Sean Taylor's Legend Lives On

Sean Michael Maurice Taylor was born in Miami on April 1, 1983. 

Perhaps by fate, maybe by coincidence, it was later that same year that the University of Miami, behind a quarterback named Kosar and coach named Schnellenberger (seen below with QB Jim Kelly), would win their first college football National Championship by beating Nebraska in the Orange Bowl. 

That game, which put the UM program on the big-time college football map, has often been referred to as the "Miracle in Miami".  Sean's Taylor's birth in April of that year could also be seen as a miracle for what this young man would soon bring to his team and its fans in his home town.

Sean grew up in a tough South Dade neighborhood and later attend Gulliver High School where he would help them win the Class 2A State Title. His spectacular play would help him become the #1 ranked prep player in Miami-Dade County by the Miami Herald.  Sean was so dominant at the high school level that he played multiple positions including running back, linebacker and defensive back. 

After a spectacular Senior season and a hotly contested recruiting battle, Sean decided to attend the University of Miami.  It would prove to be somewhat ironic that Sean would wind up being one of only four true freshmen to play in 2001 on the Hurricanes fifth National Championship team. 

Even at this early stage, Sean's life had seemingly come full circle.  From being born during the Miracle in Miami season of 1983 to contributing to what was arguably the best UM team ever, the Canes 2001 championship team.  Sean Taylor, a hometown boy had already grown to become a hometown hero and would eventually become a true legend to Canes fans in the 305 and beyond.

As Junior at UM in 2003, after beating FSU at Doak Campbell Stadium in the pouring rain seemingly all by himself, Sean would win a slew of college football awards.  After that season, Sean decided it was time to take the next step in his carrer and would opt for the NFL draft.   

He would be the first of six Canes selected in the first round that year (an NFL record) when he was drafted fifth overall by the Washington Redskins. 

By 2006 there was no doubt that Sean Taylor had become the dominant player at his position and was honored by being selected to the NFL Pro-bowl that year.  He was nicknamed "Meast" by teammates for being part man, part beast.  Taylor would become one of the most feared hitters in the NFL and gained the respect of his peers at the highest level of competition.       

Entering his third year as a Redskin, Sean seemed to be at the top of his game and the NFL talent pool.  By the tenth week of the NFL season he was tied for the league lead in interceptions and was considered an automatic selection for his second straight Pro-Bowl. 

Then came the fateful night of November 26, 2007.Sean Taylor, while at home asleep with his wife and 18 month-old daughter, awoke to a loud noise in his home.  In an effort to protect his family, Sean confronted the would-be burglars.  He was shot once and would later die from the severe loss of blood as his femoral artery was torn apart by the single bullet.   

That night would end the life of a real Hurricane hero.

Sean Taylor's sudden and tragic death shocked his family, friends, teammates and the Hurricane faithful.  When he died the day following the shooting, we promised to never forget his contributions to the University of Miami.  This blog article is our simple way of proving that we have not forgotten Sean Taylor, #26, who played at The U and was proud to wear the orange and green. 

Some memories and images never fade.  And even now, if you close your eyes, you can probably still see him, #26 back peddaling into open space, picking off another deep pass, splashing through the rain and the mud at the Doak, weaving down the field behind several blockers, refusing to be denied and diving into the end zone for a pick six. 

 

That is how we will remember Sean Taylor. As a miracle of a man who at times seemed completely capable of  beating the other team all by himself.

Comments

[MassivCane]

First!

[laquinton]

Rip Sean. I literally watch his highlights every other day and get chills nobody plays the game like he did.

I remember kenny Phillips awhile back saying ST was his favorite player cause of the way he played the game.. without gloves also!

[j.w.]

Top 3! Working from home is good for something I guess

[SOUP]

I was lucky to see Sean Taylor play in person several times.

I saw Sean Taylor beat FSU all by himself in the cold rain in Tally.

I have been to Sean Taylor's grave site in Kendall. He is buried not far from where my mom was laid to rest.

I will NEVER forget Sean Taylor.

