NFL Star Dies Of Gunshot Wound

Redskins' Safety Sean Taylor, 24, Shot In Leg At Florida Home; Cops Probe Possible Robbery

(CBS/AP)  Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor has died, a day after he was shot in the leg at his home, family friend Richard Sharpstein said. Taylor was 24.

He said Taylor's father called him around 5:30 a.m. to tell him the news.

"His father called and said he was with Christ and he cried and thanked me," said Sharpstein, Taylor's former lawyer. "He was a wonderful, humble, talented young man, and had a huge life in front of him. Obviously God had other plans."

He said he did not know exactly when Taylor died.

"This is a senseless, ridiculous, unnecessary tragedy," Sharpstein told CBS News Tuesday morning.

Doctors had been encouraged late Monday night when Taylor squeezed a nurse's hand. But Sharpstein said he was told Taylor never regained consciousness after being transported to the hospital and that he wasn't sure how he had squeezed the nurse's hand.

"Maybe he was trying to say goodbye or something," Sharpstein said.

The Redskins safety was shot early Monday.

"He lost a lot of blood from the gunshot wound, which hit him in the upper thigh and apparently perforated his femoral artery, bled out a lot," Sharpstein told CBS News Monday night.

Miami-Dade Police were investigating the attack, which came just eight days after an intruder was reported at Taylor's home. Officers were dispatched about 1:45 a.m. Monday after Taylor's girlfriend called police. Taylor was airlifted to the hospital.

Sharpstein said Taylor's girlfriend told him the couple was awakened by loud noises, and Taylor grabbed a machete he keeps in the bedroom for protection. Someone then broke through the bedroom door and fired two shots, one missing and one hitting Taylor, Sharpstein said. Taylor's 18-month-old daughter, Jackie, was also in the house at the time, but neither she nor Taylor's girlfriend were injured.

"It could have been a possible burglary; it could have been a possible robbery," Miami-Dade Police Lt. Nancy Perez said. "It has not been confirmed as yet."

Taylor was shot at the pale yellow house he bought two years ago in the Miami suburb of Palmetto Bay. It came about a week after someone pried open a front window, rifled through drawers and left a kitchen knife on a bed at Taylor's home, according to police.

"They're really sifting through that incident and today's incident," Miami-Dade Police Detective Mario Rachid said, "to see if there's any correlation."

Throughout the day Monday, Taylor's friends and relatives came to the hospital, including teammate Clinton Portis and Redskins owner Dan Schneider, reports Evan Bacon of CBS station WFOR-TV.

Taylor starred as a running back and defensive back at Gulliver Preparatory School in Miami. His father, Pedro Taylor, is the police chief of Florida City, Fla.

Teammates and coaches often have portrayed Taylor as misunderstood, and that much was true. A private man with a small inner circle, Taylor became distrustful of reporters and anyone else he didn't know well. He rarely granted interviews, sometimes declining with a smile and a handshake and sometimes with a snarl that said: "Get out of my way."

But, behind the scenes, Taylor was described as personable and smart - an emerging locker room leader.

Especially since the birth of his daughter Jackie.

"From the first day I met him, from then to now, it's just like night and day," Redskins receiver James Thrash said. "He's really got his head on his shoulders and has been doing really well as far as just being a man. It's been awesome to see that growth."

An All-American at the University of Miami, Taylor was drafted by the Redskins with the fifth overall selection in 2004. Coach Joe Gibbs called it "one of the most researched things" he's ever done, but the problems soon began. Taylor fired his agent, then skipped part of the NFL's mandatory rookie symposium, drawing a $25,000 fine. Driving home late from a party during the season, he was pulled over and charged with drunken driving. The case was dismissed in court, but by then it had become a months-long distraction for the team.

Taylor was also fined at least seven times for late hits, uniform violations and other infractions over his first three seasons, including a $17,000 penalty for spitting in the face of Tampa Bay running back Michael Pittman during a playoff game in January 2006.

Meanwhile, Taylor endured a yearlong legal battle after he was accused in 2005 of brandishing a gun at a man during a fight over allegedly stolen all-terrain vehicles near Taylor's home. He eventually pleaded no contest to two misdemeanors and was sentenced to 18 months' probation.

Taylor said the end of the assault case was like "a gray cloud" being lifted. It was also around the time that Jackie was born, and teammates noticed a change.

