Although the Miami-Dade police believe Sean Taylor's death is a random act of violence, one of his friends disagrees.
Arizona Cardinals cornerback Antrel Rolle says in this article that Sean Taylor had many enemies on the streets of Miami. Scary, ain't it?
"This was not the first incident," Rolle said. "They've been targeting him for three years now." Rolle said many former "friends" had it in for Taylor, who was trying to build a more stable life.
Rolle says this was not a burglary or a random act of violence. This was a calculated murder by those envious of Taylor's success. Rolle and Taylor grew up together in Miami. Oddly, both their fathers were police officers. Rolle said Taylor lived in fear.
But why?
NFL-FOX writer Jason Whitlock believes he has the answers in this controversial article. I think what makes this article controversial is that it's written by a black man. Whitlock says the Black KKK killed Taylor. Here's a snippet from this powerful article:
When the traditional, white KKK lynched, terrorized and intimidated black folks at a slower rate than its modern-day dark-skinned replacement, at least we had the good sense to be outraged and in no mood to contemplate rationalizations or be fooled by distractions. Our new millennium strategy is to pray the Black KKK goes away or ignores us. How's that working? About as well as the attempt to shift attention away from this uniquely African-American crisis by focusing on an alleged injustice the white media allegedly perpetrated against Sean Taylor.
Whitlock, a realist and intelligent man, cites a column by a less intelligent man trying to make a name for himself
here. Just his leading sentence is enough to make me sick:
The shooting death of Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor has left some African American sportswriters concerned that coverage by their predominantly white colleagues will unfairly emphasize negative aspects of Taylor's past.
Jesus dude, get a grip. White journalists aren't out to emphasize negative aspects of Taylor's "past." This guy fails to realize that Taylor's past is his LIFE.
The Boston Globe's Gregory Lee, another goofball, says white journalists shouldn't be writing about this murder because we don't get it.
"Don't speak or write on things you don't know. What I mean by that is often times when sports turns into social issues, most don't get it and don't have the background to speak about it. The only thing they can go off is stereotypical images of rap videos or watching New Jack City."
Come on, Lee!!! Are you kidding me? What Lee is saying is the white journalists ought to mind their business and forget about Taylor's criminal, violent past because they don't have black skin, they don't understand rap music, and they watch too much television.
The National Association of Black Journalists is getting real silly. This group says the media shouldn't be writing about Taylor's laundry list of crime because it's really not relevant to his murder. And tackling isn't relevant to football, guys. Again, this is silly.
I don't know what you guys are buying, but I don't think Whitlock is trying to sell anything. I can't say the same for the rest I cited in this post.
RIP Sean Taylor. I hope the Miami-Dade police find your killer and bring him to justice.
UPDATE: My favorite Dallas Cowboys blog is debating Whitlock's article now. Good timing.
Miami-Dade police arrested four men in connection with the shooting death of Sean Taylor. And it appears that the police were correct in that this was a random act of violence by men who did not know Taylor personally. The story is here.