Thursday, November 29, 2007

Sean Taylor- Forever Remembered as an Athlete, a Son, and a Father


The death of Sean Taylor, the former Pro-Bowler, University of Miami All-American, and Big East Defensive Player of the year, is a tragic loss to say the least. Shot in the femoral artery early Monday morning in an attempted robbery,Paramedics responded to the 911 call at 1:45 a.m., which was sometime after Taylor had been shot, causing him to undergo prolonged blood loss. The phone lines are suspected of being cut according to police reports; forcing Taylor’s girlfriend to frantically search for her cell phone to make the 911 call. Taylor underwent a seven hour surgery Monday and was actually responsive according to the doctors onsite post-surgery. The concerns about possible brain damage were still eminent as the blood loss had been extremely severe. The shock however, came at 3:30 a.m. Tuesday, when Taylor was pronounced dead at Jackson memorial Hospital in down town Miami.


The heartbreaking turn of events hit me yesterday morning when I woke up to a text message from a friend informing me of the news. After watching an ESPN report confirming the rumor, a feeling of emptiness came over me. It’s not as though I had known Sean Taylor and in fact, there is lot more that I don’t know about him than what I do know. Yet, the emotion I was experiencing was one of sorrowful inquiry. I wondered to myself, what does his death accomplish for someone else namely, the person who killed him? In my eyes its senseless loss of life and the worst part is, Sean Taylor was only 24 years old; his life and the life of his 18 month old daughter were just beginning. I hope whoever pulled the trigger has to think about that every day for the rest of his/her life; that there is now another child out there who is going to grow up without a father that you took from her…

The events surrounding the shooting and possible robbery attempt are still unknown and a suspect is yet to be identified. Taylor’s past run-ins with the justice department raise questions that we normally wouldn’t pose regarding the events surrounding his death. But, because he had been convicted of two misdemeanor charges for gun brandishing and assault and battery, it raises suspicion about the chain of events leading to his murder. For starters, this was not the first robbery attempt. Just earlier this week someone had broken into his house and apparently left without taking any possessions. Then, Taylor, who had been on injury reserve with a sprained knee ligament, went back to Miami this weekend even though he had a scheduled team meeting in Washington on Monday. Why Taylor remained in Miami late Sunday night still remains a relevant question and may have some bearing on the case in terms of who killed him and what their motive was.Until more information is released, it is impossible to know the truth regarding this terrible tragedy. What I do know is this: on November 27th 2007, the Taylor Family, the University of Miami community, the Washington Redskins football team, and anyone who has any appreciation for sport and humanity lost another man who was turning the corner to become a better role model, a father, an athlete, and a good human being.


4 comments:

Alex Margulies said...

The death of Sean Taylor is just awful. I feel bad for his family, his teammates, and close friends. It really is a tradgedy to the Hurricane community and the Miami community.

RGoldberg1 said...

This is a very tragic event. Sean Taylor, in only 4 years as an NFL player, was one of the most dominant defensive players of recent memory. There seems to be a lot of questions that have yet to be answered about his murder and is very disturbing. He will definitely be missed.

edookatedfool said...

It is unfortunate that the current success of the NFL must coincide with an increase in athletes with criminal backgrounds and behavior. Don't misinterpret my words, I loved Sean Taylor. He was a bright, young star in the NFL, and if you play as much Madden as I do, you know that he was going to be special by the time he retired. Unfortunately, Sean's activities early in life got him involved with some dangerous people, and the day finally came when his past caught up with him. Hopefully Randy Shannon's era at Miami will become defined by athletic excellence, as opposed to the tragedy and failure it has excited thus far.

Anonymous said...

Sean Taylor was an exceptional athlete. He gave it his all everytime he was on the field. Its a tragedy everytime a player of his caliber is killed. He was a rsing star shot down in his prime and the whole case surrounding his death seems to be a bit shady. The police should get their act together and catch his killer.