Redskins, NFL mourn death of young safety

ASHBURN, Va. -- Washington Redskins owner Dan Snyder's eyes were red. His voice cracked and was barely audible. Next to him sat coach Joe Gibbs, barely more composed.

Safety Sean Taylor's violent death had left his team in tears and a league in mourning.

"This is a terrible, terrible tragedy," Snyder said.

Taylor died early Tuesday of a gunshot wound from an apparent intruder, a tragic end for a 24-year-old whose life was transformed by the birth of a daughter 18 months ago.

"We're going to miss him," Gibbs said. "I'm not talking about as a player. I'm talking about as a person."

A day earlier, Taylor and his girlfriend were awakened by loud noises, according to family friend Richard Sharpstein, who learned the details from Taylor's girlfriend, Jackie Garcia.

He said 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.

Neither Taylor's daughter Jackie nor Taylor's girlfriend were injured in the attack.

The bullet damaged the femoral artery in Taylor's leg, causing significant blood loss. Taylor never regained consciousness, Sharpstein said, and the news that he had squeezed a nurse's hand late Monday only proved to give false hope.

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

Gibbs said he did not know why Taylor returned to Miami during the weekend. Taylor was not required to accompany the team to Sunday's game at Tampa Bay because of a knee injury.

Police had no description of a possible suspect and were investigating whether the shooting was connected to a break-in at Taylor's home eight days earlier, in which police said someone pried open a front window, rifled through drawers and left a kitchen knife on a bed.

"They're going to be looking at every angle," said Miami-Dade Police spokesman Alvaro Zabaleta. "They're going to be looking at every lead."

Authorities from Miami-Dade Police and the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives were in and out of Taylor's home throughout the day. Police were seen taking a computer from Taylor's home.

A stream of family and friends arrived throughout the day, including his father, Florida City police chief Pedro Taylor. Some embraced outside; most came and went without speaking to a horde of several dozen reporters.

"It is with deep regret that a young man had to come to his end so soon," his father said in a statement on behalf of the family. "Many of his fans loved him because the way he played football. Many of his opponents feared him the way he approached the game. Others misunderstood him, many appreciated him, and his family loved him."

Several bouquets of flowers were left just outside the white wall surrounding the property. An untouched newspaper, with news of the attack, lay near the mailbox.

Back in Virginia, the Redskins struggled to cope and share their loss.

"I have never dealt with this," Gibbs said. "We're going one hour at a time here."

Gibbs said he planned to have the team practice as scheduled today, following a prayer service, in preparation for Sunday's home game against the Buffalo Bills. Snyder said the Redskins will honor Taylor by wearing a patch on their jerseys and the No. 21 on their helmets.

The NFL is expected to decide today how the league will pay tributes to Taylor at this weekend's games.

Gibbs, Taylor's family and his teammates, past and present, did their best to describe a player very few got to know.

Taylor had a great smile and a menacing sneer. He was extremely talented -- fast and powerful -- and genuinely had a chance to become one of the best safeties ever to play in the NFL.

"What got cut short here was a career that was going to go to a lot of Pro Bowls and have a lot of fun," Gibbs said.

Taylor was having the best season of his career on the field and had stayed out of trouble off the field since the birth of his daughter Jackie in May 2006. He was becoming a leader, and his teammates had elected him to the players' committee that meets regularly with Gibbs.

"I saw a real maturing process," Gibbs said.

He wasn't the only one to notice changes in Taylor after his daughter's birth.

"He was kind of a wild child, like myself," said New York Giants tight end Jeremy Shockey, who played with Taylor at the University of Miami and worked out with him in the off-season. "But life changed for Sean after he had his baby girl. Fatherhood really changed him. He grew up and matured."

Private and slow to trust anyone, Taylor rarely granted interviews. During his last known full-length interview, conducted with WTEM-AM in September, he spoke of the joy he felt when he made his daughter laugh, how he wanted to give her life experiences different from his own, and how he did not fear death.

"You can't be scared of death," he told the radio station. "When that time comes, it comes. … You never see a person who has lived their life to the fullest. They sometimes feel sorry for like a child, maybe, that didn't get a chance to do some of the things they thought that child might have had a chance to do in life. I've been blessed. God's looked out for me, so, I'm happy."