SEATTLE — Sean Taylor was their teammate and friend, and his shocking death in late November threatened to turn the rest of the Washington Redskins’ 2007 season into a moot, meaningless stretch of games.
Instead, the Redskins paid tribute to their Pro Bowl safety, who died in a Nov. 26 early morning shooting at his suburban Miami home, in the best way imaginable.
Despite falling to 5-7 with a loss days after Taylor’s death, Washington closed its regular season with four straight victories to claim the NFC’s sixth and final playoff spot. And in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s wild-card game against the Seattle Seahawks at Qwest Field, the underdog Redskins scored two quick touchdowns to seize a 14-13 lead and then recovered a loose ball on the ensuing kickoff.
“I thought it was destiny,” said cornerback Shawn Springs, who was teaming with Taylor in Washington’s defensive secondary just weeks ago.
If Hollywood scripted the NFL playoffs, maybe Washington would have gone on to beat Seattle and take another improbable step toward the upcoming Super Bowl. But this was real life, where young people sometimes die tragically and sporting events do not always end in dramatic, even magical fashion.
The Seahawks, with plenty to play for themselves, stopped Washington with a terrific defensive stand near their own goal line after the botched kickoff return. The visitors moved the ball just 2 yards in three plays, and Redskins kicker Shaun Suisham then inexplicably missed a chip-shot 30-yard field goal.
And in the final 61/2 minutes Seattle scored three touchdowns — two on long interception returns— to claim a 35-14 victory and end Washington’s inspiring but eventually abbreviated season.
“You hurt for losing, but you’re going to have it in the back of your head, too, that you wish you could’ve done a little bit more for Sean,” said Redskins wide receiver Santana Moss. “But we did all we could. The late run (of four straight wins) showed what we can be as a team. … We can all hold our heads up for so many different reasons. But I’m proud of this team because we just kept believing in ourselves.”
“We wanted to win one for (Taylor) and move on (in the playoffs),” added backup running back Rock Cartwright, “but unfortunately that’s not the case.”
More than a month after his funeral, Taylor has remained a big presence among the Redskins. Not only is he still on the roster, but the Redskins continue to list him as the team’s starting free safety.
Walking off the field after Saturday’s game, Washington linebacker Marcus Washington found himself thinking “about what (Taylor) meant to the game and what he meant to this team. I don’t think you could have a player that had as much fun as he did.
“It was pure football for him. It wasn’t about the money, it wasn’t about the fame. It was purely for the love the game. It was beautiful the way he played football. And I think he’d be proud of the way this team fought.”
Also proud was Redskins coach Joe Gibbs, who emphasized that message to his team immediately after the game.
“I haven’t been part of a group that took more pride in the way that they played,” said Gibbs, who has been to four Super Bowls — winning three — and is already in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. “To overcome everything they have this year, I told them I was extremely proud of them. I think they have great heart and great character.
“I think today’s game was a little bit like our season,” he said. “Nothing seemed to go right for us early, but this team has a way. They kept fighting and found a way to get us back in it.”
Others in the Washington locker room agreed.
“I haven’t been part of a team that’s been more resilient, a team that has been more battle-tested,” said linebacker London Fletcher. “I think the thing I’ll be most proud of is the fact that when the odds were stacked against us, when everyone had counted us out, when we were 5-7 coming off a last-second loss and when we had just buried our teammate, when everything seemed gloomy for us, we went to work.
“I think to a man everyone is disappointed with the outcome of this game,” he said. “Really disappointed because we really didn’t think this was going to end. We were so confident, we felt like we weren’t going to be defeated without getting to the Super Bowl.”
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