By Mark La Monica
It's a story that is as sad Sunday night as it was Tuesday morning, even after a few days of grieving and the arrests of four men charged with the murder of Sean Taylor.
The lit candles, the memorial videos on YouTube and elsewhere, the No. 21 towels. All are outpouring signs of emotion for the family of Sean Taylor, including his 1-year-old daughter, Jackie. Yet, nothing could be more fitting and telling than what the Redskins' defense did on the first play of the game Sunday against Buffalo.
They lined up with 10 men on defense. On any other play, the defensive coaches would eat the defense's lunch for it. Not today.
"We were going to let him ride with us one more time," said Greg Williams, the Redskins' defensive coordinator.
I wasn't there to see it and the highlights on TV don't do it justice. Reading about it, however, added so much more to this emotional story.
It evokes the same feelings as when earlier this season, USC lined up for its first extra point of the season without its placekicker, a tribute to Mario Danelo, the team's kicker last season who was found dead at the bottom of a mountain in California after the season.
These stories aren't supposed to happen in sports. Or elsewhere, for that matter. Sadly, though, they happen every day. Except, it's not every day that everyone pays attention to them.
Redskins.com has done an unbelievable job of posting content on its Web site paying tribute to the memory of No. 21. Here's a direct link to one of the those video tributes from the Redskins site.