Best article I've read yet on Sean Taylor, the man

[dgack]

Originally Posted by SmootSmack

Very nice.

Andy Garcia's niece, who knew?

Exactly, and given that context, it sure does put a different spin on the whole "thug athlete living with some girl he knocked up" undertone a lot of news reports have implied, doesn't it?

When it comes right down to it, many of us on this board could have been a guy like Sean Taylor, in his position. Middle class, but parents worked hard to get him into a private school so he'd have a better future, lived in a not-so-great neighborhood, did the requisite college partying and young adult bad decision-making but ultimately realized there are more important things in life, and got his life in order.

So to hear people suggest he had it coming, well, to me that means that any of us who have made mistakes in our youth have it coming. Stories like this ought to make it clear that Taylor was not a bad person, not a mean person, not an evil person. He wasn't just some guy who was important because he could hurt people on a football field.

He was a thoughtful young man trying to be a better person, better at his job, better at being a father, better at being a leader and role model. And that's a whole hell of a lot more than a lot of people can say. A lot of people talk about changing themselves and doing better, but few actually do. Sean Taylor was one of those remarkable few.

[JWsleep]

Originally Posted by dgack

When it comes right down to it, many of us on this board could have been a guy like Sean Taylor, in his position. Middle class, but parents worked hard to get him into a private school so he'd have a better future, lived in a not-so-great neighborhood, did the requisite college partying and young adult bad decision-making but ultimately realized there are more important things in life, and got his life in order.

I fully agree (and with the rest of your post too). In fact, this is one of the things that is most upsetting to me is that he was among my favorite skins BECAUSE he had the troubles and struggles he did. He wasn't some "untouchable" athlete beyond comprehension. He was human. Given the amount of stupid things I've done in my life, and to get through them, made it easy to feel for Sean. Guys like Michael Jordan are amazing, no doubt. But I'd rather have spent a day with Sean, because he was real, we could recognize ourselves in him, as a man, if not as a staggeringly gifted athlete.

(I still cannot believe it.)