"It's hard to expect a man to grow up overnight," said close friend Portis, who also played with Taylor at the University of Miami. "But ever since he had his child, it was like a new Sean, and everybody around here knew it. He was always smiling, always happy, always talking about his child."

On the field, Taylor's play was often erratic. Assistant coach Gregg Williams frequently called Taylor the best athlete he's ever coached, but nearly every big play was mitigated by a blown assignment. Taylor led the NFL in missed tackles in 2006 yet made the Pro Bowl because of his reputation as one of the hardest hitters in the league.

This year, however, Taylor was allowed to play a true free safety position, using his speed and power to chase down passes and crush would-be receivers. His five interceptions tie for the league lead in the NFC, even though he missed the last two games because of a sprained knee. Teammates said he had overhauled his diet this year to include more fruit, fish and vegetables and less red meat.

"I just take this job very seriously," Taylor said in a rare group interview during training camp. "It's almost like, you play a kid's game for a king's ransom. And if you don't take it serious enough, eventually one day you're going to say, 'Oh, I could have done this, I could have done that.'

"So I just say, 'I'm healthy right now, I'm going into my fourth year, and why not do the best that I can?' And that's whatever it is, whether it's eating right or training myself right, whether it's studying harder, whatever I can do to better myself."

His hard work was well-noted.

"He loved football. He felt like that's what he was made to do," Gibbs said. "And I think what I've noticed over the last year and a half ... is he matured. I think his baby had a huge impact on him. There was a real growing up in his life."

[guysdigdirt]

Just remember we "British boobs" used to own you and it was only with the help of the French that you got independance.
Posted by USBrit

Interesting isn''t it. You speak of owning someone, and you are pro-gun control. Are you sure you are not pro-control?

This is not the first time the British have outlawed guns in their country. And both times they had to beg the Americans to send them guns to defend the country when they were invaded. You think they would learn. You are not free men if you have no defense, you are slaves to anyone stronger than yourself.

[guysdigdirt]

And your 2nd Amendment is the worst written piece of English I''''ve ever seen. I bet you could get six different interpretations from six different unbiased observers.
Posted by USBrit

I would gladly invite you to leave this poor uneducated country Richard, oops, I mean ***.

[guysdigdirt]

gun-nuts still won''''t quote numbers because you daren''''t - Britsh gun deaths - 49 in 2005, 58 in 2006 - US gun deaths 20,000 per year. What part of this don''''t you understand.

Posted by USBrit

Great logic MoronBrit. Let''s carry that same reasoning over to carrots. In Japan where they hate carrots seven people ate them and died in 2006. In Guam they cannot grow them due to soil issues but 27 people ate them. 3 of them died last year. IN America 4,764,987 people died last year and they all ate carrots in their lives. It must be the carrots.

Of course more people die from guns in countries where there are guns allowed than in countries where guns are not allowed. Lets get real.

You might believe there must be more suicides in America because we have guns? Lets compare the US with Russia. We all know guns are very rare in households in Russia, almost no civilians own guns in Russia.

In the 1960s and early %u201970s, the gunless Soviet Union%u2019s suicide rates paralleled those of gun-ridden America. Since that time guns in American have gone up and suicides have gone down sharply. Russian suicide rates have gone up to where they are now three times the American rate. Russian murder rates are 4 times the American rates, and they have no guns!!

Is it not obvious, IT IS NOT THE GUN, IT IS THE HUMAN USING THE GUN. GETTING RID OF THE GUNS WILL NOT CHANGE THE OUTCOME, JUST THE WEAPON OF CHOICE.

[deemsnyd]

Here''''s where I got mine in case you give a rats a$$ about the truth and humanity.

Spotlight on Depiction of Health and Social Issues
1760 Reston Parkway, Ste. 415 %u2022 Reston, VA 20190-3303 500 S. Buena Vista St %u2022 Burbank, CA 91521-7283
Telephone: [phone] %u2022 Fax: [phone] Telephone: [phone] %u2022 Fax: [phone]


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Posted by DanIsAJerk at 03:54 PM : Nov 27, 2007
+ report abuse

DanIsAJerk,
I doubt very seriously that you care about humanity given the way you address people on these posts. Heaven forbid someone disagree with you. I guess I should consider myself lucky, you only called me a weakling. Here''s a thought: How about getting your point accross intelligently instead of beligerantly and maybe you would have at least some credibility. Even the people who don''t share your point of view would take you more seriously if you didn''t have such a foul mouth and small mind.

