Sean Taylor

Regular readers of this blog will know that I am a possibly just ever-so-slightly overzealous fan of the Washington Redskins (or was, until their abysmal fourth-quarter performance against the Bills this weekend). And most people will have heard the tragic news about Redskins safety Sean Taylor, who was killed last week in what appears to have been a botched robbery attempt at his home.

Like most Skins fans, I was pretty shaken when I heard the news, and I’ve been following the story very closely over the past few days to try and make some sense of it. One of the few positive things that came up in the reports about the tragedy was that Taylor had adopted a vegetarian diet in the last few weeks of his life, which, in addition to breaking some old-school stereotypes about professional athletes, struck me as a nice, uplifting fact to latch onto as we remember Taylor this week. As well as being one of the most athletically gifted football players I’ve had the pleasure of watching, Sean Taylor was a fascinating, complex individual, and along with thousands of other football fans, I deeply regret that I will no longer have the opportunity to follow his career.