[mi@mic@ne]

Sean Taylor in the middle of the d was like having a mutant with a force shield keeping the offense out of the middle of the field. When he took that interception for the score in the FSU game you could feel the air go out of the stadium... total domination capped off by his flip dive at the goal line....

[BigSonnyCane]

Every now and again, i like to play ST's highlights on youtube.

Reminds me of what a real nasty/aggressive football player looks like... The best part is, he did it for the love of the game!

Although it isn't always fair to other kids that play the position, dude is THE standard for playing back there at Safety.

R>I>P> Sean Taylor

[orange 'n green in the vein]

Love the tribute to one of the could have been all-time greats when it's posted on his birthday, hate the running it on his day of passing tradition here. Still it's touching.

[Hassan]

r.i.p sean taylor

[orange 'n green in the vein]

Willie, for the last time, here's what happened in your stretch of 'improvement' by the defense;

NCST, worst performance against their offense all season.

UNC, 6th best performance all year, in other words, completely average, middle of the pack, thank you extra penalty flags in the loss for keeping it close.

FSU, 7th best performance all year, again, completely average, middle of the pack, thanks extra flags for keeping it closer than it would have been otherwise.

VT, 2nd worst performance all year against their horrible offense. The standard of the league is a .500 joke, only if you never won a division title in the MAC and hire your college roommate for your DC apparently and then you still can't stop them anyway.

UVA, 3rd worst performance against their offense all year long. Also, they are a really bad four win team but again, you see this as improvement?

USF, 6th best performance against them all year long. Also they've played only 11 games so at best they'll be slightly above the median at the end of the year, at worst, slightly below, either way, completely average performance against another really bad team playing a 3rd string freshman QB and aided by a boatload of dropped passes to open WR's.

Duke, worst performance of the year against their offense. Somehow you're still claiming there was improvement this year in the later stages of the season Willie? Pass your strain to me and I'll send it to the herb afterwards for evaluation because you're on some kind of cloud to see improvement in these results.

[SOUP]

BigSonny...good to see U around Canespace once again! It was great meeting U in Fort Pierce. Hope to catch up with you all next season at a game or tailgate.

If U have time email me at:

canespace86@aol.com

[pbcfrcane13]

BTW to he ex players this isnt the first time Al Golden has said that he thinkgs the players should have not left earlier and that the ones that did could have become better players and move up their stock up higher.

Also what he is saying is the truth. It's not a knock. Want to know why here you go guys grab a tissue if your to sensitve it may hurt.(Sorry if I get the RD wrong)

Tommy Streeter: Draft 6th round. Had his best year as a RSJ and first year starting....still was not a good route runner per the draft guys. If he comes back this year he learns how to run better routes and imagine what he could have done in this Offense OMG!! Plus better stats at the Combine with another year or SC. Easily would have been taken higher than 6th RD

Brandon Washington Draft 6th rd: Was an All Acc guard as a Soph. Got moved to Tackle and had a rough year as a Jr. If he comes back he goes back to starting as guard as a senior were he was great and with Duke and Miller running behind him putting up those running stats Im sure he goes higher than 6th and most likely goes back to All Acc.

Lamar Miller 4th rd: First UM running back with over 1000 yards in years break away speed....as a RSSop. Down side can't pass block and injury questions....If he comes back may not have as many yards, but improves pass blocking is the main back and shows he can carry the load. Goes higher and doesnt sit behind 2 other RB because he can't pass block. Also would have been talked about in pre season heisman also had another season after this one if wanted to.

Forston was he drafted? When played showed power. Knock on him can never stay healthy. If he could come back and play a full season healthy who knows whay he could have been capable of with OV starting on one side and Chick on the other and a possible healthy Porter. Im sure if he had a healthy season he would have been drafted mid rid.

Vernon 3rd rd(did I get Miller and him mixed up): Anyways played strong in a shorten season because of suspensions. With another full season under belt he could have blown up with a Soph Chick on the other side and possible healthy Forston in the middle. Could have been a first rd/2nd rd pick pass rushers in the NFL are loved now.

Again yes this is all these players are healthy which is always a risk I know....I know....

but to me Al Golden said the truth get over! YOu all throw money away. YOur Canes and will always be Canes family, but thats what a family does we speak the truth and it may hurt.

