"Gangsta" or good guy?

Thugs in the NFL: does it really matter? Sean Taylor’s recent scandals have stirred up controversy around whether the NFL cares about having convicts in their league.

It seems to me like these crimes are very common in professional sports but is as big of a deal as people are making it seem. Although these crimes violate NFL policy, if everyone were perfect, what would professional sports be to America, and what controversy would the media have start?
Sean Taylor grew up in a rough neighborhood, and lived a very harsh childhood. He’s gotten into trouble his entire life, so does spitting in an opponents face, or being charged with a DUI mean anything different? The NFL has taken no action to change his behavior, so why should he not continue to do what he has beendoing?

I put the blame for Taylor’s criminal ties on the NFL commissioner for not punishing Taylor after his first run-in with the law. The NFL should constantly be watching Taylor to make sure he’s not getting into trouble.

Taylor‘s controversies are attracting people to watch sports reports and games involving him. Controversy gets people interested in the sport and gives then an incentive to watch the games.

Problems like these happen in all professional sports. Athletes are constantly being involved in situations like shootings or  drug deals, etc, and the NFL makes itself sound bad by releasing information like this to the media. They need to handle these situations on their own to show that they have a grip on their players.

Hopefully Taylor has learned from his mistakes, and in the eyes of Redskins fans, Taylor is still worth the millions of dollars they are paying him.

-Logan Miller
Staff writer

Sean Taylor is one of the best safeties in the NFL. He constantly makes big plays that change the outcome of important games.   He’s the kind of player that steps up to the plate and does his job when his fellow teammates need him. Taylor is one of the most prominent players on his team and a part ofone of the most dynamic set of defensive backs in the entire league. 

I’m sure that Sean Taylor is not a horrible person, but his reputation speaks for itself.  In the past, Taylor has been ejected from a game for spitting in the face of Buccaneers running back Michael Pittman. Off the field he has been he has been accused in three cases of assault foe threatening three other people with a gun in a confrontation over an all terrain vechicle. He also faces a misdemeanor battery charge.  The idea that Taylor was in the wrong place at the wrong time for all of these offenses is out of the question.  He puts himself in these situations and he needs to face the music and change the direction of his criminal past.

However, the fact that Sean Taylor is a violent person is the reason why he’s so good at his job.  In order for a person to be that hard of a hitter and tackler he needs to have a violent mindest.  As soon as Sean Taylor walks on to the football field, he is head-hunting.  I think that Sean Taylor will not change his ways because if he did he would not be as aggressive on the football field.  Fans don’t want him to be able to control himself because they want to see big hits.  They want to see Taylor run wild just like he does in his personal life.   

-Michael Craig
Videographer