Sean Taylor In 'da Hood - Playmakers Lives
The following excerpts are from a long and eye opening article on Redskins safety Sean Taylor and his troubled off-season. Kudos to Nunyo Demasio of the Washington Post who staked out Taylor as best he could in search of the story. Since Taylor, his mom, his dad, his agent, and just about everybody else refused to talk.
Just remember, Playmakers was cancelled, because it was soooo unfair to NFL players.
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Sean Taylor's silver BMW 760, its tinted windows down, was parked diagonally on a long patch of grass in the searing South Florida heat outside a modest, one-story home in this tiny municipality. Parked nearby was Taylor's blue 2005 GMC Yukon Denali sport utility vehicle -- with two bullet holes in its side.
The cars were the only signs that the Washington Redskins' safety was inside the home, where he frequently spends the night with his mother and great-grandmother -- and of the events the night of June 1 that led to his legal troubles.
An acquaintance said that Taylor also spent time in a luxury hotel in Miami or with friends. But after concluding his rookie season in January, Taylor has largely stayed at his mother's home, three miles from where his father Pete is chief of police in Florida City. It is a world away from the fast-paced life of Miami 30 miles to the north where Taylor starred for the University of Miami, and from Redskins Park, which Taylor has studiously avoided this offseason, much to the dismay of his team and coach, Joe Gibbs.
COMMENT: No rush getting those bullet holes filled in, Sean. Besides, it gives you good “street cred.” Plus, how about buying a property while you spend your off-season in Florida. How about a simple condo somewhere? BMW 7 series and a Yukon Denali, huh? If you said: “Sean Taylor is a rookie NFL player, and owns two vehicles. What are their exact make and model?” Don’t you think you’d have no worse than a 50-50 chance of hitting the 7-series/Denali exacta?
"His dad, being a police officer, understood the importance of education, and kept Sean focused," Tobey said. "Sean was very respectful. He was a competitor on the field, but he was a pretty quiet kid, friendly. That's why the incident is rather surprising."
COMMENT: “He was such a polite child.” Doesn’t everybody say this after someone gets in trouble?
Added Schusterman: "The people in Washington should understand that this guy will work out. We all make mistakes. Have I done stupid things when I was young? Yes. And I probably still do today. Just because somebody gives you money doesn't mean all of a sudden you're perfectly mature.
COMMENT: “Perfectly mature? I don’t think you need to be “perfectly mature” to know not to come after guys with a gun over ATVs.”
"When you get in a position like him, it's not so much that he might hang around with the wrong crowd. It's that they stay attached to him. It's not as easy to let that go as you think."
"Sean is not the type of guy everyone is making him out to be. Sean is not a bad guy," said Arizona Cardinals rookie cornerback Antrel Rolle, a former Miami teammate who has known Taylor since they were 6. "Sean has a big heart and a lot of great qualities. But his friend selection is not good. I don't think that most of his friends have any positive influence."
COMMENT: Ah yes, shift the blame, to “bad friends” and the “he can’t escape his past” angle.
On the afternoon of June 1, according to the police report, Taylor drove his Yukon Denali into West Perrine because he believed two men from the area had stolen his two all-terrain vehicles, each worth about $7,000. Another car with several of Taylor's friends trailed behind, police said.
Police said that Taylor got out of his car and pointed a gun at two individuals while demanding they return his ATVs. According to a person familiar with the investigation who requested anonymity because the case is still at a sensitive stage, an individual from the car trailing Taylor's pointed an AK-47. No shots were fired, and Taylor soon left, they said. Ten minutes later, he returned with more friends, the police report said.
After returning, Taylor got out of the car and hit one of the individuals with his fist while one of Taylor's friends chased another person with a bat, the police report said. Then Taylor and his group again left the scene and drove to a home in the area belonging to one of Taylor's friends. According to officials familiar with the case who requested anonymity, shots were fired into the home and at Taylor's Denali several minutes later. No one was hurt.
A police official said non-residents are rarely brazen enough to enter West Perrine to commit a crime. However, friends said Taylor was familiar with the neighborhood, having grown up at his father's home less than two miles away.
COMMENT: AK-47. Nice. If they put that scene in Playmakers, people would scream about how over-the-top that is.
"Sean is known all over South Florida," Rolle said. "I don't think it's the area that got Sean in trouble. Growing up, it's somewhere he's familiar with. He's going to go there before he goes to Washington. Home is home regardless of it's a bad neighborhood or not."
Two witnesses to the June 1 incident, Xavier Gibbs and Terrance Randolph, each 21, said that they knew Taylor casually from when they played football at Palmetto High School. Gibbs and Randolph were advised by their lawyers not to discuss the case, they said. "What's the profit for me?" Gibbs said.
COMMENT: Ironic isn’t it, that one of the few witnesses to the incident was named “Gibbs.” Plus, by his demand for money, Mr. Gibbs obviously thought if something is Redskins related, there’s easy money in it. Smart man.
