November 26, 2007

allow me to retort:

Antoine Walker
Dunta Robinson
Eddy Curry

see a pattern?

posted by Mike McD at 3:54 PM CDT on November 26

Best wishes to him.

posted by rockstar2001 at 5:31 PM CDT on November 26

Does this sound just a tad fishy to anyone else?

Someone gets shot and it's not supposed to sound fishy? What's your point?

posted by lil_brown_bat at 7:25 PM CDT on November 26

point is.. this guy is a thug wannabe.. which being that he played at miami.. no surprise

So from your opinion, it's fine that he got shot while his girlfriend and few months old child were in the home because he played in Miami while in college?

Just heard this morning that Sean Taylor passed away from extensive loss of blood.

R.I.P.

*

posted by BornIcon at 5:10 AM CDT on November 27

Very true dyams and at only 24 years of age. Just sad.

posted by BornIcon at 5:15 AM CDT on November 27

Antoine Walker
Dunta Robinson
Eddy Curry

My thought as well. Don't know if there are just more media reports this year or if robberies against athletes are becoming more common. ESPN said this was the second attempt on Taylor's house in a week. Makes sense on a Sunday, I suppose. An awful story.

posted by yerfatma at 6:26 AM CDT on November 27

Deepest condolences to Taylor's family, friends and loved ones. RIP.

posted by terrapin at 7:19 AM CDT on November 27

R.I.P.

posted by yzelda4045 at 7:36 AM CDT on November 27

.

posted by opel70 at 7:50 AM CDT on November 27

no.. i dont feel ashamed.. if his house was burglarized eight days before, he should have taken better action to prevent it again. plus he kept a machete next to the bed, he should have been smarter than this, never bring a knife to a gun fight.

posted by jlh0837 at 8:48 AM CDT on November 27

.

posted by tommytrump at 9:06 AM CDT on November 27

jlh-I wonder how you would act in a home burglary?

And most people wouldn't expect it to happen again.
Not so soon anyway.

Sympathy to his family, friends and teammates.

posted by LadyGen at 9:18 AM CDT on November 27

well ladygen.. i keep a gun next to my bed, plus i spent 8 years in the marines, i am pretty confident if someone was to break in my home.

posted by jlh0837 at 9:22 AM CDT on November 27

It's sad and a shame. What's really sad is that he brought a machete to a gun fight.

posted by budman13 at 9:53 AM CDT on November 27

his death has no bearing on my life in any way.

[NOT BUDDHIST]

Pretty much the definition of a NUF CED commenter.

posted by yerfatma at 10:03 AM CDT on November 27

wow... you people are way to serious. i am just giving my opinion.. you dont have to like it, i could care less... just stating the obvious. i am sorry he died, but he was in no way a saint. you know when he was playing and also getting in trouble with the law, i am sure all you people werent sending your thoughts and prayers to his family and friends so that he would get his life straightened out, now that he has passed, everyone has to come out and show support... well where was the support when he was getting arrested. the sad part is that the guy has to die to be talked about as a great individual.

posted by jlh0837 at 10:31 AM CDT on November 27

the sad part is that the guy has to die to be talked about as a great individual

What just flew by your head was the point because you my friend, just missed it.

Where does anyone say that he was a "great individual" like you claimed? People are just expressing their thoughts and prayers to a human being who's life was senselessly taken away, and for what? Nothing.

posted by BornIcon at 10:41 AM CDT on November 27

Whenever somebody passes at a young age and under these circumstances it's senseless and tragic. My prayers and best wishes go out to the family in their hour of sorrow.

Making disparaging remarks about a person that passed is classless and without merit. Better to offer condolences and leave it at that.

posted by smdragon at 11:08 AM CDT on November 27

Better to offer condolences and leave it at that.

Even better, if you have nothing to offer in the conversation, hit the round button on the front of your computer.

posted by hawkguy at 11:18 AM CDT on November 27

Well said lbb. Classy.

posted by BornIcon at 12:17 PM CDT on November 27

It saves no lives. It consoles no one. It accomplishes no worthwhile purpose whatsoever.

I have to disagree with that. I don't associate with certain people (rapists, murderers, drug deals) in part because I know getting caught up in that kind of environment is a very good way to bring an early death upon myself. In some instances, yes, people do bring early death upon themselves. It doesn't make it right, it doesn't mean there shouldn't be sorrow at a the person's passing, and I am by no means lumping Sean Taylor into category (I don't know enough about his life to make in informed opinion one way or the other), but certain activities can lead to premature demises.
Obviously, running with a bad crowd doesn't necessarily lead to an automatic early death and a drug dealer can live to a ripe old age of 110, but certain activities and who we associate it can greatly influence out life expectancy. Not all, but a lot of our livelihood is in our hands.

posted by jmd82 at 12:23 PM CDT on November 27

Sean Taylor was not a saint. I can offer not evidence to really support this, but I’m confident in that statement. Taylor was tough. He seemed to embrace toughness, and he sure as hell played tough. He played tough enough to cause “alligator arms” in some of the league’s best receivers and he played “over-the-line tough” enough to cause the league to discipline him multiple times.

Sean Taylor was not a saint. He even once was investigated for taking a gun to a fight. It got him in trouble.

Sean Taylor was not a saint, but every single person that knew him says the same thing: ‘Sean had changed recently. Becoming a father changed him. He had become more mature.’ He made mistakes. Those mistakes have been documented, but give the man credit for trying. It’s the very least we can do. He was becoming a better person. Sean Taylor was not a saint, but neither are you.

