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Taylor's Tragic Death Transcends Sports

By KEVIN B. BLACKISTONE,

AOL

Posted: 2007-11-28 17:30:38

Filed Under: NFL

Sports Commentary

Sean Taylor and Timothy Spicer lived and worked in metropolitan D.C., Taylor as star safety for Washington’s famous pro football team and Spicer as a short-order cook for a famous Washington eatery, Ben’s Chili Bowl.

Both were young; Taylor 24 and Spicer 25. Both enjoyed nice cars that young men often do; Taylor had a Yukon Denali and Spicer drove a shiny ‘94 Caprice on big silvery rims. Both young men were black.

And both are dead now, murdered.

Taylor died in the wee hours Tuesday morning in Miami from a gunshot wound he suffered early Monday from what authorities said was an intruder in Taylor's Miami-area home.

Spicer died two Saturdays ago in Washington after he was found shot multiple times as the victim of a carjacking of his Caprice.

The only reason the country learned of Taylor's death is his celebrity. Spicer's death remained local news, the 169th murder in D.C. this year, or as many as occurred here last year.

Sean Taylor

Undated photos provided by the Miami-Dade Police Department shows the four suspects, Venjah K. Hunte, 20, Jason Scott Mitchell, 17, Eric Rivera, Jr., 17, and Charles Kendrick Lee Wardlow, 18, arrested Friday, Nov. 30, 2007, in connection with the shooting death of Washington Redskins football player Sean Taylor. One of five suspects charged in the slaying of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor has pleaded guilty to charges of second-degree murder and burglary. Defense attorney Michael Hornung says thataccording to the plea agreement, Venjah Hunte will serve 29 years in prison and cooperate with prosecutors. (Miami-Dade Police Dept./AP)

**EDS NOTE: THIS IMAGE CARRIES RESTRICTIONS**An undated photo provided by the Lee County Sheriff's Office of Timothy Brown, Jr., in Fort Myers, Fla. Brown, 16, was charged Wednesday, May 14, 2008, in the slaying of Washington Redskins star Sean Taylor, an official with the prosecutor's office said. Brown was arrested in Lee County about 2:30 p.m. Tuesday, Miami-Dade Police said in a statement. He was awaiting transport to Miami-Dade County. (AP Photo/Lee County Sheriff's Office)

HONOLULU, HI - FEBRUARY 10: Young fans hold up a sign in memory of Sean Taylor #21 of the NFC's Washington Redskins during the game against the AFC at the 2008 NFL Pro Bowl at Aloha Stadium on February 10, 2008 in Honolulu, Hawaii. (Photo by Paul Spinelli/Getty Images)

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SEATTLE - JANUARY 05: Washington Redskins fans hold up a Sean Taylor jersey before the Redskins take on the Seattle Seahawks during the NFC Wild Card game at Qwest Field on January 5, 2008 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Jed Jacobsohn/Getty Images)

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CHARLOTTE, NC - DECEMBER 22: A helmet with a sticker in memory of the late Sean Taylor of the Washington Redskins sits on the field prior to the Dallas Cowboys versus Carolina Panthers game at Bank of America Stadium on December 22, 2007 in Charlotte, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images)

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MIAMI - DECEMBER 03: Washington Redskins "unofficial" mascot Zema Williams known as Chief Zee holds a funeral program as he attends the funeral of Redskins football player, Sean Taylor, at the Pharmed Arena at Florida International University December 3, 2007 in Miami, Florida. Taylor died Tuesday, one day after being shot at his home in Miami. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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MIAMI - DECEMBER 03: NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks to the media after the funeral for Washington Redskins football player Sean Taylor at the Pharmed Arena at Florida International University December 3, 2007 in Miami, Florida. Taylor died Tuesday, one day after being shot at his home in Miami. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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MIAMI - DECEMBER 03: Pedro Taylor, the father of Redskins football player, Sean Taylor, shakes hands as he leaves his son's funeral at the Pharmed Arena at Florida International University December 3, 2007 in Miami, Florida. Taylor died Tuesday, one day after being shot at his home in Miami. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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MIAMI - DECEMBER 03: The casket of Washington Redskins football player Sean Taylor is wheeled out to the hearse during his funeral at the Pharmed Arena at Florida International University December 3, 2007 in Miami, Florida. Taylor died Tuesday, one day after being shot at his home in Miami. (Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

