Honoring the Dead in the World of Sports

As I settled in for some Sunday Football yesterday I read up on the Plaxico self-inflicted gun wound, and once again shook my head as I tried to understand how guys with such talent and all the fame and fortune in the world continuously perform acts of stupidity that jeopordize everything they've earned (or been given). Shortly after, I flipped on the Giants game and watched as the Redskins honored the tragic death of Sean Taylor by inducting him into their "Ring of Fame". Prior to this ceremony, players in the league wore #21 patches on their jersies and the Skins went out on the field with 10 players in honor of Taylor. As Taylor' latest honor was taking place I started thinking......"Am I missing something here????" The Sean Taylor I remembered throughout his college and pro career was an exceptional talent overshadowed by on AND off-field incidents again and again. So why is he being honored once more? Let's recap some of Taylor's "non-football" accomplishments over his 24 years of life:

In October of 2004 Taylor was pulled over for doing 82 in a 55 and subsequently refused to take a Blood-Alcohol Test resulting in his immediate arrest for suspicion of DUI.

In June of 2005 Taylor was named as a "person of interest" in a Miami assault case involving fire arms. He was ultimately charged with Assault with a fire arm (a felony) and misdemeanor battery. Shortly after the incident, Taylor's SUV was sprayed with bullets in a drive-by-shooting. He was released on a bond of $16,500.

In 2006 new charges were filed against Taylor that put him in position to receive a jail setence for up to 46 years!!! The case was plea bargained and Taylor served the community and made donations to locals schools.

In his first 2 years in the NFL Taylor was fined several times by the league for illegal hits and fined $17,000 for spitting in Michael Pittman's face on the field of play.

Quite a resume for Taylor in such a short career.......

Make no mistake about it, Taylor's death was an awful tragedy, and he was taken from his family and friends far too soon. The issue I have here is more along the lines of the way people of fame get treated by society. Taylor's death was ackowledged by the league and the fans shortly after it occured, but isn't that good enough for a 24-year old who in the minds of many will be known for his reputation as a talented yet dirty player who always seemd to find trouble off the field?

Maybe I'm being insensitive here (opinions will vary), but let's put things in perspective a bit. This guy's contribution to society was as a football player and quite frankly.....not much else. If you eliminate the football part from Taylor's lifetime list of life events I guarantee that every fan who paid tribute to him yesterday would have glanced over to a story about a 24 year-old trouble maker who got murdered in his home right before skipping over to the latest story on Lindsay Lohan's latest alcoholic binge or ARod's latest rendezvous with Madonna.

As a St. Louis Rams fan I can't help but wonder what type of ceremony and honoring would be done if Rams linebacker, Leonard Little was tragically killed in an awful turn of events. Little who is currently ACTIVE and earning a 7-figure salary was behind the wheel in 1998 with a .19 BAC when he crashed his car and killed Susan Gutweiler who was a wife and mother. Little served 90 days in jail and performed community service for this incident. Pretty awful right???? Well guess what......6 years later Little was caught doing 78 in a 55 and failed 3 field sobriety tests before being charged with another DUI.

Did I mention he's currently playing for the Rams? Hey...Little has 80 career sacks though, so let's make sure that if anything tragic happens to him that we honor him again and again and again. Afterall, he's a great football player!!!!