Forget What You’ve Heard About Sean Taylor

By Mark Solway | July 29th, 2007

Most of the time, when you hear Sean Taylor’s name, you hear about the monster hits, the spitting incident or ATV’s. Very rarely do you hear anything positive and personal about the ‘skins safety. I was lucky enough to witness a very different side of ST yesterday, and I want to recount it here. First, I’ll need to start with a little background information. My son, Jackson, is a soon-to-be-six year old that has gained a bit of a reputation as a kid with an uncanny knowledge of Redskins personnel. After his second training camp, just prior to turning two, we bought him a ‘Skins’ yearbook and he would pick pages and ask who the players were. We would, of course, tell him who each player was. Soon, he could name every – and I mean EVERY – player listed inside that guide. He could pick out Laveranues Coles on commercials without his uniform. His favorite player was Gibran Hamdan. Heck, the following year, NikiH took him through the lines of Fan Appreciation day and came back with a signature I couldn’t read. NikiH didn’t know who had signed it, only that it was the last guy at the table. Jackson says, “Oh. That was Bill Ferrario!” Anyone here beside Jake that could pick Bill Ferrario out of a line-up? Now that that’s out of the way, I’ll get to Sean Taylor. I was taking Jackson around the VIP section getting autographs from some of his favorite players. We tried to get Fred Smoot, without any luck and I spied Sean Taylor. Jackson walks up with his book open, sees the 21 jersey and has a freudian slip. He says, “Excuse me Mr. Smoot. Will you please sign my yearbook?” I lean down to correct him, but before I can, Taylor says, “I’d be happy to sign your book. What’s your name?” My son replies, “Jackson.” Taylor says, “Well, it’s nice to meet you Jackson. My name is Sean and I’m very pleased to meet you. ” He signs the book, and Jackson says, “Thank you!” , to which Taylor replies, “Thank you for coming out to practice today.” I was thoroughly impressed with the way Taylor handled the situation. Many players don’t interact with the people they are signing for. They step, sign, step, sign. Sean Taylor proved what I’ve come to realize in my dealings with Brandon Lloyd. Don’t believe everything you read. These guys are human, too. I know one, very happy 5 year old who…