I have read what the Washington Post’s Michael Wilbon and Len Shapiro have had to say about the tragic murder of Sean Taylor and I have to say, they are the lowest human beings known to mankind for their callous words about his death.

Michael Wilbon has already gone on record as twisting facts about Sean Taylor by saying:

I know how I feel about Taylor, and this latest news isn’t surprising in the least, not to me. Whether this incident is or isn’t random, Taylor grew up in a violent world, embraced it, claimed it, loved to run in it and refused to divorce himself from it. He ain’t the first and won’t be the last. We have no idea what happened, or if what we know now will be revised later. It’s sad, yes, but hardly surprising.

But Len Shapiro for the Washington Post took the cake by comparing Sean Taylor to Pacman Jones and Tank Johnson:

At the moment, it is far too soon to draw any conclusions as to how or why this tragedy occurred, why another young black man is now dead from a gunshot wound in his own home, why another athlete, Michael Vick, Pacman Jones, Tank Johnson, and now Sean Taylor becomes headline news for all the wrong reasons… Still, could anyone honestly say they never saw this coming? You’d have to be blind not to consider Taylor’s checkered past.

I need to know how because he missed league meetings and conversations with his head coach is that a checkered past? I want to know how because Sean Taylor never was convicted of any crime, is Sean Taylor suddenly running with gangs and embracing a thug life? He once plead down to a no contest plea, that is not convicted or considered guilty, for supposedly chasing down people who stole his ATV with a gun. In other words, getting his property back. There is no mention of the prosecutor who was using this case as advertising for his evening DJ’ing gig. There is no mention that the ONLY other time that Sean Taylor had a run in with the law was a DUI which the judge himself threw out of court due to no basis for him being arrested. I need to know why if Sean Taylor hasn’t divorced himself from his past, has every one he knew, to a man, said that in the past 2 years, he has become a different and even better man than he was before.

Len Shapiro and Michael Wilbon do not know Sean Taylor any more than us fans here in Washington do. The reason for this is, he never talked to them, us, or any of the media, and the media as a whole does not like anyone who doesn’t talk to them. It has happened time and time again that if someone spurns the media, they turn on him and make that person into a bad guy, a rebel, because they do not fall in line and do what the others do.

Being a young black male, missing meetings and being charged but never being convicted of any crime is enough for the old school press to label him a gang banger or at the very least, running with the wrong crowd. Michael Wilbon does not know what crowd Sean Taylor ran with, he never spoke to him. His own coach said that he enjoyed Sean Taylor’s friends just yesterday in a public address, if nearly 70 year old Joe Gibbs likes his friends, then what kind of crowd must Sean Taylor run with? People say his past caught up with him and they are not surprised, but that is a faulty assumption based off of what they think his personal life entailed. The truth is, they have no idea.

The truth is, no one knows except himself, his family, close friends and a select few teammates that hung with him…and no one, not Michael Wilbon, not Len Shapiro, NO ONE, has ANY right to say anything disparaging about Sean Taylor personal life because anyone who does say anything bad has no idea what Sean Taylor was doing aside from football.

To label him a gangbanger, a thug, a guy who ran in the wrong circles, a guy who “ran in a violent world, embraced it, claimed it” is a fallacy based off of what you assume he did because he was a young black man who did not always follow the establishment’s rules. Anyone who labels him any of this must be as threatened by him as wide-receivers who would not cross the middle of the field while he was around.

To the fans, he signed every autograph, he talked and smiled to them. To his friends, he was a happy, friendly guy they wanted to hang around. To his teammates he was a leader and a player who’s work ethic was to be admired. To his family, he was a loving father, son, brother, and partner. Not a single person has had anything bad to say about him besides the media, as indicative of Michael Wilbon and Len Shapiro of the Post. What does that say more for the media and the establishment/corporate America than Sean Taylor?

It is a sad indictment indeed. I once was a great fan of the writings of both those Washington Post scribes, but I fear both have lost a great level of respect with me for their words against a great Washington Redskin that was portrayed by the media as a bad guy, but was really a quiet misunderstood man who never cared enough about the media to change their view of him. Their view of him didn’t matter, the fans knew, and he was just a man who just wanted to play football the right way and raise his child as best he could.

His former teammate and friend Ryan Clark said it best in the Redskins Insider yesterday:

“Every time they show something about [t]his they show his legalities and things like that, but that’s not who he was,” Clark said. “it paints a picture like he lived a certain way, so he deserved to go a certain way. But he was a good man and good talent who had become a great man, and I’m said all the people want to focus on is the negative. He was a 24-year-old kid, a brother and a father who passed away.

Shame on you Michael Wilbon, Len Shapiro and anyone else in the media that is using this tragic event to help your career and to get on television more while misconstruing facts to further stereotypes, assumptions and generalizations about a man you knew nothing about. Shame on you all for murdering Sean Taylor again in the media. I am not a praying man, but I pray for your souls.