[SOUP]

The fact that The U produced Sean Taylor and Ed Reed and Fred Marion and Kenny Phillips and Antrel Rolle (he plays more of a safety now) is unreal!

Who did I leave out?

[SOUP]

But to me Al Golden said the truth so get over it! You all threw money away. You are Canes and will always be Canes family, but thats what a family does, we speak the truth and it may hurt.

Posted by: pbcfrcane13 | November 27, 2012 at 05:50 PM

There IT is right there.

[orange 'n green in the vein]

Unless there's more to the quote that I haven't seen yet, I don't think, ".20 cents on the dollar," is downing any players, it's accurately describing how much money they left on the table with their decisions.

Now if Al says, "they went for 20 cents on the dollar BECAUSE ________ (fill in comment on lack of effort, shortsighted money chasing, personal decision making process not being up to speed due to lack of logical reasoning skills)," then proceed to freak out on social media justifiably, but the fact that he didn't and still got the ant pile kicked up with his no-longer upperclassmen tells me I can't really believe that the buy in he was raving about last year and this one or going forward can be believed at face value.

[WWIN]

OGV

Its funny how when I posted the stats proving it you never responded. The total yards went down every game from NC state till the end except for Virginia and duke games.

[mi@mic@ne]

http://www.cbssports.com/collegefootball/blog/dennis-dodd/21162720/documents-appear-to-show-improper-ncaa-involvement-in-usc-case

Look whos not following their own rules..looks like there was some personal animosity involved in this decision. If this happened in the USC Reggie Bush investigation what other rule breaking is going on in our investigation? Time to investigate the NCAA.

[herbieibis]

Willie,
If it's 5ooyds they coughed up or 600yds they coughed up, the defense suked, with a capital "Tennessee T". It's a wonder they all don't have back problems from as much as they bent. What most of those pups went through this year is nothing short of a gang initiation. If some of our veteran boys would of stepped up like Telemaque, Robinson, Rogers, Cornelius, Uh I can't think of anymore vets, well you get the picture. Aside from McGee, Porter & Buchanan, that was all the veteran leadership we had was those 7 guys and only 3 of them had played alot, maybe that's why we got gutted like a fish game in and game out.

[dj moonbat]

Its funny how when I posted the stats proving it you never responded. The total yards went down every game from NC state till the end except for Virginia and duke games.

Posted by: Willie Will in Nashville | November 27, 2012 at 06:12 PM

Every one of the seven -- except for two of 'em.

Was the defense better in the second half? Yes. Was it a competent defense? No.

[laquinton]

Soup. Brandon Meriwether.

[Ohio_Cane]

I sit here on this day remembering exactly where I was, what I was doing, the weather outside, the time of day... Everything. It still makes me sad to relive it. What a waste of otherworldly talent and a great father and human being.

RIP, Sean.

[solarcane]

bennie blades

[Ohio_Cane]

Also sit here reflecting because it always reminds me that tomorrow is my brother's birthday. He committed suicide 6 years ago.

[SOUP]

Bennie Blades

Brandon Merriwether

TRU DAT!

[SOUP]

Ohio...sorry for your significant loss and your pain even if removed by 6 years. Be positive, be strong, be blessed.

[WWIN]

Jigga,

Compare bc to south Florida game. Also not that EJ didn't play in the bc game or duke game. Also what did the players have to play for against duke??

[roachcane77]

Well, as expected, AG has publicly & TOTALLY defended and backed his BFF D'No.

End of story.

[roachcane77]

Break it up folks... nothing else to see here.

[roachcane77]

Sigh... I'm disappointed, but not surprised.

[laquinton]

http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=t5fgtnMwK6s&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Fv%3Dt5fgtnMwK6s

Video about Sean with former players. Pretty good

[laquinton]

Hey Ohio, Sorry ant your bro. I had to deal with my older cousin being shot October 4th and my uncle February 2010. Sucks. Makes me cherish life way more.

