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Thursday, 23 July 2009 14:44

Remembering a teammate

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If you don’t think Sean Taylor still isn’t in the hearts and minds of his fellow Redskins you weren’t with me today.


I never expected the reaction I got from offensive lineman Chris Samuels when I reached into my shirt pocket and asked him to sign a ticket stub from the Dec. 6, 2007, game against the Bears, three days after they buried Taylor, whose picture was on the stub.


He shook his head and called his slain teammate a warrior, which was what Taylor was, a warrior, a force, a beast.


Samuels was in the area with his girlfriend, Monique Cox, to check the progress Cyrus W. Ahyoung III of Wags and Wiggles Pet Resort off Thelma Road was making on the training of their dogs, Coach and Blue.


I went as a fan, to take photos and post them to Facebook. When I pulled the ticket out and asked him to sign it he halted, shook his head and became visibly nostalgic. He called Sean a warrior and talked of how senseless his death that November was, done at the hands of people he was trying to help, Samuels said. A car crash would have been different, tragic but different, the murder, however, was senseless, preventable and Samuels, a 305-pound Pro Bowler became quiet when he saw the ticket stub, said Sean’s name and clearly remembered as I remembered that cold December night, the victory, the electricity that pulsed through the stadium, the fans and the players, an emotional night and Chris Samuels called Taylor a warrior.


The unfortunate thing is Samuels and his girlfriend were in Roanoke Rapids to prevent what happened to Taylor from happening to them, death at the hands of intruders.


In our celebrity-crazed world athletes and other stars become the stalked and just because you live your life unassuming and down-to-earth as Samuels appears to live his, you never know.


The dogs will not only be their friends, but be their protectors and Samuels and Cox were also going to receive some firearms training for waylaying intruders, self-defense.


This is life in the NFL, this is life everywhere.


It did my soul good to see Samuels react this way, it made me see not all athletes are pompous millionaires and he is well compensated for what he does.


When I saw that hesitation, the flashback, however, I knew there was a heart, a person, a gentle giant in a man who after meeting him I also consider a warrior, a man who stopped, reflected and truly misses another warrior. I will never forget the moment. Thank you, Mr. Samuels — LM.

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