WFT retiring Sean Taylor's 21 this Sunday

[Matts4313]

50 minutes ago, MKnight82 said:

He has the ability to completely take over a game and win it single handily.  That’s extremely rare from the safety position.

(no he didnt) 

[43M]

1 hour ago, JAF-N72EX said:

He was good enough to have his number retired?  I'm not sure I agree with that.

Let's be real here. A large part of his praise as an NFL player derives from the fact that he died. Taylor was a very good player for a short time but nowhere near as good as some people make him out to be. That's all. *Ducks from incoming fans*

Gotta try to overwrite headlines any way you can though I guess. Nice job PR dept.

100% agreed.

Taylor was just hitting his prime, and couldve easily been one of the all time greats, but I distinctly remember him pretty inconsistent in coverage early on in his career until his last year or so when he seemed to be putting it together more.

He was playing like an elite safety before he passed, and then shortly after, people started mentioning him with the top safeties of all time.    I never argued it much because he could've been, but his tragic passing propelled his legacy past reality. 

Its a tough topic to discuss, but the reality is, he didnt have enough prolonged success to be mentioned with the greatest safeties ever.   

He is just an extremely sad case of what could have been.

[Hunter2_1]

Yes, sentimentality has elevated a good player to an all time great, when he wasn't. 

Nice touch to retire number though.

[MKnight82]

7 hours ago, Matts4313 said:

(no he didnt) 

Then you didn’t watch him play

[TecmoSuperJoe]

8 hours ago, Matts4313 said:

(no he didnt) 

I feel like a QB is the only position that can "win a game" by themselves...and even then there are other factors at play. Closest I know of a defender "winning a game by themselves" is 1982 Giants at Lions with Lawrence Taylor wrecking havoc on Thanksgiving. Actually another case is probably Vernon Perry for the Oilers against the Chargers in the 1979 AFC Divisional. As for Sean Taylor I have no idea if he had a game close to those efforts. 

Edited October 15, 2021 by TecmoSuperJoe

[MKnight82]

46 minutes ago, TecmoSuperJoe said:

I feel like a QB is the only position that can "win a game" by themselves...and even then there are other factors at play. Closest I know of a defender "winning a game by themselves" is 1982 Giants at Lions with Lawrence Taylor wrecking havoc on Thanksgiving. Actually another case is probably Vernon Perry for the Oilers against the Chargers in the 1979 AFC Divisional. As for Sean Taylor I have no idea if he had a game close to those efforts. 

 

[TecmoSuperJoe]

51 minutes ago, MKnight82 said:

 

He blocked the field goal right? What about the rest of the game and other snaps? This only shows the final 2 1/2 minutes. And Novak still had to make the kick in addition to the penalty helping. Wouldn't describe that as "single handedly". I guess it depends how you look at it. 

Edited October 15, 2021 by TecmoSuperJoe

[e16bball]

23 hours ago, JAF-N72EX said:

He was good enough to have his number retired?  I'm not sure I agree with that.

Let's be real here. A large part of his praise as an NFL player derives from the fact that he died. Taylor was a very good player for a short time but nowhere near as good as some people make him out to be. That's all. *Ducks from incoming fans*

It’s really not about his on-field production. There are other ways, aside from play on the field, to create such a lasting legacy and impact within your organization and fanbase that it warrants retiring your number — and unfortunately, one of those ways is what happened with Sean, where his death was so tragic and so heartbreaking that it is most likely the most emotionally charged and galvanizing moment that this fanbase has experienced in going on three decades now. 

It’s a little bit like the Cardinals retiring Pat Tillman’s number — very different in many respects, of course, but the similarity coming in the fact that it had little to do with his actual on-field play and much more to do with celebrating what he means to the fanbase and the sense of commingled pride/heartbreak that his name and memory immediately evokes for them.

 

It’s always frustrating to talk to folks about Sean’s level of play, because the truth is that the light was just coming on for him, in terms of realizing and achieving the brilliance that was always expected. For 3 years, we had seen these frequent flashes of a transcendent player — but they were interspersed with moments of immaturity, a lack of discipline, almost a lack of basic self-control, on and off the field. That last season, life clicked for him off the field (after his daughter was born), and that translated to his play on the field. He was absolutely incredible that season — he was always a big hitter, but his range and instincts in the deep zones was something to behold that season. He would and should have been a contender for DPOY.

And honestly, that’s probably the part that made it hurt the most. We’d always worried about Sean, because of the things he got into off the field. For 3 years, if you’d told me “Sean Taylor got murdered by some young criminal kids in Miami,” sadly I really wouldn’t have been shocked. But by all accounts, he’d turned the corner and had become the person and player that every single one of us hoped he could become. And then the streets came back and snatched his life in the most senseless and inexplicable of manners, as he slept in his home with his fiancée and baby girl. 

