Sean Taylor - RIP UPDATED

If this was, as so many seem to wish, a contract hit, it was the most bumbling, dumbass contract killer of all time. I have a feeling that if someone had fired a bullet that hit the floor and richoceted into Taylor's eye, we'd have people saying they knew in their heart it was a Moe Greene special.

In a few days, we'll have people openly calling for Lt. Horatio Cane to show up on the scene and solve the mystery based on some carpet fibers stuck to the lava lamp and some mud tracks in the flower garden.

 

On the case?



In most cases, the simple explanation is the correct one.

 

I think it's unfair to overlook his early years based on what he's done in the past 18 months, just as it's unfair to disbelieve his past 18 months based on his early years.

A man can change. Doesn't mean he wasn't what he was earlier.

 

Let me ask you this: given the fact that Mr. Taylor's father is a police chief, and that Mr. Taylor attended a prep school, was Mr. Taylor more likely a genuine thug, or a wannabe?

 

Don't know if it matters. If a kid hangs out with a bad crowd as a wannabe, eventually they become a part of the bad crowd.

 

Great point, shot. Maybe, just maybe, Taylor wasn't a gangster.
But maybe his friends were ... You know, that whole guilt by association thing.

 

It means he had choices and opportunities that others never had, beyond his pampered life as a star athlete. He chose his life style, which is more than can be said for many.

 

jgmacg - i think whitlock's column is about much more than wild conjecture, and i really don't understand how you can walk away from it without a constructive thought or two.

 

Any time you begin with this:

No, we don't know for certain the circumstances surrounding Taylor's death. I could very well be proven wrong for engaging in this sort of aggressive speculation.

I'm particularly skeptical of what follows.

And what follows is Mr. Whitlock's screed about the death cult of black-on black-crime, which we've read before. And yes, it's a terrible problem, as is the appetite for self-destruction among young African-American males and their corporate enablers.

Trouble is, we don't yet know what kind of crime this was. Not who committed it, nor why.

And while I admire Mr. Whitlock's earnestness, and his singularity of purpose, this column could have waited until it was grounded in some actual fact of the case.

 

I wasn't under the impression that many view this as a contract hit done by some highly trained assassin. At least that's certainly not my take on it. But I do suspect it was done by somebody who knew Taylor and had it in for him for whatever reason. The idea that this was just some random burglary attempt gone wrong does not pass the common sense smell test with me. But I could be wrong.

 

jgmacg - then you completely missed the point of the column.

 

i have the impression this was a "yeah, let's go make that fucker pay," spur-of-the-moment crime.

i highly doubt some fucking pro would have left a potential witness with the ability to breath our air.