Some Memories Never Fade

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

Perhaps by fate, or 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 27, 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 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 Miami Hurricane fans 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

[CaneRock]

^^^^^^^LOL^^^^^

#SAVETHEKIDS!

[j.w.]

Happy Thanksgiving, all. The season is nearly over and it is what it is. Enjoy the basketball team, volleyball team, and hope your pro teams give you something to celebrate.

[KYcane]

Enjoy the basketball team, volleyball team, and hope your pro teams give you something to celebrate.

Posted by: j.w. | November 28, 2014 at 12:17 PM

Don't forget the debate team!

UM Debate Team Wins Multiple Awards

10 UM Students were introduced to intercollegiate debate competition for the first time at the Sunshine State Scrimmage hosted by UCF in Orlando. Competing against teams from UF and UCF, the UM Novice team of Thalia Garcia and Lucas Baker placed first, with Baker named the 2nd place individual speaker and Garcia 3rd. UM sophomore Bancy Makavana also received individual recognition as the 5th place speaker.

Read more here:

http://com.miami.edu/news/2014/10/08/um-debate-team-wins-multiple-awards

[SinisterCane]

What's are record for night games under AL?

[The Dude]

Posted by: KYcane | November 28, 2014 at 12:41 PM

Never forget debate.

[WWIN]

Just bcuz Alverage Slogan is our coach does NOT mean we have to support HIM!

I also find it funny that Slogan was "allegedly" up for the psu job when he first arrived at UM during the investigation. So why didn't he take the job then while we were still in uncertainty about the investigation? Why didn't he even get interviewed? But soon AFTER the investigation is over he interviews for the job? That was all a lie by him and his agent to milk UM for more money! The first time UM took the bait but fortunately they didn't the second time, but they shoulda told him to stay up there while he was there!

UM owes Slogan NOTHING! What did he do during the "Cloud" besides answer questions and coach, which he didn't do a good job of that? Did we forget that he coached at Temple prior to UM so this was a dramatic upgrade for him anyways even including the "Cloud" this was still better than his previous job! He should be loyal to us, we helped him he didn't help us!

[KYcane]

Never forget debate.

Posted by: The Dude | November 28, 2014 at 01:12 PM

Pretty hard to do if one is a Canes football fan. -)

[SinisterCane]

From anther site:

D'Onofrio and the Broyles Award

The way this award works, the Head Coach nominates one of their coaching staff for the award. Nominees are not picked by an independent committee, but each coach may nominate one member of his staff.

What this means is that Al Golden nominated D'Onofrio, the reasons for which I am sure you all can deduce for yourselves. It is a calculated PR move on Al's part. Favoritism. Cronyism. Protecting his own ass. Nothing more, nothing less.

If you wanted to nominate anyone on the staff, it should be Coley in his capacity as QB coach. Turning a true freshman into the ACC's top rated passer is a splendid job of coaching. Much better than anything D'Onofrio has done. Ever.

[Go Canes]

We have the ACC's defensive player of the year on defense in Denzel, who was developed by Coach D don't we?

[SinisterCane]

Posted by: Go Canes | November 28, 2014 at 01:32 PM

Who else has NOFENSE coached up? To bad for Howard and Chickillo NoD only has enough Temple magic for 1 player for every 4 years

[1mg of Epi]

Developed on spite of... Did U see what Dno did to DP in the GT game?

[1mg of Epi]

**^ In spite of

[The Dude]

Posted by: SinisterCane | November 28, 2014 at 01:30 PM

Word.

[Go Canes]

You're right. Not a single other player has developed.

My bad.

[SinisterCane]

Again It's on me

[Ohio_Cane]

Who else has NOFENSE coached up? To bad for Howard and Chickillo NoD only has enough Temple magic for 1 player for every 4 years

Posted by: SinisterCane | November 28, 2014 at 01:42 PM
------------------------------------------

Jermaine Grace has pretty much sucked. Raphael Kirby has been absymal, and let's not even talk about how bad Thurston Armbrister has been, but we knew he would be considering he was a 0* Safety.

I won't mention Corn Elder and the moves he's made as a defender. Or Antonio Crawford, a terrible 3* that no fan wanted. Forget about him too, cuz he's been mediocre.

