65 Facts About Sean Taylor

Sean Michael Maurice Taylor was an American football free safety for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League.

Sean Taylor was selected fifth overall in the 2004 NFL Draft by the Redskins, where he played four seasons until his murder in 2007.

Sean Taylor played college football at Miami, where he was a member of the 2001 BCS National Championship team and won the Jack Tatum Trophy.

Sean Taylor's death led to an outpouring of national support and sympathy, especially in the Washington, DC and Miami areas.

Sean Taylor was inducted to Washington's Ring of Fame in 2008.

Sean Taylor was born in Florida on April 1,1983 to Pedro Taylor, a policeman, and Donna Junor.

Sean Taylor spent his early years growing up with his great-grandmother Aulga Clarke in Homestead, Florida and later moved to his father's home at the age of 11.

Sean Taylor was baptized at the Bethel Seventh-day Adventist Church in Florida City by Pastor David Peay.

Sean Taylor grew up in a low-income neighborhood in Miami, on a street lined with candy-colored houses.

Sean Taylor played high school football in Pinecrest, a suburb of Miami.

Sean Taylor originally began his high school football career at Miami Killian High School, a Class 2A public school, but transferred to Gulliver Preparatory School, a Class prep school, where he was a three-sport star in football, track and basketball.

Sean Taylor was a star on both sides of the ball during that season, playing running back, defensive back and linebacker.

Sean Taylor rushed for 1,400 yards and a state-record 44 touchdowns and on two occasions, rushed for more than 200 yards during Gulliver's state playoff run.

Sean Taylor compiled more than 100 tackles during the season and scored three touchdowns in the state title game victory over Marianna High School.

Sean Taylor was considered the No 1 prospect in Miami-Dade County by the Miami Herald.

Sean Taylor was rated the nation's No 1 skill athlete and an All-American by Super Prep.

Sean Taylor was an Orlando Sentinel Super Southern Team selection, the No 1 athlete on the Florida Times-Union Super 75 list and rated the No 1 player in Florida by The Gainesville Sun.

Sean Taylor was recruited to play for coach Larry Coker's Miami Hurricanes football team at the University of Miami.

In 2002, his first season as a starter, Sean Taylor was a second-team All-Big East selection by the league's head coaches.

Sean Taylor finished third on the team in tackles with 85, broke up 15 passes, intercepted 4 passes, forced one fumble, blocked one kick and returned a punt for a touchdown.

Sean Taylor led all Miami defensive backs in tackles, interceptions and passes broken up, and had a career-high 11 tackles and intercepted 2 passes in the Hurricanes National Championship loss to Ohio State.

Sean Taylor made a critical play during the game, in which he intercepted Buckeyes quarterback Craig Krenzel in the endzone and returned the ball out of the endzone.

Sean Taylor produced an historic season during his final year at Miami that culminated with a plethora of honors and awards.

Sean Taylor was named a unanimous first-team All-American, the Big East Conference Defensive Player of the Year and a finalist for the Jim Thorpe Award, given to the nation's best defensive back.

Sean Taylor led the Big East Conference and ranked first nationally in interceptions with 10, tying the record for interceptions in a season with former Hurricanes standout Bennie Blades.

Sean Taylor finished first in total tackles with 77.

Sean Taylor returned interceptions for an average of 18.4 yards, including a 67-yard touchdown return at Boston College, a 50-yard scoring runback at Florida State and a 44-yard scoring runback against Rutgers University.

Sean Taylor's three touchdown returns of interceptions is a Miami single-season record.

Sean Taylor placed 4th in the 100-meter at the Gatorade Invitational in Coral Gables, Florida with a time of 10.77 seconds, behind teammates Terrell Walden, Roscoe Parrish and Travarous Bain.

Sean Taylor participated as a member of the 4x100 relay.

Sean Taylor attended the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis, Indiana, but opted to skip all of the combine drills and only met with team representatives and personnel.

Sean Taylor became the first top ten pick to sign his contract in 2004.

