Trembling fan wonders how the WFT could tarnish Sean Taylor's legacy so badly
Generally, when planning to announce something that should elicit pride and enthusiasm, you've perhaps made a severe miscalculation when it does nothing but dredge up feelings of sorrow and grief instead.
The latter is how many Washington Football Team fans felt on Thursday when the organization, in announcing that Sean Taylor would be remembered on Sunday by having his number retired, inadvertently reopened some painful wounds in a misguided attempt to honor his legacy.
Countless fans have been waiting for this moment since Taylor's tragic death in 2007 and would welcome it with open arms. It's just that they feel his legacy deserves more than three days' notice, the amount of time Washington left between announcing its planned tribute to Taylor and when it will actually be carried out on Sunday at FedEx Field.
Since the time of the announcement on Thursday at 9 a.m., Washington fans have been flooding 106.7 The Fan's phone lines to vent their various states of emotion — ranging from anger, frustration and outright disbelief — over how the organization could mishandle something that means so much to them so, so badly.
One of those longtime fans is Tailgate Ted, who called up 'BMitch & Finlay' to stress how deeply he feels his emotions have been betrayed. You could hear Ted fighting back the tears as his voice quivered on the air.
"I imagine you're emotional, dude," JP Finlay said.
"I am, man," Ted confirmed. "The memorial we had at Redskins Park for Sean, I ended up collecting all those items that people left outside those trees and packed them up and gave them to Sean's family, gave them to Pedro, so [Sean's] daughter could see all of those items and how much her dad meant to us."
"The funeral service that they broadcasted — I think on Comcast SportsNet back then — I recorded it and sent DVDs out to Redskins fans that were stationed overseas because they couldn't watch it, because they wanted closure," he said. "For them to do this, to hurt this fan base like this, to just completely mess this up... I'm getting text messages from people I haven't talked to in a decade, because they turned their back on this team, that would have done anything to be at that stadium this Sunday.
"And it really, really hurts me to know that they messed this up so bad and are just tarnishing his legacy, and hurting this fan base even more after we've been through so much these past couple years."
"I don't get it, man," Ted said, voice trembling. "I really don't."
The death of Taylor, who was cut down in the prime of his life at just 24 years of age, when he was murdered in his Miami home, was a tragedy that shocked the D.C. area like few other events. It prompted a days-long period of collective mourning as fans poured into what was then Redskins Park, wrapping their arms around each other over candle light vigils to pay their respects.
For many, it served as a scarring reminder of their own humanity, one they may never truly get over. It's a moment in time that should be treated ever so respectfully, not an item on an agenda to be ticked off for the sake of moving onto the next.
This was, by every measure, a shameful miscalculation. One that lifelong fans won't soon forget.
Just as they've yet to forget Sean Taylor.
Related
Below are several images that should help capture the mood of how people were feeling in the days following his tragic death.
