Tuesday, November 27, 2007

A nightmare season

Can it get any worse for the NFL?

Tuesday's death of Redskins safety Sean Taylor, a 2006 Pro Bowl selection, is another low point in a season full of them. While many of the details of the shooting that ultimately cost Taylor his life have yet to come to light, what has been reported is scary. Little more than a week ago, Taylor's home was burglarized and a knife was left, reportedly on Taylor's pillow, by the robber.

Taylor is the fourth active NFL player to die in 2007.

It started Jan. 1 with Broncos cornerback Darrent Williams being shot to death in a limo just hours after Denver's season-ending loss on New Year's Eve. Broncos teammate Damien Nash collapsed and died after a charity basketball game a few months later. And during the summer, Patriots defensive lineman Marquis Hill drowned.


The league's image also has taken a beating thanks to the Michael Vick dog-fighting case, the Patriots' "spy-gate" revelation and the growing chorus of former players coming forward with major health problems and decrying a lack of support from the league and its players union.

While those stories are bad news, they pale in comparison to the deaths of four young men, all aged 24, with lives full of promise ahead of them.

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