Taylor’s death terrible tragedy

The NFL will honor his memory at all games this weekend.

MIAMI (AP) — Pro Bowl safety Sean Taylor died Tuesday after he was shot in his home by an apparent intruder, leaving the Washington Redskins in mourning for a teammate who seemed to have reordered his life since becoming a father.

The 24-year-old player died at Jackson Memorial Hospital, where he had been airlifted after the shooting early Monday.

“It is with deep regret that a young man had to come to his end so soon,” father Pedro Taylor said in a statement on behalf of the family. “Many of his fans loved him because the way he played football. Many of his opponents feared him the way he approached the game. Others misunderstood him, many appreciated him and his family loved him.”

A string of mourners, including Taylor’s father, visited the player’s home and embraced outside. Authorities entered the home, but it was unclear what they were doing.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said the league will honor Taylor’s memory at all games this weekend.

“This is a terrible tragedy involving the loss of a young man who leaves behind many people struggling to understand it,” he said in a statement.

Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said what he would remember most about Taylor was his excitement about playing football.

“God made him to play football,” Gibbs said Tuesday during a news conference. “To me, he just loved and thrived on the competition part of it. ... Sean, he loved football. He loved these guys here.”

Gibbs acknowledged it will be hard to concentrate on football this week.

“I don’t know how we’ll deal with it, except we’ll all do it together,” he said.

Fans already had begun a makeshift memorial by laying flowers on a field near the front entrance to the Redskins’ practice facility in Ashburn, Va.

“This is a terrible, terrible tragedy,” Redskins owner Daniel Snyder said.

He added the team would honor Taylor with a patch on the jersey and the No. 21 on the helmet.

Redskins teammate Clinton Portis also played with Taylor at the University of Miami. He had sensed a new maturity in his close friend.

“It’s hard to expect a man to grow up overnight,” Portis said. “But ever since he had his child, it was like a new Sean, and everybody around here knew it. He was always smiling, always happy, always talking about his child.”

Doctors had been encouraged late Monday when Taylor squeezed a nurse’s hand, according to Vinny Cerrato, the Redskins’ vice president of football operations. But family friend Richard Sharpstein said he was told Taylor never regained consciousness after being taken to the hospital.

“Maybe he was trying to say goodbye or something,” Sharpstein said.

Taylor, the fifth overall pick in the 2004 NFL draft following an All-American season at Miami, was shot early Monday in the upper leg, damaging the key femoral artery and causing significant blood loss.

Trauma experts said a serious wound to this large artery, leading from the abdomen through the upper thigh, is among the most difficult to fix and can quickly drain the body of blood. Too long a blood loss prevents oxygen from reaching the brain and vital organs.

“According to a preliminary investigation, it appears that the victim was shot inside the home by an intruder,” Miami-Dade County police said in a statement. “We do not have a subject description at this time.”

The attack came eight days after an intruder was reported at Taylor’s home. Officers were sent to the home about 1:45 a.m. Monday after Taylor’s girlfriend called 911.

Sharpstein said Taylor’s girlfriend told him the couple was awakened by loud noises, and Taylor grabbed a machete he keeps in the bedroom for protection. Someone then broke through the bedroom door and fired two shots, one missing and one hitting Taylor, Sharpstein said. Taylor’s 1-year-old daughter, Jackie, was also in the house, but neither she nor Taylor’s girlfriend was injured.