[ike075]

I look at this very simply. He was murdered. While his history MAY be the very thing that led to his untimely death that does not mean it WAS the thing that led to his untimely death. By these reporters not only bringing up his history (which we as redskins fans all already know about and don’t need it constantly thrown in our faces today) but also pointing to it and making the inference that his death was not only not a surprise but was his own fault is what I am taking offence to. Unless they are way ahead of the Police and have some facts that Taylor caused this (instead of what we are hearing from all the redskins about him cleaning up his act) then all they are doing is trying to create their own shock value and are dragging Sean Taylor's name through the mud on the same day he was murdered. I once learned that to embarrass or publicly insult someone is likened to murdering them. We may learn everything might not have been as peachy in Taylor’s life as we thought BUT until those facts are presented these guys (mostly Shapiro) are way out of line by inferring this was his own doing and should pay a price for crossing that line.

Ikester

[langleyparkjoe]

[spenser]

I used to somewhat like Wilbon. I have lost any and all respect for that gutterball. What a piece of crap

[roybus14]

Ike,

You make a very good point in your second post. I personally don't blame Sean for any of this and it's not respectful for anyone to blame him but some people will, whether we like it or not.

Those values and things "sacred" that many of us grew up on are no longer prevelent. We live in a "shock", "reality t.v." and ratings driven society. So when people do get a chance to speak on something, you have to take it with that grain of salt because of the time we live in. People put their feet in their mouth all the time and it has happened throughout the history of news and t.v./radio.

I'm saddened by all of this and at the same time angry because Sean had turned the corner in his life and was growing into a good man and now he's gone.....

[Fios]

[riggofan]

Sorry, but this is lame. Free speech is one of the most cherished freedoms of our country.

If you don't like what's being written in the Post, don't buy it. Don't read it.

[Hooligan]

Rather than an online petition, why not a letter (not email) stating that you'll no longer read the post as long as those two are employed?

[Zdevils]

It's funny. I come to this website every single day--365 days per year because I am a lifelong Redskins fan. It's a great source of information on the Redskins, but to be honest, I find a lot of the opinions here to be either largely uninformed or just silly. And that's okay--disagreement is valued in our country--I just choose not to post myself.

That doesn't lessen the importance of this site to me, though; it's just all about perspective. And just like everyone here is entitled to our own opinions, so are journalists who are paid for their perspective. Perhaps we should start a petition to silence some of you? Or would we really be asking thehogs.net moderators to endorse that silence...since they, like the Washington Post editors, are able to review this content?

Sean Taylor deserves to be honored. Of course. We know nothing about who, why...we don't even know that much about how right now.

I didn't particularly enjoy reading Wilbon's column, and I personally wouldn't have said some of the things he said. But if you stop to read it--carefully--you might find that he is not rushing to judgment. He's calling out a pattern. Not Sean's fault, but perhaps the fault of his environment.

And in hindsight, knowing what we know now, perhaps leaving Miami would have prevented this. Or not. But if we could turn back time, wouldn't you advise him to leave Miami? If it was your fiancee and child?

Be honest--put your indignation aside and be really, really honest for a second--wouldn't you have been more shocked if this happened to, say, Jason Campbell? Or Mark Brunell? Or Randy Thomas? Or London Fletcher? Or Rock Cartwright?

And if so, why?

That doesn't make it Sean's fault. That's not the point.

[Fios]

I've been a Redskins fan my entire life, 31 years at this point, and I can remember ONE instance of a criminal breaking into a player's home and fatally shooting him in his bedroom. That player is Sean Taylor. So, yes, I was shocked.
I can not understand why some actual missteps and some alleged and often falsified missteps are somehow supposed to mitigate the shock I felt when hearing that a person of Sean's stature was shot in his own home.

[ike075]

Few points of clarification. I do not believe anyone on THN started the petition. Second, the main issue I found was in Shapiro's article and while I didn't like Wilbon's I do believe a little more sensitivity was necessary for a legit home town paper. Third, I do believe that some of the comments that have been made of Sean Taylor have crossed the line to the extent of slander which is not protected under the freedom of speech act and they need to wait until facts are brought out before making these type of accusations.

Just my humble opinion.

Ikester

[SkinMeAlive]

The answer to your question of "Wouldn't you have been more shocked if this happened to another Redskins player" is No for me.

Any time anyone is senselessly murdered it is shocking. That's why it's called "murder". To me, this is no less shocking than the murder of any President, although they get the fancy term "Assassination".

Any way I look at this, a life was taken for no good reason. Past offenses or perceived offenses in no way explain or justify the situation.

The media frenzy of factless speculations and half-truths is a complete injustice to those affected both directly and indirectly by this tragedy. The last thing I want to read or hear is half-witted speculation about "why".

And I'd prefer not to hear any media garbage about seeking "justice" because there is no such thing. Murdering someone who murdered someone simply eliminates the second person. It does not bring the first person back.

Sometimes the media should show the common decency of either commenting only on positives and facts, or of simply not commenting.

[riggofan]

btw Did anybody actually bother to read Wilbon's article and think about it? Its a great article, and I think you're mistaken that its derogatory towards Sean at all.

He makes no assumptions about the murder and says nothing bad about Sean's character at all.

The whole point of the article is that many people, not just athletes, need to put as much distance between themselves and bad elements from their youth as possible.

[ike075]

[BossHog]

[SkinMeAlive]