The Washington Football Team will retire the number-21 jersey of late safety Sean Taylor when it hosts the Kansas City Chiefs Sunday afternoon.
On the surface, the retirement of Taylor’s jersey is a well-deserved honor for an outstanding player whose life ended in 2007 in a burglary attempt at his Florida home.
What I can’t get over is the timing of the announcement: Three days before the game and during a week where new attention is being placed on the NFL’s investigation into the toxic culture fostered under team President Bruce Allen.
As part of the investigation, the league collected 650,000. A small handful leaked to the New York Times led to the resignation of Raiders Head Coach Jon Gruden earlier this week.
Despite a request from the Player’s Association, the league has no intention of sharing the rest of the emails with the World. It would only underscore how untenable the situation was for so many employees, for so many years.
You want to retire Taylor’s number? Great. Name a street after him? Awesome. But don’t do it fourteen years after his passing with three days notice.
Taylor is one of the most beloved players in franchise history, not a public relations tool.
