Dan Snyder’s voice was so soft, coach Joe Gibbs pushed the microphone closer to the Washington Redskins owner. It didn’t help much.
Safety Sean Taylor’s death Tuesday seemed to humble Snyder. He deflected several questions by saying it was a private matter, but his red eyes betrayed a harrowing 36 hours. A trip to Miami to be with Taylor’s family. The calls from other NFL owners. Discussions with team and league officials over honoring the late player.
It’s not often Snyder takes questions from the media. He’s still not comfortable with explaining himself eight years after buying the team. Most answers were short, but that Snyder even came to the podium aside a quick word about a draft pick showed how much he cared about Taylor.
Taylor was the first draft pick by Snyder and Gibbs, and it was a great one. The fourth-year player was fulfilling expectations of greatness before being shot in his Palmetto Bay, Fla., home. Snyder and Gibbs have endured persistent second-guessing on many personnel moves, but Taylor was one they definitely got right.
So this one hurts. After helping the mercurial player mature over recent seasons, Snyder and Gibbs saw someone filled with promise. They were proud to be part of it. Now, a young man is dead and the team has lost its best player.
“We are so saddened by what’s taken place and will really miss Sean,” Snyder said. “We got to know him so well over the last two years. I got to see him grow as a man. … We’re going to miss him very, very much.”
Normally, Snyder acts the second coming of Jack Kent Cooke’s “billionaire bully” club. He’s certainly never short on confidence to the point of cockiness. However, Snyder sat so awkwardly in the chair, twisted as in denial of something horrible in front of him. Answers did not come quickly, like he was somehow distracted.
About the only moment when Snyder seemed to show some spark came over a question concerning the crime. Even then, his words were measured.
“Everyone would like to know more … capture the suspects,” he said.
Gibbs was a little better, having dealt with lesser problems in public before. He leaned on his well-known religious faith, talking of Taylor going to God. Gibbs spoke wistfully of the fragility of life, how we should appreciate every single day. And at 67 with one year remainingon his contract, Gibbs might have been thinking of retirement a season sooner.
Gibbs has spent his life buried in football to the point of not always knowing current events or seeing his family regularly. On Tuesday, he instead spent the day — when much of the game planning is done — in quiet reflection. Football seemed irrelevant.
If the Redskins are to move on, they’ll need Snyder and Gibbs to lead. It won’t be easy on them. Then again, this isn’t easy on anybody.
Rick Snider has covered local sports since 1978. Contact him at [email protected].
