Sean Taylor's Death

Some of you have probably heard that Washington Redskins safety Sean Taylor died this morning from a gunshot wound during an apparent burglary of his home Sunday night. I read just now that a black sportswriter named Zuri Berry told his colleagues at the National Association of Black Journalists that the AP story on Taylor's death "provides a laundry list of transgressions Taylor had" that he feels are not important to this event. For those of you who don't follow sports, Taylor had several off-field problems as well as notable incidents of bad behavior on the field. He was fined at least seven times for on-field incidents such as when he spit on a Tampa Bay player during a playoff game two years ago. Apparently, this writer feels that background should not be mentioned in the story covering Taylor's death, but I must disagree. True, the fines he received for on-field transgressions did not lead to his death, but they are certainly an important part of his story. Berry argues that there is no scandal here, just tragedy, so past scandals of Taylor's are not relevant. However, I think that people should know about his background, including his run-ins with the law or the NFL. I am not saying the story should imply that Taylor's death is not a tragedy because he had problems in his life, but I do not think the story should ignore these facts either.