Sad that some people in the world are now making money off of the death of a young man, but this is still American last time I checked and on Ebay right now, if you do a search for Sean Taylor you will find all sorts of items now going for prices never before seen for his merchandise.

Some of the worst actually use the attack in their descriptions such as this autographed color photo signed by Sean Taylor starting at $138.50. Also is this action figure going up for sale for $150.00, but hey at least he says in the description he’s not trying to capitalize on the death, that must make it better when he discusses it in his description for sale. This trading card sale which describes his attack going for $28.50. This autographed photo going for $26.00 that actually uses a RIP 1983-2007 photo in its sale.

There are plenty of others for sure, it is pretty amazing what people will do to make a buck.

Tragic event for this young man, his family, the Redskins organization and the fans of the team. A needless loss of a special human being. Washington Post has a write up here. It is a sad day to be a Redskin & Redskins fan.

Update: Our commentary on the media’s depiction of Sean Taylor is here

After today’s news about Sean Taylor, we figured you could use some old hotness. Check this video of James Brown, Michael Jackson and Prince on the same stage.

That Prince looks like a predator. He should be more like that nice Michael Jackson boy.

According to police, Miami-Dade patrol officers received a call about 1:45 a.m. Monday that a homeowner had been shot in the leg. The homeowners told police he heard intruders at the rear door of the house, trying to pry it open.

The male homeowner went to investigate and a female in the house then heard a shot. Paramedics responded and found the victim, with a gunshot wound to the groin. He was airlifted to the Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital, police said. The shooting happened at 18050 Old Cutler Rd.

County property records list it as the address for Sean Taylor. It is a four-bath, four-bedroom house with a taxable value of $704,297.

Sportstalk 980 is reporting that a statement from the Redskins says that Sean Taylor is undergoing treatment at a hospital for a gunshot wound.

As a Redskins fan, i’ll give you the word that were heard all across DC after this news came out… FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!

UPDATE: Sources at Sportstalk 980 say that Sean Taylor is in critical condition with a severed artery. Horrible news if all true.

UPDATE: Miami Herald now reporting he was shot in groin and/or leg and was airlifted from his residence to the hospital.

UPDATE: WSVN TV in Miami is reporting that Sean Taylor “was shot in the leg but the bullet struck the femoral artery and he has lost a lot of blood.”

UPDATE: Local 10 in Miami is reporting that a family friend who wishes to not be identified told them that Sean Taylor had been shot twice.

UPDATE: 1:42pm – Sportstalk 980 is now reporting that Sean Taylor is in a coma at the hospital. It is not known whether it is an induced coma or if he fell into one on his own.

UPDATE: 3:15pm – The Miami Herald is all over the story with an excellent description of the events prior to the shooting. “The noises Sean Taylor and his girlfriend heard in their house early Monday turned out to be their worst nightmare.
At least one armed intruder had broken into the $900,000 Palmetto Bay house of the star NFL player and were at his bedroom door. Taylor rose from bed to investigate, and just outside his bedroom, was shot in the groin and critically wounded. He collapsed back into the room, where he breathed heavily as blood gushed from his wound, according to Taylor’s lawyer and family friend, Richard Sharpstein.”
Also, about his injuries, “Sharpstein said Taylor, 24, emerged from surgery about 12:30 p.m. but had lost a lot of blood and remained unconscious, possibly jeopardizing his brain. He is in intensive care and doctors have allowed his family to see him.”

UPDATE: 4:15pm – ESPN.com has video of players reactions.

UPDATE: 7:03pm – Washington Post’s Jason La Canforia is reporting:

“Les Carpenter, who is working the story for us in Miami, heard rumblings that Sean may have opened his eyes.

I have not been able to get that confirmed but just heard from a team offical that Sean is now responsive, which is obviously a turn for the best. I will continue working away to get more details, but this is obviously a turn for the better after Sean spent much of the day in a ‘non-responsive and unconscious’ state.

As the person put it: ‘Finally, the first good news all day.’ Let’s hopes it’s the first of more to come.”

UPDATE: 7:11pm Jason La Canforia for the Washington Post has confirmation from Vinnie Cerrato that Sean Taylor has regained conciousness:

Vinny Cerrato just called us with confirmation.
“He was responsive to the doctor’s requests to squeeze his hands and showed facial expressions. The doctors were very happy about that,” Cerrato said ” … Two doctors came and told us they were excited about that.”
Cerrato also confirmed my earlier reports about Sean being “non-responsive and unconscious.” Cerrato said: “We’d heard all that and what they told us was to hope foir a miracle.”

UPDATE: 9:18 Jason La Canforia provides more details from Redskins Insider. Apparently Sean Taylor flatlined twice during his 7 hour surgery and as of now, according to his attorney, has not opened his eyes, but has responded to doctor’s stimuli. He is still in critical condition. This is one of the scariest and sadest moments in Redskins history. The Deuce’s thoughts are with him and his family.