The nation's loss of Sean Taylor, who was often vilified by the media and those outside the Beltway, is but another tragedy in the world of sports.
Over the course of Monday morning, many television outlets offered commentary from Taylor's friends and relatives, who spoke about his willingness to change his previously questionable behavior. Taylor too often displayed questionable character ranging from his unwillingness to participate in a mandatory rookie orientation program to spitting in the face of opponent Michael Pittman.
I raise the question: When is it too late to change? Was it too late for Sean Taylor to truly become the new man who many of his friends and relatives claimed he had become? Had he done too much in his past that, regardless of what he did in the future, Taylor would have to pay for his actions?
A private man who often had little or nothing to say to the media, Taylor and his personal life will remain an enigma to those who were not in his innermost circle.
One could only begin to offer speculation as to how Taylor's actions in his past led to his untimely demise early Tuesday morning in a Miami hospital.
Though perhaps this is an unfair inference in the eyes of Redskins' fans or those who will deify the life of Sean Taylor, his death hardly represents anything new.
The recurring notion of trying to break free from a troubled past to start a new life on a more righteous path can be seen in the early 1990s film entitled Menace II Society. The protagonist, Caine (Tyrin Turner, How High), is a young black teenager growing up in South Central Los Angeles in the 1990s. Although Taylor was from the South Florida area, he too grew up in a place full of distractions that could very easily lead an impressionable young man astray.
In the film, Caine has a rough past but is truly a good kid at heart who has been raised by his grandparents. Such terminology has been used by friends and relatives over the few days to speak about the life of Sean Taylor.
After graduating from high school, Caine struggles over the summer with drugs and violence, ultimately being thrown out of his grandparents' home. While the personal life of Taylor remains largely unknown at this point, it would not be a stretch to say that he perhaps dealt with some of these same issues.
Forced to fend for himself, Caine realizes that his love for his girlfriend and her son means more to him than having a fancy car or the respect of his peers on the street. For Taylor, the birth of his daughter was said to have given him a new perspective on life and perhaps motivated him to shed any remains of a past that no longer had anything positive to offer.
Sadly, it is too late for Caine to leave South Central as his past catches up to him and he is gunned down in a drive-by shooting meant to avenge the beating Caine gave to another man. By most accounts, Taylor's transformation was still a work in progress, one that was cut short by what may have been one final reminder of his troubled past.
Yes, Taylor's death is very sad and unfortunate, but as ESPN First Take's commentator Skip Bayless offered Tuesday morning, it was not much of a surprise that such a tragic incident had happened to an individual such as Taylor.
Some may comment that Taylor's death will act as an example for future young black stars to change their ways and separate themselves from their past. I argue that history will continue to repeat itself as fame and fortune cloud judgment, giving athletes and celebrities an air of invincibility that makes them anything but that.
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