Early Tuesday morning at a Miami Florida hospital, a light was snuffed out.

Sean Taylor died of complications from a gunshot wound when someone broke into his house. While police are treating it as a forced entry intrusion, presumably a robbery attempt, it seems that Taylor was the target, both literally and figuratively.

While details are still sketchy, the intruder apparently forced his way into Taylor’s home and to his bedroom, where he was sleeping with his fiancé.   Taylor was woken by a noise and grabbed a machete he kept for protection. According to police reports, someone called from Taylor’s home to report the break in, but events spiraled out of control quickly.

The intruder entered Taylor’s bedroom, fired two shots and fled.   There is no indication at this time that anything was taken. This was however the second break in at the Taylor residence in eight days. In the first, someone pried open a window, rifled through jewelry boxes and attempted to access the safe. In that break-in a knife was left on a table. It seems now the knife may have been an ominous warning of future intent.

The fact that someone broke into Taylor’s home twice in eight days raises the concern that someone was out to get Sean Taylor. In other words, the target wasn’t the family fortune, but Taylor himself.

While Taylor was probably one of the more vilified players in the NFL over the last three years, the birth of his daughter 18 months ago seemed to have helped him turn a corner in his life.   Taylor seemed to mature overnight. His play was better, he wasn’t getting into trouble and it seemed that, in this his fourth and now final year, he was grasping reality and making sense of it.   In a group interview he stated “It’s like we play a kid’s game for a king’s ransom.”   The light had turned on.   Family, friends and team mates all noted a different Taylor, and it centered on his baby girl.   Those of us who are parents completely understand the transformation.

Unfortunately for him, for his daughter and the NFL, his epiphany was cut cruelly short.

Taylor’s loss is a continuation on what seems like a rapidly spiraling attack on NFL players.   This is the second time in 2007 that an NFL player was shot and killed.   In January Bronco’s cornerback Darrent Williams died when his limo was sprayed with bullets after a nightclub incident. In 2005 Jerome McDougal was shot in the stomach by armed robbers. And while unrelated to this story, the Chargers Steve Foley and former Raider Barrett Robbins were shot by police officers.   And while it wasn’t a player who was targeted, you have to throw the Pac Man Jones incident into the mix as well.

Whether the target is due to the players own foolishness, as in the case of Foley, Robbins and Jones, the outcome is the same.   Players are targets because of their celebrity.   Hopefully the league will add security education to their list of things that players need to be more aware of.

It won’t help Sean Taylor, and his family will find no solace with his loss.   His daughter will never see the light that was her father, and that is truly the saddest part of the story.

Ben Ice is a member of the FSWA and is saddened at the loss of Sean Taylor. There will be no tequila shots or beer bongs this week. Instead he will light a candle and pray for his family, knowing that the most difficult times still lie ahead, and for a little girl who will never know her father and the special place she held in his heart.  If you have questions or comments about this article or just want to talk sports, email Ben at GoBucsBaby@yahoo.com