[orange 'n green in the vein]

roach, Al keeps telling us to look at what he did at Temple, apparently he thinks that works on the blogs that he doesn't read but knows they predicted all of 4 wins this year for him on, so he's going to stick to the rhetorical game-plan?

[SOUP]

OGV...the first time I hear a head coach at ANY school say: "I dont read the media or blogs or Internet" I start to worry.

But that's just me?

[laquinton]

http://ow.ly/i/1anG5

Jermaine Grace

[laquinton]

Matthew Thomas. . My bad lol

[roachcane77]

Wore my Sean Taylor (CaneSpace) remembrance shirt today at tennis practice.

Man, he was something special...

[roachcane77]

If we could just recruit more young men like Sean, it wouldn't matter who is coaching them...

Too bad there was only one...

It must be so hard on his family today... such a waste.

[The Dude]

Posted by: roachcane77 | November 27, 2012 at 09:39 PM

No sh*t!!! If we had 22 Sean Taylors WOW!!!

[The Dude]

Lets see, ST26 could play at a high level at any of these positions: CB, SS, FS, SLB, MLB, WLB, DE, TE, WR, RB, FB. Anyone know what kind of arm he had? I'd have him play option QB too. I cant think of any other player I could say that about?

[The Dude]

At a high level I mean All-American/Pro Bowl level.

[laquinton]

How lovely would it be if LSu lets Arkansas get les miles from them for 27.5 for 5 years I. (5.5 a year) and lsu in return goes for jimbo

[pbcfrcane13]

Btw espn reporting Cincy making a strong push to join the ACC....out of Lville and Unconn I like Cincy the best......Ohio is great recruiting grounds.

[Terrance Sullivan]

RIP Sean Taylor.

[orange 'n green in the vein]

Yeah, that's a pretty valid worry there 86 now that I think about it.

Al's going to have had enough time to shop for ingredients this upcoming year, now it's time to see what kind of dinner he's going to make. Coastal will be a lot stronger next year, UNC's going to be a beast again, Fedora already had them back to Butch level's of accomplishment with nothing to play for and will have plenty of weapons still to torch UM, and the natives are getting beyond restless now it seems, but then again, field the worst defense a school has seen and that happens when the guy in charge is obviously riding his friends coattails past the point of his ability.

Q, I like it, it won't happen I think, but it would be delicious watching those dominoes fall like that.

[roachcane77]

Just watched a really good piece on ESPN News about the 5 year anniversary of Sean's murder...

As much as I dislike ESPN's obvious SEC bias...

Their segment was a well done and touching remembrance...

I'm out.

[Mcginns ale house]

Soup ---you forgot the guy from the bengals

[Tonycane]

One thing about golden and temple, it took him four seasons to turn the corner at Temple. Not an overnight fix.

[UpNorthCane27]

I hate this day with a passion those assholes took away my favorite football player of all time. Those same assholes left a now 6 year old girl without her father....

RIP SEAN TAYLOR the best to ever do it in the shortest period of time!!!

[WWIN]

jigga,

you point out the games you want but i can't??

PLEASE UNDERSTAND the following

I'm not happy with the d. My expectations are 250-275 TOTAL YARDS a game or less, and as you can see we didn't meet my expectations once this season. Next year I'll settle for 320-345 or less. My point about the d is that they didn't play bad every game this year. I said I wanted to see improvements and I did. When the total yards start coming down every week, what is that called??? Then you said well that was against a 3rd string qb, let me ask you this, didn't we get torched by a 3rd string qb last year??? So that's a improvement. We use to make every qb look like a heisman candidate, but not every game this year, true or false??

Please look at the date on my next post and what i said after the k state game.

[WWIN]

Well my complaints weren't really about the k state game its about the d in general since last year, k state was just next in line lol. Next we got a heisman hopeful qb this upcoming weekend that plays for bcc but I don't know his name

Posted by: Willie Will in Nashville | September 10, 2012 at 10:58 PM

[orange 'n green in the vein]

Well the good news is TC, he finished tied for the division lead in only his second year at UM so we can pretty safely say that's a good sign the corner is now firmly behind him, defensive ineptitude records and all.

So again, time to make dinner with the ingredients you've shopped for.