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MIAMI - DECEMBER 03: Mother Donna Junor, (L) and father Pedro Taylor (R) leave the funeral services for their son Sean Taylor of the Washington Redskins at Pharmed Arena on December 3, 2007 in Miami, Florida. Taylor died November 27, one day after being shot at his home in Miami. (Photo by Doug Benc/Getty Images)

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But Taylor and Spicer are as linked in tragedy as they were as young black men working in D.C. trying to make it to another day. Gun violence is the No. 1 killer of black men like Taylor and Spicer.

According to most recent disseminated data by the Center for Disease Control, Taylor and Spicer will be two of roughly 4,000 black homicide victims in the country this year killed by guns. Most, of course, won't be a pro athlete like Taylor but an everyman like Spicer.

It didn't matter if they were rich or working-class, went to college or dropped out of high school, lived in a near million dollar home with a remote control gate or in mom's apartment in a tough quarter of town. It didn’t matter if one was strapping, strong and fast as the wind and the other was more like everyone else.

It didn't matter if they were famous or known to only a few. It didn't matter if they were living their dreams or still chasing them. They didn't escape the pathology.

On the face of it, as news of Taylor being shot rolled through the 24-hour news cycle, it sounded as if Taylor shouldn't have succumbed to such a menace. His father worked in law enforcement. Taylor went to a prep high school and a private college, Miami. He was a multi-million-dollar athlete and even his dalliance with lawbreaking and gun brandishing was said to be something of his recent past. He was a father now too. He had someone to live for forever besides himself. But what do we know?

"Sometimes we assume that because one is raised a certain way one is going to come out a certain way," the recently retired NFL star receiver Keyshawn Johnson, now ESPN football analyst, told me by phone on Tuesday. "Look at Andy Reid's kids. He's coach of the Philadelphia Eagles and they're (sons) selling drugs out of the house. You can't assume that because Sean's dad was a police chief that his life…would be different. It depends on how you approach it." Johnson knows all too well. He was reared in the toughest section of South Los Angeles. He survived being shot twice. He was stuck up outside of his favorite barbershop with his kids in tow.

"You just become an easy target," Johnson said of being an athlete or any well-known person of means.

Darrent Williams was a Denver Broncos' defensive back doing a responsible thing while out last New Year’s enjoying the night. He was in a limousine. A wrong word or misunderstanding in a club turned into bullets fired into his ride. He was killed. He was Taylor's age and another statistic in the deadly demographic.

In the wake of Williams' death, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell expressed alarm at the senseless gun death of a league player and of run-ins with the law involving guns that other players were going through. Not long after came defensive back Pacman Jones' incident at a Las Vegas club that left one man shot and paralyzed.

But this isn't, unfortunately, just a problem of professional athletics, Johnson pointed out. It is bigger than one genre of livelihood.

"You have to be very cautious…about your surroundings and about the company you do keep. You can’t worry about feeling like people are going to look at you and say, 'He's made it now so he doesn't come around.' Well, isn't that the whole point? Secure your life and secure your family and move on? The point is to be able to be successful and make it."

Taylor appeared to have reached that point. Spicer was still working at it with a budding clothing business and dreams of – what else? – producing rap music.

Now both are in the same sad statistical pool. A Miami black neighborhood was planning this week to protest three recent fatal police shootings of young black men. It may want to protest the shooting of young black men by other young black men, which is far more prevalent, when it is through.

There was a lot of outpouring of support almost immediately for Taylor. A candlelight vigil was held. A funeral that will be covered by the national media is probably being planned.

Some athletes interviewed about Taylor's demise served up the trite words we're accustomed to after such a horrific event. They said it reminded that they just played a game and that other things were much more important. It put things in perspective, the choir sang. It shouldn’t have, of course. These things in sports never should. Other things are always more important.

Sports are not a separate thread in the fabric of society. They are no more than another spec of alloy in the mirror that reflects it all.

Sean Taylor as well as Timothy Spicer were the latest victims in what is a near epidemic among young black men. If anything good can come from Taylor's demise it will be that more of us pay as much attention to, and express as much outrage and sadness for, the Spicers where we live too.