Also, you failed to answer all of the questions I had. Anyway, in your response to my 2nd question, you gave several things I could use instead of a gun if someone broke into my house with a gun--tell me again why I would want to preserve their life if they were willing to destroy mine?

And last but not least, you and I completely agree on one point---YOU SHOULD NOT OWN A GUN.

[kindrox]

You do have a point. Really eliminate guns from a society and gun crime will fall. But will the overall murder/violent crime rate? Not if the UK is the model. Can you really point to a study showing that your murder/violent crime rate fell as a result of banning guns?

I read the UK news/public forums frequently. If they are any indication, UK crime is seriously up, seriously bad, the UK goverment seems unwilling/unable to do anything about it. Your news and internet forums also heavily suggest the UK population is aware of the situation, fearful of being victimized, and yet is unwilling/unable to implement political reforms to actually change anything.

My wife and I have CHL permits, carry handguns, and are trained in their use and the law. In your moment of need, when seconds count and the police are only minutes away, who are you going to hold responsible for your safety???

[kindrox]

I understand the 25,000 deaths quite well (the true number). About half are suicides. While unfortunate, I don%u2019t see why we should ban guns because they are used for suicides. Many people overdose on painkillers to commit suicide as well. Should we ban painkillers?

Of the remaining 12,500, about 70% are criminals killing criminals (gang violence). Again, what does this have to do with me? Laws don%u2019t control criminals.

The remaining 3,750 come from many sources including police killing criminals and citizens killing criminals. I don%u2019t know the exact count of citizens killed by criminals with a gun, but it is less than 3,750.

And the fact is that most homicides/violent crime are not even committed with a gun at all.

Is it a shame? Yes. But swimming pools kill 2,000 children per year. Car wrecks kill 50,000 per year. Things that do us harm also do us benefit. The FBI studied the law abiding citizen%u2019s use of firearms and found that about 5,000 people PER DAY use firearms to defend themselves, usually not resulting in a shot fired as the criminal decided to be somewhere else.

Am I going to lose a constitutional right and a tool used for much more good than harm? No!

[usbrit-2009]

Kindrox - Just remember we "British boobs" used to own you and it was only with the help of the French that you got independance.

As I have said on these pages before and you gun-nuts still won''t quote numbers because you daren''t - Britsh gun deaths - 49 in 2005, 58 in 2006 - US gun deaths 20,000 per year. What part of this don''t you understand.

According to BBC news (8/23/07) the violent crime rate dropped from 2005 to 2006. Also, when the violent crime rate was rising it was due to cut-backs in numbers of police on the street not criminals owning more guns.

Oh and I read your American Chronicle - just another piece of *** right-wing screed. I''ll bet you believe everything Anne Coulter and her foul brethren at Fox says as well.

And your 2nd Amendment is the worst written piece of English I''ve ever seen. I bet you could get six different interpretations from six different unbiased observers.

[kindrox]

The best part of British boobs is their hypocrisy. They have given up what little freedoms they did have in exchange for a promise of %u201Csafety%u201D and now look at what they have got:

Their firearm crime has doubled since banning guns
http://abcnews.go.com/2020/story?id=3083618&page=1

Their government is lying about crime rates to appear safer
http://www.americanchronicle.com/articles/viewArticle.asp?articleID=6059

They are not lying enough because look how violent crime is rising fast
http://www.crimestatistics.org.uk/output/Page66.asp
http://www.aic.gov.au/publications/cfi/cfi115.html
http://www.unicri.it/wwd/analysis/icvs/pdf_files/key2000i/pdf/08-icvs-h2.pdf

Jump up and down for safety
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/panorama/6241815.stm

They have one camera for every 14 people
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=451581&in_page_id=1770

British police have 266 reasons to enter your house without a warrant
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/04/27/london/main2734212.shtml

We have way more freedom than they do and yet our crime rate is falling
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/glance.htm#Crime

Our government compares our crime rates to theirs. And remember this study is 10 years old. Since then their crime rates have risen and ours have continued to fall.
http://www.ojp.usdoj.gov/bjs/abstract/cjusew96.htm

[kindrox]

I love idiots. British boobs are a personal favorite. Mr. Brit, all the supreme court justices have to do is read the law, as it has stood since the founding of our country! Amazing, is it not?

