Seahawks’ Jennings mourns death of ex-teammate Taylor

Published 8:24 pm Wednesday, November 28, 2007

KIRKLAND — For the third time in just over a year, the thrill of a Sunday victory has been washed out by the cold reality of tragic news for Kelly Jennings.

The Seattle Seahawks cornerback was awaken early Tuesday morning by a text message that another of his former University of Miami teammates had been killed. Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor, 24, was a member of Jennings’ recruiting class in 2001.

“It’s always tough,” Jennings said Wednesday, about 36 hours after Taylor died from a gunshot wound to his leg. “It’s still kind of hard for me to grasp on to (the fact that) this has actually happened. It’s just something that, in daily life things happen you have to deal with.”

Taylor is Jennings’s third former Miami teammate to perish since 2003. Four years ago, Hurricanes teammate Al Blades died in a car crash. Last November, two days after Jennings helped the Seahawks knock off the St. Louis Rams, U of M defensive lineman Brian Pata was shot and killed outside of his Miami apartment.

Jennings received tragic news about another former teammate earlier this season, a few hours after the season-opening win over Tampa Bay. Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett, who also played with Jennings at Miami, suffered spinal damage in the season opener and still has partial paralysis.

The latest news about Taylor is another blow for Jennings.

“I saw the (text) message, and it was hard for me to go back to sleep after that,” Jennings said. “After I heard he was being responsive, I thought: that’s the Sean I know; he’s going to pull through. Then things took a turn for the worse. It’s life. You just have to deal with it.”

News of Taylor’s death created shock waves throughout the Seahawks’ practice facility. Running back Shaun Alexander didn’t know Taylor personally but said the 24-year-old’s death affected him.

“We’re all young men, and for something like that to happen, you can’t help but mourn for him, his family and for his team,” Alexander said.

Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren prayed with his team on Wednesday morning and talked to the players about how vulnerable professional athletes can be. He told the media that the news was particularly hard in a sport where “everybody knows everybody.”

“It does affect everybody in this business,” Holmgren said. “A young athlete like that, it’s really difficult.”

Jennings probably knew Taylor better than anyone else in the Seahawks’ locker room.

“Some of the hardest hits I’ve ever seen came from Sean,” Jennings said. “In the locker room and in the meeting room, he was always a great guy.”