Kevin B. Blackistone is a regular panelist on ESPN's Around the Horn, an XM Satellite Radio host and a frequent sports opinionist on other outlets like National Public Radio and The Politico. A former award-winning sports columnist for The Dallas Morning News, he currently lives in Hyattsville, Md.

2007-11-27 19:12:32

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3523 comments

Emma1et 12:04:36 PM Dec 10 2007

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Listen up "pthfndr3814" ...you are reckless in your general classification of "black women". By the way, where did you obtain your statistics. Statistics are only as valid as the reference from which they came. As for parenting, I wonder who will raise Sean Taylor's son? In the end Sean Taylor should not be lumped under the same cloud as the thugs this article talks about, regardless that he is a Black Male in America. I wonder what kind of parenting those individuals had that massacred school children, shoppers, worshipers, and Hollywood brats. From most indications they also had fathers within the household. How they were raised may be another story, or not. We should focus on killing, crime and decay in America regardless of race.

Regerrrr69 09:00:00 AM Dec 07 2007

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HEY HERES AN IDEA TAKE SOME RESPONIBALITY 4 UR OWN ACTIONS STOP BEING LAZY AND GO GET A JOB AND I DONT WANT 2 HERE THERE R NO JOBS U PICK UP ANY PAPER IN THE COUNTRY 100s OF HELP WANTED ADDS BUT UR LAZY ASS WOULD RATHER KILL AND STEAL 4 IT INSTEAD OF WORKING BLACK WHITE RED ALL THE SAME WORK U LAZY PEICES OF SHIT GET A JOB AND STOP WITH THE IT WAS MY UP BRINING IF U SPEANT AS MUCH TIME WORKING AS U DID CRYING EVERY THING WOULD WORK OUT 4 U

Regerrrr69 08:59:00 AM Dec 07 2007

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nunyascubastve 09:40:44 PM Dec 05 2007

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"how long does it take to ge your act together?" -american history x

hip hop videos and musc are not helping any.

Golflovers111 07:00:01 PM Dec 05 2007

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10 to 1 dope is involved in some way. Nobody wants to make the hard decisions. Get rid of the dope and you get rid of 85% of the crime. Countries that produce heroin, cocaine and reefer need to be given "fair warning" that either they stop producing and shipping to our country or they will be bombed into the stone age. China had a drug problem during the Opium Wars of the early 1900's. They rounded up all the dope dealers and all the dope addicts, killed them all, and that was the end of the dope problem. Countries that try to blame our demand..."fair warning." Any drug dealer knows, "the first hits free." Deal drugs, lifetime sentence, down in a hole, bread and water and never see the light of day again. That'll settle it.

Golflovers111 06:59:50 PM Dec 05 2007

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Golflovers111 06:47:59 PM Dec 05 2007

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test

stemith 04:43:00 PM Dec 05 2007

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One cann't blame any culture for this senseless Black on Black crime or white on white crime brown on brown crime it's been here all along we are talking and writing about crime, let's stop talking about how bad it is and do something.

Tony

cal314 04:02:00 PM Dec 05 2007

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Just lost my 19yr son to this violence.....Some young kid just started shooting at him and two of his friends. Got shot in the back as he tried to help a younger friend who was shot in the leg. He had his whole life ahead of him. The creep that did it may never get caught because the streets don't "talk". The cops don't care....just another black on black crime. Bad part is that if he had a gun he may have had a chance. Innocent people get shot too for just looking at someone the wrong way or just because someone doesn't like you.

pthfndr3814 02:13:00 PM Dec 05 2007

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When over 70% of black kids are born out of wedlock, and over 40% of black males between the ages of 17 and 40 are in prison..THAT is the root of the problem. Period. Without sound parenting by a strong father figure, young black males will grow up to emulate whoever has the most cash, women and "posse" members trailing them around. They will dress like, act like and act out the most outrageous things they see on television. They have the odds stacked against them from day one. They won't change - as long as Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson are out there blaming Whitey, and making excuses for black women being ****** (like the Duke Rape Case) - nothing will change - they have "victim" forever stamped in their genetics. As for the rest of us? Buy a couple of guns, learn how to use them real well, and stockpile ammo - the police aren't your bodyguards - they only come to clean up the mess and write reports.

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