Sean Taylor was not a Saint. He was a Redskin and, almost without argument, considered the best player on the team. He was an All-Pro and a clear standout in a secondary filled with first round picks. Greg Williams, his defensive coordinator, called him the finest athlete he had ever coached. He was a fan-favorite too, especially as he improved his discipline, yet still managed to keep his edge. His maturing play seemed to echo the sentiments about his personal life.

Some other people will not miss him, but I will. For the next 10 or 15 years every time a pass is completed over the middle, I’ll wonder a little bit, just a little bit, about what might have been. Sean Taylor was 24 years old and the best player on the team. What would have become of our free safety?

Of course, that wonder is only related to Sean as a football player. His teammates, friends, parents, fiancé, and daughter will be left with a deeper grief and are forced to wonder about far more serious things.

That is really why we feel sadness and offer our condolences. And we do so even though we did not know him personally. You don't need to have had a personal relationship with him to share in the grief of those he was closest to. In fact, it is quite simply what decent people do at such a time.

Sean Taylor might not have been a saint, but he was a maturing young man with tremendous talent, good friends and a growing family, and the brightest years of his life in front of him. His death is tragic. Rest in peace, Sean.

posted by 86 at 12:36 PM CDT on November 27

The dignity of humanity is inviolable, and each and every human being has the same, everlasting value. We all have a common duty to defend human dignity. Human dignity is humanity's shared possession, a possession which we all have both a part in and a responsibility for. We are bound together in a common lot which makes it impossible for us to be unaffected by the fate of others.

"No man is an island, intire of its self; every man is a piece of the Continent, a part of the maine; if a clod bee washed away by the sea, Europe is the lesse, as well as if a Promontorie were; as well as if a Mannor of thy friends or of thine owne were; any mans death diminishes me, because I am involved in Mankinde; And therefore never send to know for whom the bell tolls; It tolls for thee."
English poet John Donne

posted by irunfromclones at 12:42 PM CDT on November 27

.

posted by Joey Michaels at 1:00 PM CDT on November 27

Sorry Lil' brown bat but I wasn't making a joke.

posted by budman13 at 1:24 PM CDT on November 27

i've heard he turned around since his daughter was born, and i don't know if he's had any off the feild stuff but he had many fines for hitting hard ,but if you wanna call that thuggish then John Lynch is a thug too.

And also just becuase a few bad apples came from Miami doesn't mean everybody is, Hell Frank Gore came from Miami, and i don't think anybody cwould call him a thug.

posted by rockstar2001 at 6:48 PM CDT on November 27

posted without comment

Sean's father, Pedro, the chief of police in Florida City, Florida....

Also, just to clear something up - this is a different house in a different part of South Florida than where Sean had the ATV incident two years ago and was arrested on firearms charges. He was in his old neighbrogood near his mom's house when that incident occured, he has moved to a nicer part of town since starting his family and, according to teammates, had stopped hanging around a lot of his former associates after his last legal problems.

However, a lot of people down there know who he is, are jeolous of his wealth, etc, and it's not like no one from his old neighborhood knows his new address. At this point police are still trying to piece together the scene and their investigation is ongoing at the home.

''The public perception was that he was an outcast,'' said Clinton Portis, a teammate with both the Hurricanes and the Redskins. 'He wasn't. He just was `to himself.' There wasn't anything about him thuggish. Off the field he was quiet, nice, friendly, fun to be around, a character. . . .''

posted by Mike McD at 7:28 PM CDT on November 27

Sean Taylor has made mistakes, but haven't we all. When one of us passes I doubt that our darkest secret or worst mistake will be our defining moment or part of the grieving.
Sean Taylor may have hit hard and had a scrape or two. but was a person that matured greatly. He didn't talk to the press because he was uncomfortable with it due to being a very shy person. He was LOVED by his teammates, family and daughter.

Sean Taylor grew up in a rough section of Miami. He got himself a scholarship to a reputable prep school and got good grades, was polite and helped spearhead their fundraising. He supported the other teams and was by all accounts a great guy to be around.

He was not in the clubs at night when he was injured, he was getting treatment and taking care of his family. On the news tonight they interviewed the local children from Taylor's neighborhood in Virginia. They were all devestated and spoke of what a great friend he was to them.
"Thugs" do not regularly invite the neighborhood kids over to play video games and teach them how to fish in the pond behind his house. They do not invite their parents over to see where their kid is spending time and how. The parents and neighbors all spoke of how respected he was- not because he was a football player- but because he cared about them all and their well being.

Sean Taylor will be missed by a lot of people, not only as a football player, but as a caring human being.

posted by urall cloolis at 10:42 PM CDT on November 27

'Perhaps nobody has seen the changes in Taylor in the last 18 months more clearly than Gibbs. Except for Taylor's friends and family, perhaps few people have as sharp a sense of loss as the coach who saw a gifted, immature problem child turning into a team leader, responsible adult and Pro Bowl safety. "Sean had a great sense of humor," Gibbs said. "He would joke with me a little bit about different things that he had gone through at different times."'

posted by yerfatma at 6:57 AM CDT on November 28

From what I have read, and I try to say this without being judgemental, it appears that Sean Taylor was a young kid who made some young kid mistakes in his choices of those with whom he hung around. Once he began to mature and realize who and what he could be, he changed his style. The great tragedy is that as fast as he might have been on the football field, he could not outrun his past.

posted by Howard_T at 12:41 PM CDT on November 28

I plead the fifth...the one I should be drinking, that is.

posted by Howard_T at 4:22 PM CDT on November 28

I hope this does not wind up in a cold case file. Or even worse, get settled by street justice.

.

posted by Newbie Walker at 1:16 AM CDT on November 30