Keenan McCardell said it best — “We’re just numb. We’re just numb.”
Sean Taylor’s shooting Monday is a shocker. The NFL’s hardest hitter is struggling to live. His NFL career could be over and that’s the upside of the prognosis. It gets a whole lot worse.
The Pro Bowl safety’s life is forever shattered. The Washington Redskins are devastated.
You want answers. After a recent break-in that reportedly included a knife left on the bed, why wasn’t there more security around the home? Why was Taylor keeping a machete by his bed for protection? Why was he even there? Obviously, this was more than a random home invasion.
But that really doesn’t matter now. I feel for Taylor. This is really a tragedy.
The Redskins dropping three straight is inconsequential. That they’re not going to the playoffs barring a miracle is irrelevant. Losing their best player amid his best season is an afterthought.
Coach Joe Gibbs spoke 10 minutes and not one word was about anything other than Taylor. Gibbs has dealt with troubles before, mentioning Dexter Manley, who has been bedeviled by drug problems, but the elder statesman of the Redskins was showing pure heartbreak at the podium.
“Just the tragic way this took place takes your breath away,” Gibbs said. “It’s a hard time for everybody. … All of us are emotional right now, caught up in it. … I’m living it an hour at a time here.”
Taylor seemed a promising young man who was too harshly judged by the public and media that didn’t know him. Taylor barely spoke to the media, but his rare interviews showed someone just trying to make his way. His public impression of arrogance coming from his bone-jarring hits proved how many are too quick to merge someone’s on-field and off-field personalities.
True, Taylor made some mistakes. The drunk-driving charge was dismissed thanks to a good lawyer. Felony gun charges in 2005 were pleaded down to misdemeanor assault and battery after retaliating against those who allegedly stole his ATVs.
Not to downplay those situations, but Taylor seemed to have changed with fatherhood. He wasn’t a bad guy. I heard plenty of stories of Taylor talking to fans and their kids. Teammates have always spoken well of him.
“We see how fragile life is,” Gibbs said. “To see how Sean had grown since he came here and the way he had impressed all of us, I know how much his baby meant to him. He would come to the complex here carrying that baby and I could see in him a maturing process.”
We may never know just how good Taylor could have been. You just hope he survives and can live a normal life.
Hang in there, Sean — I’ll be praying for you.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
