The Washington Commanders retired legendary safety Sean Taylor’s jersey during the 2021 season. The team later revealed a new statue honoring Taylor would be built at the team’s home stadium, the former FedEx Field.
One year later, the Commanders revealed the “statue.” It did not go over well with Washington’s fans.
A lot has changed since the Commanders revealed the Taylor Memorial in November 2022. Most importantly, Washington has a new owner, Josh Harris. Now, Harris and his partners are righting a wrong. The Commanders recently removed the two-year-old memorial, and Taylor’s daughter, Jackie, revealed that the team was building a statue to honor her father.
This time, it will be an actual statue.
Here’s Jackie Taylor:
A message from Jackie Taylor pic.twitter.com/4AVqyf5h9n
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) August 24, 2024
Kudos to Harris. This is the right move.
Taylor was a fourth-year safety for Washington when he was shot during an attempted robbery at his Miami home on November 26, 2007. He died the following day.
Taylor was leading the NFL in interceptions at the time of his tragic death and was a two-time Pro Bowl performer. He’s arguably the most popular Washington player from the last 25 years.
The team released a statement on the news, courtesy of Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post.
The Washington Commanders have removed the Sean Taylor installation at their stadium and are working with Taylor’s family on a new statue to honor the late safety. pic.twitter.com/axSV89DWNl
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) August 24, 2024
Former team president Jason Wright received plenty of criticism during his time with Washington. His rollout of the Taylor jersey retirement and memorial didn’t help his standing with many of the team’s fans.
