Sometimes real life interjects itself into this madness that we call football. And when it does, it usually isn’t pretty.
Redskins safety Sean Taylor has passed away from a gunshot wound suffered yesterday at his home in Miami.
The would cut through the femoral artery in his leg and caused significant blood loss. ESPN reported that while undergoing six hours of surgery yesterday, the doctors at one time had to open his chest in an attempt to keep him alive.
The Miami-Dade police are investigating the incident, which came eight days after an intruder was reported at Taylor’s home. There is currently no report of any leads and the investigation is ongoing.
ESPN is reporting that family friend Richard Sharpstein found out the particulars from Taylor’s girlfriend. She told him the couple was awakened by loud noises coming from within the house. Taylor grabbed a machete he keeps in the bedroom for protection and went to investigate. Before he could leave the room, however, someone broke through the bedroom door and fired two shots, one of which hit Taylor. Neither Taylor’s girlfriend nor his 1-year-old daughter, Jackie, were injured.
Taylor was the 5th overall pick in the 2004 draft out of the University of Miami, where he was an All-American in 2003. However, in 2005, he was accused of brandishing a gun at a man during a fight over ATVs. Last year he pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors and would serve 18 months probation.
Since the birth of his daughter, teammates, especially running back Clinton Portis, who played with Taylor at Miami, said that he had matured past the person he was in college.
“It’s hard to expect a man to grow up overnight,” said Portis. “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.”
While we as fans can rile and rant against players of other teams, especially from within the division, it’s times like this that bring pause to the game.
Our thoughts and prayers are with the Taylor family and their friends.
UPDATE: According to the Washington Post, it appears that this was a premeditated attack:
[Vinny] Cerrato said Taylor’s fiancee tried to call police from the house line, only to discover that the line had been cut. She had to use her cell phone to call 911, which delayed the response time.
“This was a deliberate attack,” Cerrato said without elaborating.
If true, then it could be related to the original complaint from a couple of years ago. More to come …