Thursday, February 28, 2008
Born To Be Legend
By John D. McKinnon, Jr.
On April 1st 1983, a legend was brought into this world. At the time no one could have known that Sean Michael Maurice Taylor would become arguably one of the greatest football players of all time some twenty years later. Let’s be honest, who’d have thought before the April 2004 draft there could ever be a player standing nearly 6’3 and weighing nearly 230 lbs that possessed the speed of a world class sprinter and hitting ability only comparable to Hall of Famer, Ronnie Lott? Who’d of thought this same player could actually cover the field from sideline to sideline in a blur and intercept passes even from the savviest Quarterbacks? Who would have imagined in only four years he’d be taken away from us?
It’s been three difficult months since the untimely, senseless death of the man we knew as Sean Taylor. Many Redskin’s fans, players and non-football fans alike have been affected by his death. How could this seemingly indestructible man that was nicknamed, “Meast” (part man, part beast), voted the most feared player in the NFL and the strongest player at his position suddenly perish? As a Christian, I strongly believe we are all born with a purpose and everything that happens to us is in God’s plan. God had a plan for Mr. Taylor as well. Though we may never be sure what that plan may have been, I believe Sean’s life went according to script and he wasn’t taken away, “before his time.”
Admittedly, Sean Taylor was my favorite new era Redskin and my fiancés as well. It’s hard to come to grips with the fact we will never see him again in his physical form and that can be expected. It’s difficult not to imagine the “what ifs”. Many football purists even before Sean’s death believed he would have been the greatest safety ever to play the game. Some even believed he could have been the greatest player regardless of position if he had lived. Mr. Taylor however didn’t die in vain. (Continued at
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