Obsidian Potency 3.0
In Memoriam: Sean Taylor, 1983-2007
posted Tuesday, 27 November 2007
As you can see, he didn't make it. Sean Taylor might have been the best player on the Washington Redskins, my favorite pro football team. His loss is devastating, and reading the comments on Redskins Insider makes it hit home even more. The comments from fans whose young children loved to watch Taylor play bring can bring tears to your eyes.
I guess that's ultimately the point: no matter how often this happens around the world, and in this country, this man touched the lives of many people. Despite whatever personal demons he had in his past, he leaves behind a fiancée and an 18-month-old child who has to grow up without a father. Sometimes, people are famous for the sake of being famous -- or famous because their family is famous. Taylor was famous because he was a skilled and talented pro athlete. We saw him talk occasionally in a handful of interviews, we watched his body language on the field, we watched his camaraderie with teammates. This creates a certain closeness that you don't get when you hear about a lesser-known stranger who one hears about on the evening news.
But my feelings aren't all because of his celebrity status. I probably would be a lot less devastated if Taylor had died in a plane crash or a car accident. But this...this is just horrifying. It's even more disconcerting because he was sitting in his house, in a nice neighborhood, a decent distance from the rough area he grew up in...and someone broke into his house and killed him in the middle of the night. We'd like to think these things can't or won't happen to us. They can, and this serves as a stark reminder. There are more significant elements that can be discussed, just as there were when Darrent Williams died. But right now, this seems tragic more than anything else.
I'm very disappointed that we will never get to see the type of player (and, to a much lesser extent, the type of man) Sean Taylor would have become if he had lived past the age of 24. I hope the perpetrator(s) are brought to justice, and I hope Sean Taylor rests in peace.
I guess that's ultimately the point: no matter how often this happens around the world, and in this country, this man touched the lives of many people. Despite whatever personal demons he had in his past, he leaves behind a fiancée and an 18-month-old child who has to grow up without a father. Sometimes, people are famous for the sake of being famous -- or famous because their family is famous. Taylor was famous because he was a skilled and talented pro athlete. We saw him talk occasionally in a handful of interviews, we watched his body language on the field, we watched his camaraderie with teammates. This creates a certain closeness that you don't get when you hear about a lesser-known stranger who one hears about on the evening news.
But my feelings aren't all because of his celebrity status. I probably would be a lot less devastated if Taylor had died in a plane crash or a car accident. But this...this is just horrifying. It's even more disconcerting because he was sitting in his house, in a nice neighborhood, a decent distance from the rough area he grew up in...and someone broke into his house and killed him in the middle of the night. We'd like to think these things can't or won't happen to us. They can, and this serves as a stark reminder. There are more significant elements that can be discussed, just as there were when Darrent Williams died. But right now, this seems tragic more than anything else.
I'm very disappointed that we will never get to see the type of player (and, to a much lesser extent, the type of man) Sean Taylor would have become if he had lived past the age of 24. I hope the perpetrator(s) are brought to justice, and I hope Sean Taylor rests in peace.
Want to read comments, or have something to say? Bring it.
Obsidian Hit Counter
Total: 266,414
since: 18 Oct 2004
since: 18 Oct 2004