Sorry for no picks this past week, but I was out of town. Then the Sean Taylor news hit, and I was so bummed out, I really couldn't even think about football.
One of the joys of being a fan is watching a new kid join your team and develop into a player. There are the inevitable ups and downs, but once in a while you just know a guy will be special. With Sean Taylor, everybody knew he would be special. Even if he hadn't been a first team All-American at the U as a sophomore, you would have known the first time you saw him step on a football field. He had the size of a linebacker and the speed of a corner. He had great hands, but he lived for contact. He was an All Pro, but he played special teams and would often be the first guy to hit the wedge. If a ball was on the ground, he had an almost magical ability to somehow end up with it. He could have played any position on either side of the ball except for interior line. He was a star RB in high school, and the Redskins used him at receiver until the defensive coaches made a stink and insisted it stop. He had 5 INTs this year when he went down with an injury two games ago.
Sean joined the Redskins as a 20 year old. He had a scrape with the law after some punks stole a couple of ATV's from his house and he beat one of them up and pulled a gun on them. Of course the police went after him, not the thiefs. The prosecutor was later forced off the case when it became public that he was using it to try to build up his second job as a DJ. Strange but true.
Coach Gibbs, a committed Christian, said that Sean had become a regular at chapel services at Redskins Park. He had become a father and by all accounts had redirected his life.
I know Sean Taylor was far from perfect. If he wasn't a famous player, few would have even noticed his death. I'm not a person who idolizes athletes, but I was devastated by his death and truthfully, I'm still not over it. Few Redskins fans are.
One of the joys of being a fan is watching a new kid join your team and develop into a player. There are the inevitable ups and downs, but once in a while you just know a guy will be special. With Sean Taylor, everybody knew he would be special. Even if he hadn't been a first team All-American at the U as a sophomore, you would have known the first time you saw him step on a football field. He had the size of a linebacker and the speed of a corner. He had great hands, but he lived for contact. He was an All Pro, but he played special teams and would often be the first guy to hit the wedge. If a ball was on the ground, he had an almost magical ability to somehow end up with it. He could have played any position on either side of the ball except for interior line. He was a star RB in high school, and the Redskins used him at receiver until the defensive coaches made a stink and insisted it stop. He had 5 INTs this year when he went down with an injury two games ago.
Sean joined the Redskins as a 20 year old. He had a scrape with the law after some punks stole a couple of ATV's from his house and he beat one of them up and pulled a gun on them. Of course the police went after him, not the thiefs. The prosecutor was later forced off the case when it became public that he was using it to try to build up his second job as a DJ. Strange but true.
Coach Gibbs, a committed Christian, said that Sean had become a regular at chapel services at Redskins Park. He had become a father and by all accounts had redirected his life.
I know Sean Taylor was far from perfect. If he wasn't a famous player, few would have even noticed his death. I'm not a person who idolizes athletes, but I was devastated by his death and truthfully, I'm still not over it. Few Redskins fans are.