five
interceptions tie for the lead in the NFC,
even though he missed the last two games
because of his sprained knee.

“What got cut short here was a career
that was going to go to a lot of Pro Bowls
and have a lot of fun,” Gibbs said.
He also was becoming a leader, and
his teammates had elected him to the
players’ committee that meets regularly
with Gibbs.

“He was kind of a wild child, like
myself,” said New York Giants tight end
Jeremy Shockey, who played with Taylor
at the University of Miami and worked
out with him in the offseason. “But life
changed for Sean after he had his baby
girl. Fatherhood really changed him. He
grew up and matured.”

Private and slow to trust anyone,
Taylor rarely granted interviews. During
his last known full-length interview, conducted
with WTEM-AM in September, he
spoke of the joy he felt when he made his
daughter laugh, how he wanted to give
her life experiences different from his
own, and how he did not fear death.

“You can’t be scared of death,” he told
the radio station. “When that time comes,
it comes. … You never see a person who
has lived their life to the fullest. They
sometimes feel sorry for like a child,
maybe, that didn’t get a chance to do
some of the things they thought that
child might have had a chance to do in
life. I’ve been blessed. God’s looked out
for me, so, I’m happy.”

Still, Taylor, drafted No. 5 overall by
the Redskins in April 2004, got off to a
rocky start in the NFL.

He had a drunken driving charge that
later was dismissed. He skipped part of the
NFL’s mandatory rookie symposium. He
fired two agents. He didn’t like his contract.
He refused to return Gibbs’ calls during
the offseason. And he was fined at least
seven times for late hits, uniform violations
and other on-field infractions.

In 2005, he was accused of pointing
a gun during a fight over all-terrain
vehicles near his Miami home, a legal
battle that ended a year later when he
pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors
and was sentenced to probation.

“You think back to how much heat he
took for everything,” said close friend and
Redskins running back Clinton Portis.
“For missing camp, for not being around
for this or that, for missing the rookie
symposium. You come to the realization
that all of that means nothing.”