There are plenty of people who are pointing at his past indescretions and saying he brought this on himself. Some have even said he got what he deserved. My gut reaction following word of the shooting says something different.
Sure, Sean Taylor wasn't the epitome of a role model when he entered the league. He was young, immture, and suddenly rich & famous. Taylor had a troublesome first two years in the NFL after he was drafted No. 5 overall by the Redskins in 2004. Taylor has been fined at least seven times during his professional career for late hits and other infractions. He was also fined $25,000 for skipping a mandatory rookie symposium shortly after he was drafted. In 2005, Taylor was accused of brandishing a gun at a man during a fight over some all-terrain vehicles that had allegedly been stolen. Last year, he reached a deal in which he pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors and was sentenced to 18 months' probation.
Is it that inconceivable to believe, though, that a young black man, who made some questionable decisions as the trappings of fame and money took hold, also made some positive changes in his life? I don't believe Sean Taylor was into anything shady here. I believe this shooting was a result of Sean Taylor trying to rid himself of all of the people of questionable moral character that he'd surrounded himself with in the past. Sean Taylor was trying to be a responsible father; he was trying to do right by his family, his team, and himself. Sean Taylor was becoming a man, and this is what he gets for it. It's just a shame how doing what is right can turn so horribly wrong.
Clinton Portis actually said it best (which odd, because Portis doesn't say anything best): "It's hard to expect a man to grow up overnight, 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."
Sean Taylor, in a rare interview during training camp: "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."
From Jeffri Chadiha: "It may take some time to sort out exactly what happened the day Taylor was shot. Even when we do find out, it may not make much sense. After all, Taylor had seen the value in growing up long before somebody broke into his home and shot him. He saw it in his daughter, in his growth as a player.
Hopefully, people will remember that about his character as they mourn him today
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