So no, on the basis of his on-field accomplishments, he didn’t do as much for the Redskins as Sammy did. Or even as much as Bobby Mitchell did, although Bobby’s honor, of course, also wasn’t solely tied to his play. Not nearly as much as guys like Darrell Green, Art Monk, etc. But when you talk about players who captured the minds and hearts and emotions of Washington fans, there are very few who will ever approach Sean Taylor in that regard. We loved him, we dreamed about what he could be, we prayed that he would find his way, we celebrated when we saw that he had — and then we wept together when he was cut down protecting his family. We won’t, can’t, ever forget him. And no one should ever wear that number again. 

[Uncle Buck]

I only saw one play of Sean Taylor's.  That's not much of a sample size, but at least it was one of the most memorable plays in the history of the Pro Bowl.  It was when he blew up the opposing team's kicker.  I can still practically feel the pain the kicker must have felt on that one.  What a hit! 

Edited October 16, 2021 by Uncle Buck

[D82]

20 minutes ago, e16bball said:

It’s really not about his on-field production. There are other ways, aside from play on the field, to create such a lasting legacy and impact within your organization and fanbase that it warrants retiring your number — and unfortunately, one of those ways is what happened with Sean, where his death was so tragic and so heartbreaking that it is most likely the most emotionally charged and galvanizing moment that this fanbase has experienced in going on three decades now. 

It’s a little bit like the Cardinals retiring Pat Tillman’s number — very different in many respects, of course, but the similarity coming in the fact that it had little to do with his actual on-field play and much more to do with celebrating what he means to the fanbase and the sense of commingled pride/heartbreak that his name and memory immediately evokes for them.

 

It’s always frustrating to talk to folks about Sean’s level of play, because the truth is that the light was just coming on for him, in terms of realizing and achieving the brilliance that was always expected. For 3 years, we had seen these frequent flashes of a transcendent player — but they were interspersed with moments of immaturity, a lack of discipline, almost a lack of basic self-control, on and off the field. That last season, life clicked for him off the field (after his daughter was born), and that translated to his play on the field. He was absolutely incredible that season — he was always a big hitter, but his range and instincts in the deep zones was something to behold that season. He would and should have been a contender for DPOY.

And honestly, that’s probably the part that made it hurt the most. We’d always worried about Sean, because of the things he got into off the field. For 3 years, if you’d told me “Sean Taylor got murdered by some young criminal kids in Miami,” sadly I really wouldn’t have been shocked. But by all accounts, he’d turned the corner and had become the person and player that every single one of us hoped he could become. And then the streets came back and snatched his life in the most senseless and inexplicable of manners, as he slept in his home with his fiancée and baby girl. 

So no, on the basis of his on-field accomplishments, he didn’t do as much for the Redskins as Sammy did. Or even as much as Bobby Mitchell did, although Bobby’s honor, of course, also wasn’t solely tied to his play. Not nearly as much as guys like Darrell Green, Art Monk, etc. But when you talk about players who captured the minds and hearts and emotions of Washington fans, there are very few who will ever approach Sean Taylor in that regard. We loved him, we dreamed about what he could be, we prayed that he would find his way, we celebrated when we saw that he had — and then we wept together when he was cut down protecting his family. We won’t, can’t, ever forget him. And no one should ever wear that number again. 

This. Sean wasn't one of the greats when he died, but he could have been. And that is why he's so heavily respected and loved among Washington fans. I totally get retiring his number. Think of Brian Piccolo or Ernie Davis. We've seen teams retire a players number even if they weren't technically Hall of Fame players at the time of their passing. 

[ET80]

14 hours ago, TecmoSuperJoe said:

Closest I know of a defender "winning a game by themselves" is 1982 Giants at Lions with Lawrence Taylor wrecking havoc on Thanksgiving.

I've seen JJ Watt win a few games on his own...

[VigilantZombie]

On 10/14/2021 at 9:16 AM, iknowcool said:

I just can't help but feel like this is being done for other reasons

You can't help but feel that way because you're not wrong. This is something that should've been done a LONG time ago. But it's being done now to redirect attention. 

[RuskieTitan]

Sean Taylor was a playmaker, but singlehandidly winning games? No, not when 11 players are on the field at any given time (outside of screwups for legal 10 men or fewer).

[VigilantZombie]

2 minutes ago, RuskieTitan said:

Sean Taylor was a playmaker, but singlehandidly winning games? No, not when 11 players are on the field at any given time (outside of screwups for legal 10 men or fewer).

I agree with this, but I think his story is why his # should be retired. 

[Calamity_Cometh]

You can't tell the history of the Washington Football Team without mentioning Sean Taylor. This isn't the Hall of Fame. Any player whose story demands telling for a franchise is quite reasonable for having their number retired.