Roy Williams to wear decal to honor Sean Taylor

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Roy Williams will wear helmet decal to honor Sean Taylor

By MAC ENGEL

tengel@star-telegram.com

Getty Images/Win McNamee

All-Pro safety Sean Taylor's parking space remains vacant at Redskins Park.

IRVING - Roy Williams plans to wear a “21” on the back of his helmetfor the rest of the season. On Tuesday morning, there was a moment of silence observed in the defensive staff room.

Upon hearing the news that Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor died early Tuesday morning, Cowboys linebacker Akin Ayodele stopped to think about his own family.

Even though no one on the Cowboys was close with Taylor, the news that he died hit home throughout the team.

“His whole future got stripped from him from somebody going into his house taking his life,” said Williams, who knew Taylor from the Pro Bowl in February. “I feel bad for his family and feel bad for his child. Now his daughter has to grow up without a father.”

It was two weeks ago Williams went looking to talk to Taylor after the Cowboys defeated the Redskins at Texas Stadium. Just to talk. He didn’t realize Taylor wasn’t at the game, and never got the chance to catch up.

“It’s just things like that, it’s like I wish I could have said something to him,” Williams said.

Taylor was one of the first players Cowboys center Andre Gurode met after he landed in Hawaii for the Pro Bowl in February. The two immediately found a bond - they were both first time Pro Bowlers, and both were alternate selections.

“It was a cool, laid-back conversation,” Gurode said. “He was a very nice guy. Very laid-back.”

The news reminded everybody that regardless of some of the personal steps they take to ensure security, bad things can still happen. That NFL player can equal target.

“It doesn’t make it any better that our stuff is put in the paper - what we make,” Williams said. “That’s not fair for us - we're already entrapped by women as far as what we are making, they want to trap us and try to sue us. It’s tough. But you can’t hide from it. It’s our job.”

Said defensive end Marcus Spears: “If they can catch you in a vulnerable situation, they are going to take advantage of them. You’ve got to try to be real careful, but you’re talking about a guy sitting at home. I don’t know how much more careful you can be than that. It’s a tough situation, man. Guy, 24 years old, star of this league, and for him to go like that is real tough for guys like myself and other guys to really understand.”

The reality that Taylor is gone had not sunk in completely with most of the Cowboys. They were just watching him on game film on Monday during footage of the Redskins/Packers game from earlier this season.

“It’s got to weigh a lot on (the Redskins’) minds,” Ayodele said. “The guys in the secondary, it could affect them. It would be tough to play. This is someone they see every day.”