Sean Taylor's Murder - N51_rob's Blog

N51_rob's Blog

Sean Taylor's Murder

Posted on November 19, 2008 at 07:37 PM.

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As some may know I ride submarines in the U.S. Navy. Last year I was deployed for almost the entire football season. That isn't a big deal. I signed up to defend my country and freedom isn't free. Men and women like myself make sure that bill is payed everyday here and abroad. We do it because we want to, not have to. That is the beauty of an all volunteer military. You choose to be there. But I digress. It was during the missed football season that a member of my favorite team the Washington Redskins was murdered in his home protecting his family something that every husband and father can relate to. I never really got a chance to voice my opinions on this subject. It's been almost a year and while many have moved on the subject still kind of bothers me.

I found out in the way that most news on a submarine is spread through hearsay. Walking in a hall way one of the radiomen told me that Sean Taylor was shot. I laughed this off, because well he was a Cowboy fan and we had been going back and forth for almost three months about deadskins this, cowgirls that. He had happened to copy a part of a news boradcast not the whole thing and the policy was that he couldn't spread send out incomplete news to the crew, but for months he had been sharing with me. Well a day later we get the full news and sports report. Well there it was Sean Taylor shot in the leg at his home. The report wasn't full of details and the information was over 16 hours old. It stated that he was in the hospital and doctors believe that he would be okay. So I went to sleep thinking that sucks at least he wasn't out running the streets (I was thinking about the old ST who flashed guns over stoled jet ski's.) I hadn't been able to witness his transformation into a better man, father and boy friend to his family. The very next day a different guy tells me that he was dead. The radiomen that I usually ask this stuff was sleeping and would be so for the next 6 hours. I went to look and see of there was a new news and sports there wasn't so I was just blown and didn't know what to believe. 3 days later we get word that yes Sean Taylor did in fact die from his injuries. I was rather shocked. But there wasn't a lot that I could do about that. Just keep doing my job out there. We finally got off the boat and I hit the net looking for all the information I could. I was shocked that he was shot in his home and he had grabbed a mechette to defend himself. My first though was if he would've had one of the guns that he got rid of would he still be alive. I won an auction for tickets to the skins/cowboy game at FedEx last season for $800. I figured I needed to get up there and see one game this year. It was surreal. The 21 towels, the painted faces, the Taylor jerseys. His death galvanized a team, an organization a fan base. It was a sight like I've never seen.

Sean Taylor was a man on the football field, feared and respected by every offensive player who dared to roam across the middle, every punter who though about running a fake at a pro bowl, every RB who met him in the hole on short yardage. He played the game fast and fierce. He was supremely athletic and could make up ground in a hurry. He had flaws in his game. In 2006 it looked like he took a step back, the whole defense did for that matter. None the less Sean Taylor played the game in that rareified air that the grats do. Was he a future HOFer who knows the odds were aginst him. But I have no doubt that he would've been a perennial Pro Bowler. Between those white line he was a man.

Sean Taylor was becoming a man away from the game. I'm not naive Sean Taylor was 24 years old when he died. Lord know that at 24 despite being in the Navy I was out acting a damn fool most weekend. Difference is no one cares who I am and what I do. No spot lights on me. He left the rookie event early and was fined for that. He had issues with his shorts choosing the "cool" baggy ones over a shorter more functional pair and was picked on by teammates for it. He was arrested for a DUI, he spit in Michael Pittmans face. He was flagged for numerous personal fouls. He brandished a handgun during a dispute over stolen ATV's. He was 21, 22, 23 years old. He made the same mistakes that anyone could. He also paid for those. Something happened though at 24 Sean Taylor became a father and suddenly his perspective changed. He went from a boy off the field to a man. He wasn't seen out making poor choices. He choose to be home with is girlfriend and new baby girl. It was as if the lights went on and he saw what life was all about. Raising and loving his daughter Jackie, perhaps marrying her mother Jackie Garcia. We will never know. Sean Taylor had become a better man and a better football player. It appeared that he had gotten his life on track both on and off the field. A life that was tragically and violently cut short. Sean Taylor was a man away from the game.

R.I.P. Sean Taylor. Your aren't forgotten and won't be. I know that you are in a better place to watch over your girls.