As we all know, the second amendment says

%u201CA well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.%u201D

But who is the militia? According to federal law Title 10 U.S.C. 311. Militia: composition and classes:
(a) The militia of the United States consists of all able-bodied males at least 17 years of age and, except as provided in section 313 of title 32, under 45 years of age who are, or who have made a declaration of intention to become, citizens of the United States and of female citizens of the United States who are members of the National Guard.
As I am male and between 17 and 45 years of age, I am *militia*.

The militia is not simply the national guard! If you read the second half of 311. Militia: composition and classes:

[kindrox]

(b) The classes of the militia are%u2014
(1) the organized militia, which consists of the National Guard
and the Naval Militia; and
(2) the unorganized militia, which consists of the members of
the militia who are not members of the National Guard or the
Naval Militia.

The National Guard is the Organized militia, I am the unorganized militia. But I am militia all the same, and NOT BY MY CHOICE BUT BY FEDERAL LAW!

Second, the second amendment does not limit arms to me, it merely states the overall rational behind the right. It says %u201Cthe right of the people to keep and bear Arms%u201D

What it does not say:
%u201Cthe right of the militia to keep and bear Arms%u201D
%u201Cthe right of the government to keep and bear Arms%u201D

If the intent of this right was not for %u2018the people%u2019 the framers had an entire dictionary of other words to choose, but they said %u2018the people%u2019. Please find me one other usage of the phrase %u2018the people%u2019 in the constitution/bill of rights that does not actually apply to the people.

[usbrit-2009]

What happens when the Supreme Court, bought and paid for by conservatives come back next year and say "A well-regulated Militia is a Militia and - STOOOPID - we got one. It''s called the US ARMY."

[gunownerdan]

mocaleo,
Your irrational hatred for the 2nd amendment and the basic right of self defense is quite obvious. And all those steretypes, they just don''t work!

[thgdriver]

Ex-Ivy League Prof Admits Killing Wife
Economics Professor Pleads Guilty To Bludgeoning Wife To Death;

Damm, I don''t get it (snicker), according to IsAjerk, the prof. used the wrong weapon.

[thgdriver]

Hey, isAjerk,

Next time you hear a storm you may want to get under your bed.

[thgdriver]

Hey, DanIsAjerkoff where are you? Heres some more statistics.

Killed by Lightning

Lightning-related fatality, injury, and damage reports in the US were summarized for 36 years since 1959, There were 3239 deaths, 9818 injuries, and 19,814 property-damage reports from lightning during this period. On average, 90 people are killed every year in the U.S. by lightning.

[thgdriver]

gunownerdan

Yeah, I remember, I own a Colt AR 15 that was baned, of course it was legal because I got it before the ban. I have plenty of high capacity mags too. Was a time there I could have sold it legally for a huge profit. My collection, of course, is not for sale.

[gunownerdan]

"when congress gets done taxing ammo no one will be able to afford it. They cant get our guns but ammo is another story."

All the more reason to stock up.
When they banned hi-capacity magazines during the usless "assault weapons ban", the prices more than tripled. $15 magazines were selling for $75! If you have a lot of ammo you can sell it for great profit if it''s ever banned or restricted.
www.a-human-right.com/effective.html

[libsluvsuvs]

danthedeludedKKKguntotingman, YOU obviously didn''''t READ these stats - READ AGAIN. THESE DO NOT INCLUDE SUICIDES.


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Posted by DanIsAJerk at 03:51 PM : Nov 27, 2007
+ report abuse


************

yeah you are right..if guns were banned the headline would read."criminal with an illegal gun killed..." or "criminal killed...with a baseball bat.."

it is not the ''with what'' it is more of a "by whom" and chances are this ''whom'' again commit murder EVEN AFTER GUNS ARE BANNED..

[thgdriver]

gunnerv1

Right, when congress gets done taxing ammo no one will be able to afford it. They cant get our guns but ammo is another story.

[gunownerdan]

In 1775 when King George sent the Redcoats to take all guns and gun powder from the Americans, some people would have gladly handed them over. Thanks goodness many did not!