Still Wrapping My Head Around It
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007
I’ll get back to regular updates tomorrow or the next day (that’s what we do, after all) but in the meantime I’m not ashamed to admit that I’m really broken up about this. Sean Taylor’s murder has made it hard for me to think about sports the same way.
I want to share with everyone this Washington Post article about Taylor, from almost exactly one year ago.
On one level it’s almost impossible to read, highlighting as it does the best qualities of a man we just lost. But I point it out because the very thing that makes it so sad also brings a smile.
Washington had a rough year last year, and in this article about a victory over Carolina you have Sean Taylor as the focus, doing everything right and blossoming into a great player.
“That game was testament to him as a player, his all-around tackling and going after the ball,” Fox said. “You got to see every facet of his game Sunday, and we’re just hoping that as the weeks continue to progress you’ll see more of that. He’s a great player, and when he’s clicking on all cylinders you get to see those types of performances.”
Taylor, who, teammates say, can be difficult to get to know, politely declined to comment for this story yesterday when his six-tackle, one-interception performance earned him NFC defensive player of the week honors.
Coach Joe Gibbs and Gregg Williams, assistant head coach-defense, have been lauding Taylor all season (”Sean’s play has been a bright spot for us,” Gibbs said) and they did so again Sunday. It was without a doubt Taylor’s best game, including the Dallas game, when his return of a blocked field goal attempt set up the game-winning field goal. Against Carolina, there were no missed tackles on critical plays. Instead, he was focused throughout, reacted well to the ball in flight and did not get turned around or pursue poor angles to the ballcarrier.
I’m not here to claim that Taylor’s life was more important than anyone else’s simply because he played football. I get that there are tragedies every day, and I get that it’s somewhat unfair for media types (of which I’m a member) to only bemoan a tragic circumstance when it happens to someone famous. That said, I’m damn sick of people making that point on the radio, in print, on sites, etc. For god’s sake, let people grieve.
What I would love above all else is for two nuggets of good to come from this. First, I’d hope that sports fans use it as a chance to remind themselves of why they watch. We love the games for a lot of different and often personal reasons, but one thread that runs through it all is the sense of community and joy that they create. We shouldn’t ever lose sight of that, and in fact we should remember to appreciate it more than we sometimes do. It’s a wonderful luxury to have.
Second, if Taylor’s death shocks even one young kid into realizing that he needs to pay close attention to the company he keeps, and to look after himself and his family, then it won’t have been in vain.