[SinisterCane]

Posted by: Go Canes | November 28, 2014 at 01:49 PM

Please name all the 4* Talent thatNOFENSE developed into undrafted free agents

[Go Canes]

You're completely wasting your time Ohio.

#savethekids

[The Dude]

Canespace is turning into a colluded real estate mafia. Lol. Grats SOUP.

[SinisterCane]

Posted by: Go Canes | November 28, 2014 at 01:55 PM

Your right lets extend NoD through 2020 also

#HALFTIMEADJUSTMENTS

[Ohio_Cane]

Your right lets extend NoD through 2020 also

#HALFTIMEADJUSTMENTS

Posted by: SinisterCane | November 28, 2014 at 02:02 PM
-----------------------------------------

Don't be so dense.

U posed the question of who he coached up on D. We answered with players who have CLEARLY gotten a lot better since they've been here.

No need to change the subject to an extension or his game-day coaching. Which, by the way, I've been pretty vocal about that I'm not a fan of any longer.

[WWIN]

#savethekids

Posted by: Go Canes | November 28, 2014 at 01:55 PM

You called for Golden's head 2 weeks ago but now your back to supporting him so soon? Lol

The kids do need to be saved, a better coach would be undefeated with this team!

[1mg of Epi]

You're right. Not a single other player has developed.

My bad.

Posted by: Go Canes | November 28, 2014 at 01:49 PM

I know I'm right... Thank you for admitting it.

[The Dude]

They did a great job with Denzel, although this staff puts too much weight on guys. Al can develop 3 stars into draft picks, its one of the most important things a coach does. Unfortunately for Al, the number one most important thing is to win games you should. All Al has to do... Just win the games you should, he can't even do the bare minimum and beat GT, Duke, Maryland, BC, UVA. This isn't a fluke, it's Al Golden football.

[Go Canes]

I said any more losses this year are unacceptable and anything but total success next year and he'll likely lose his job.

The problem with some of you is in your mind acknowledging anything positive is in some way endorsing this staff.

It is very possible to be critical, as all of us have done, while also seeing the good things that have occurred as well.

[The Dude]

Brandon McGee turned himself into a draft pick under Golden. I remember how excited I was about him. Armbrister developed under Golden. Pierre, for a 2 star guy Shayon Green was solid. Antonio Crawford is a nice player. Chickillo may be worse off. He was a dynamic pass rusher who's been asked to change his game.

[CaneRock]

This staff ain't no different than the last staff, in that, it seems like we're starting over every week.

You wanna know what a Golden team will look like if He stays at UM for 3 more years, look no further than last year's team.

[Go Canes]

And for God's sake take a break from the undefeated talk.

There is exactly ONE this year. There was exactly ONE the year before. Last year every team but four lost at least two games. TEN teams in the final Top 25 had four losses.

You throw that number around like its so easy.

[The Dude]

I absolutely can not believe we lost to this Nebraska team.

[The Dude]

Posted by: Go Canes | November 28, 2014 at 02:22 PM

Should be undefeated in the Coastal at the very least. We have a better team than Louisville and Nebraska also.

[Go Canes]

Posted by: The Dude | November 28, 2014 at 02:26 PM

Agreed.

[Ohio_Cane]

Miami Women's Hoops ‏@MiamiWBB 5m5 minutes ago

Canes start the second half on a TWENTY-SIX TO ZERO run

[Go Canes]

That's what makes last Saturday so frustrating.

Really thought we were improving every week as the second half of the season went on.

Thought if we played them now we'd beat them but the inconsistency of this team is freaking infuriating.

That's where I put the blame squarely on our coaches.

[CaneRock]

Who said anything about undefeated. I think most on this board were realistic. I'd say 3-4 losses was the expectation amongst many on CS. But it turns out Lurker was closer in that this was a 6-7 win team.

[Ohio_Cane]

The kids do need to be saved, a better coach would be undefeated with this team!

Posted by: WWIM | November 28, 2014 at 02:07 PM
----------------------------------------

That's who, CR.

