ASHBURN, Va. -- Clinton Portis' expression turned serious at
the mention of Sean Taylor. Portis is a showman known for
hyperbole, and this time he wanted to make sure his words would not
be treated as a joke.
"We're talking about someone who I think probably is the best
player in the NFL," Portis said. "Not best safety -- best player
in the NFL."
Maybe that's a stretch, but there is a growing consensus that
the Redskins safety has the potential to be a once-in-a-generation
player. He hits like a linebacker. He can cover like a cornerback.
His intensity is unmatched. His face, hardened by tough inner-city
experiences, rarely cracks a smile. On the field, he is one
serious, mean dude.
No wonder former teammate LaVar Arrington nicknamed him "The
Grim Reaper."
"He is the best football player I've ever coached," said
assistant coach Gregg Williams, who has been at the trade for 17
years.
And maybe the most enigmatic. Coaches and teammates portray
Taylor as a serious athlete and a soft-spoken, personable young
man. But there's another side that doesn't square with that image:
Taylor's two years of constant trouble.
The list is long and familiar, from the $25,000 fine for
skipping a rookie symposium to the $17,000 fine in January for
spitting at Michael Pittman in the NFC playoffs. In between, there
have been various fines, an offseason snub of coach Joe Gibbs and
an incident in Miami involving a dispute over all-terrain vehicles
that could have put Taylor behind bars for years.
Taylor pleaded no contest to misdemeanor counts of simple
battery and simple assault -- prompting another fine from the NFL,
but keeping his career intact.
Now, for the first time since joining the NFL as a first-round
draft pick in 2004, Taylor enters a season with nothing hanging
over his head. The burning question among the Redskins is: Does he
finally get it? Does he finally realize that he needs to keep his
nose clean?
"I think he's a changed man," defensive end Phillip Daniels
said. "This year, he seems different. He's been through the whole
camp and he's ready to go. If you meet him as a person, he's a good
person to be around."
In June, Taylor said the resolution of his legal troubles was
like "a gray cloud" being lifted, but another factor seems to
have made him realize the importance of responsibility and
maturity. Taylor became a father for the first time in the
offseason.
"He always talks about family. 'How's your family?' He's always
talking about my son playing ball," Daniels said. "You know, as a
young guy, you tend to make mistakes. He was young coming into the
league, not knowing how he needs to approach things, but I think he
realizes how to approach things now. I really don't think you'll
have any problems with him down the road. He's had enough
already."
Portis and receiver Santana Moss, two of Taylor's closest
friends and former teammates at the University of Miami, said
Taylor is a product of his background. Taylor learned on the
streets of poor Miami neighborhoods -- where the rules can change
every day -- so he didn't conform well to the expected standards
when he moved into the bigger world.
"If you grew up there in an African-American community, you
would know it's hard to trust people," Portis said. "There's a
lot of people who've got trust factors."
Trust, by all accounts, is Taylor's No. 1 issue. He is cautious
around new people and refused even to hire an agent for several
months in 2003, holding up negotiations for his contract. He is
especially distrustful of the media and usually will not look
reporters in the eye or even acknowledge their presence when
approached. When an interviewer offered to limit the topic of an
interview to the position of safety, Taylor cracked a quick smile
and said, "I like safety," and walked away.
"He's not going to sit there and be your friend after just
meeting you, I'll put it like that," Moss said. "He's a guy that
stays to himself. That's just how some people are brought up. If he
don't know you that well, he's not going to try to bring you into
his circle."
Taylor's silence, however, means the world rarely gets to hear
his side of the story. Most of his motives are a mystery, but
Taylor actually told Williams that he didn't spit at the Tampa Bay
running back, then heard the worst of Williams' temper after a
television replay proved otherwise.
"There's been a lot of tough love that goes on behind the
scenes," Williams said.
Taylor evokes comparisons to former Redskins receiver Michael
Westbrook, the 1995 first-round draft pick who had maturity and
anger issues and staged his own media boycott. Westbrook never got
his act together and is long gone from football.
Taylor has more talent, and, now that he's working with a clean
slate, has a chance to avoid Westbrook's path.
"I think he's in a zone right now," Moss said. "I see him on
a different pace. Even when he had those troubles, he still
produced. When you have something like that off your back, you can
tell it's a big relief off of him. He's really focused to do some
things that could put him up there to be one of the best."