Sean Taylor fired them after other top ten picks signed their contracts and felt their deals were better in comparison.

Sean Taylor immediately rehired Rosenhaus, who served as his agent for the remainder of his career.

Sean Taylor had an incident that involved his early departure during the NFL's Rookie Symposium which was mandatory for every incoming player from the draft and was held over four days.

Sean Taylor left after the first day, but returned for the last two days at the urging of representatives from the Redskins.

Over his first three seasons, Sean Taylor was fined at least seven times for late hits, uniform violations and other infractions.

Sean Taylor recorded two interceptions in the second half off passes by rookie quarterback Matt Mauck.

Sean Taylor made his first career interception and sack during the game, recording both on quarterback Brian Griese.

Sean Taylor finished his rookie season in 2004 with 76 combined tackles, nine pass deflections, four interceptions, two forced fumbles, and a sack in 15 games and 13 starts.

Sean Taylor kept the number when Smoot rejoined the Redskins in 2007, with Smoot opting to wear No 27.

Sean Taylor's fine was for $5,000 due to his choice of wearing white socks with a burgundy and gold striped pattern instead of the required all white socks.

Sean Taylor was inactive for the Redskins' Week 10 loss at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers due to an injury.

Sean Taylor finished the 2005 season with 70 combined tackles, a career-high ten pass deflections, two interceptions, two forced fumbles, and a sack in 15 games and 15 starts.

Defensive coordinator Gregg Williams stated Sean Taylor denied the claim and he believed and stood by his player.

Sean Taylor finished the loss with seven combined tackles and a pass deflection.

Head coach Joe Gibbs named Sean Taylor the starting free safety to start the regular season in 2006, along with starting strong safety Adam Archuleta.

In Week 9, Sean Taylor made eight combined tackles and returned a blocked 35-yard field goal attempt by Mike Vanderjagt for a 30-yard gain with less than six seconds left in the game.

Sean Taylor made a key fourth down tackle on Delhomme in the fourth quarter and his interception sealed the Redskins' victory.

Sean Taylor was voted as the NFC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance.

Sean Taylor finished the 2006 season with a career-high 111 combined tackles, six pass deflections, three forced fumbles, and an interception in 16 games and 16 starts.

At the time of his death, Sean Taylor was tied for the most interceptions in the National Football Conference and second in the league with 5 despite having missed Weeks 11 and 12 with a knee injury.

Sean Taylor had compiled 42 tackles, 9 passes defended and a forced fumble.

On December 18,2007, Sean Taylor was posthumously voted to his second Pro Bowl, becoming the first deceased player in NFL history to be elected to the Pro Bowl.

In October 2004, Sean Taylor was arrested in Fairfax County, Virginia, on a charge of driving under the influence of alcohol following a birthday party in Washington, DC, for former Redskins receiver Rod Gardner.

Sean Taylor was convicted for refusing to take a blood alcohol test requested by a Virginia state police officer.

Sean Taylor was sought by police following a June 2005 incident in which bullets were fired into a stolen vehicle.

Sean Taylor was rushed to Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he died the following day.

Sean Taylor's funeral was held at the Pharmed Arena at Florida International University in Miami on December 3,2007.

The NFL recognized the death of Sean Taylor by placing a No 21 decal on the back of all NFL players' helmets during all Week 13 games; additionally, a moment of silence was held before each game that week.

Sean Taylor was posthumously voted starting free safety for the NFC team for the 2008 Pro Bowl and voted a second team All-Pro.

The first Redskins game after Sean Taylor's death was on December 2,2007, which was against the Buffalo Bills and held at FedExField.

On May 15,2008, Venjah Hunte, one of the five suspects in Sean Taylor's murder, accepted a plea deal and was sentenced to 29 years in prison.

Sean Taylor was inducted posthumously as the 43rd member into the Washington Redskins Ring of Fame on November 30,2008.

Multiple players have honored Sean Taylor by donning his jersey numbers that he wore during his college and professional career.