[The Dude]

I think we could be undefeated if we had an elite coach. It might be a little flukey with some luck sprinkled in. No way in hell should we have been curbed stomped like we have been. We should be much better on defense by now. Golden and Coley handcuffed Brad against Louisville. Mark couldn't shut down two one dimensional teams in GT and Nebraska. Okay, FSU, too me looked like we just weren't deep enough on the DL to finish. AQM hurt us in that game. UVA is flat out inexcusable and Al should be fired. 1 or 2 losses and we are seeing real progress. 3 losses and there are still doubters. 4 or 5 losses and we should bring in a new HC because we are heading in the wrong direction.

[The Dude]

Oh Alex Collins, what could have been.

[WWIN]

And for God's sake take a break from the undefeated talk.

Posted by: Go Canes | November 28, 2014 at 02:22 PM

Why? To ease the pressure off of your beloved coach.

Who has the most talent in the country? Fsu and they have the easiest schedule to go with it which is why they're still undefeated. Who has the second most talent in the country? Us and we have a easy schedule too, and should be 11-0 or 10-1. Don't feed me that misleading ranking about having the second toughest schedule in the country, that just means that the nobody's we've played have played other nobody's!

The only team on our schedule with more talent than us was fsu. So are you suggesting that we should be losing a few other games for the hell of it?

[WWIN]

ANYBODY...

Please explain why we should have lost to Louisville, Nebraska, GA Tech, and Virginia?

And really being up 23-7 on fsu, why should we have lost that game?

[The Dude]

Posted by: WWIM | November 28, 2014 at 02:54 PM

Uh... um... well.... see...

[BEERicane]

Louisville - we had a Frosh QB taking his first snaps on the road vs a decent opponent. Not an ideal situation to begin your collegiate career. That's why.

The rest and I'm going to add FSU - no reason whatsoever. Other than our absolute garbage staff.

[BEERicane]

#FSUDad #OkeleeDokelee.

[CaneRock]

That's who, CR.

Posted by: Ohio_Cane | November 28, 2014 at 02:39 PM

Hellllll yeah! Why not! We'd be pullin' all the stops!...LITERALLY! Pencils,knives,tasers,pepper spray...#1 defense in the country baby!...Old School Canes! LMAO!

[The Dude]

Watching Missouri and Arkansas and they just posted a stat showing the top teams in CF in drives over 5:00 resulting in TDs (there really is a stat for everything) 1. Arkansas 2. GT 3. Pitt. Looks like we start up the excuse machine now. Defense was on the field too long, lol.

[BEERicane]

Dude the thing all those teams have in common is they suck.

[nemo2002]

Did we forget that [Coach Golden] coached at Temple prior to UM so this was a dramatic upgrade for him . . . .

Posted by: WWIM | November 28, 2014 at 01:12 PM

True! Indeed, he now "earns" more - a lot more - than the university president or the med school dean. That is a huge bump in salary (and prestige) over his stature and earning power at Temple.

I think there are THREE reasons why he ultimately withdrew his name from consideration for the PSU head coaching job: 1) it was clear (to him and his agent) that PSU was not going to make him an offer; 2) letting the matter drag out any longer would diminish his standing at UM and hurt ongoing recruiting efforts; and 3) he (and his agent) could leverage the PSU "overture" to strengthen his deal at UM.

Let's face facts. He ain't going anywhere, anytime soon.
Why not?
First, the UM administration does not want to pony up the millions necessary to buy out his contract (and hire a possibly even more costly head coach to replace him).
Second, based on what he has (not) done at UM to date, no other university would hire him as head coach and pay him more than he gets now.
Third, he was (and is) entitled to FIVE years to make the U "relevant" again. I don't think he can do it. But I know (for better or worse) that he is going to get one last chance to try.

Bottom Line: Since U're stuck with him for (at least) another year, we might as well hope for the best.

[SinisterCane]

#ITSTARTSWITHME

[WWIN]

Posted by: BEERicane | November 28, 2014 at 02:56 PM

True. But didn't we upgrade at the QB spot this year? Didn't Louisville lose their best player which happened to be their QB and break in a new QB as well? And did their top player this year play against us this year? So I will have to throw the freshman QB excuse out the window

[WWIN]

Looks like those mighty Cornhuskers are on the ropes again!

[86Cane]

SOUP...how close are you to winning that Benz?

Posted by: CaneRock | November 28, 2014 at 10:40 AM

We will find out 12/12/14!