Sean's Signature Play

[fent]

***Before I even start, I'm not advocating that Taylor is a hall of famer.

Now that we have that out of the way. With the hall of fame induction coming up this weekend I was watching the video WWD put together of Monk's highlights and addressing all the issues voters had, specifically the lack of a signature play. That waste of work time evolved into me watching Taylor highlights on youtube which got me thinking. Looking back on his short career, what do you consider to be Taylor's signature play or did he even have one? Was it the collective set of plays that put the fear of god into TO? Was it the fumble return for a TD against the Eagles to seal the playoff berth? Maybe it was the fumble return for a TD against the Bucs in the playoffs to seal that win or even the blocked FG return to set up the win against the Cowboys at FedEx. Don't mean to bring anybody down, just wondered what play you guys remember above the others.

For me personally, it was the TD return against the Eagles. It sealed the playoffs for a team that hadn't been there since the 99 season and came against the hated Eagles to make it even more meaningful. So, have at it...what's the play that leads off your Taylor highlight reel?

[Redskinmayhem]

I don't know...he had so many....The two fumble rec's/TD returns stick out most in my mind...Those were just amazing plays. Of course, anything against the Cowboys gets a top spot in my highlight list...

I don't know for sure though...it's one of those three IMHO.

[Keino]

I'll take the Playoff Scoop and Score at Tampa which proved to be the deciding score for $1000 Alex!

[akhhorus]

For me, it was the hit on TO on sunday night where you could visibly see the fear in TO's eyes.

[dj_stouty]

For me personally, it was the TD return against the Eagles. It sealed the playoffs for a team that hadn't been there since the 99 season and came against the hated Eagles to make it even more meaningful.


Agreed. It was that play in which Redskins fans finally understood why his peers called him "Swoop".

I'll still never forget the hit he put on the punter in the Pro Bowl. When he came to play...he came to play.

[JoeJacksonTaylor28]

First of all, I'm sure Sean would have been a HOF and probably the best safety ever. I'm not a homer, and I really mean it... my favorite all time player before Sean was Ronnie Lott.

The first image that comes to my head was the one in my avatar, him flying into the endzone after picking the fumble against the Eagles, which sent us to the playoffs. Not only it displayed his athleticism, but the way he picks up the football without slowing down to me is just amazing... (see the TB fumble recovery as well). The play also showed another trademark in Sean's career IMO: he was ALWAYS near the ball. Look at the games, and in almost every single tackle Sean is around... if not making the tackle, he is around it. I've done this with a lot of games and keeps impressing me.

I miss U Sean!!!

[mr shadow 008]

I would have to say the blocked kick against the cowboys. That was my one and only cowboys game. I actually saw that game in person and will always remember it

[InsomniaKiller]

The first play I think of is his dive into the end zone against Philly, without a doubt. In the midst of the "5 in a row or we don't go," trailing at halftime, comeback in the 2nd half, Philly gets one more chance and he caps it off with a storybook finish. It was about as happy as I can ever remember being watching the Redskins.

The next play I think of isn't necessarily a "signature" play by any means, but it was one of the plays that announced his "arrival." The hit on Willie Parker. Amazing.

And then it's the hit on Patrick Crayton in the "Monday Night Miracle" that launched the ball about 20 yards in the opposite direction. This one should've capped the game off, as I will never be convinced that it wasn't a fumble. Regardless, it was still a huge play that prevented a sure first down after Dallas had crossed midfield and helped preserve the win.

And I still can't watch videos of him without bawling like a baby, btw.

[csquared]

I would have to say the blocked kick against the cowboys. That was my one and only cowboys game. I actually saw that game in person and will always remember it

He didnt block it. It was Troy Vincent.

[CarMike]

Maybe it was the fumble return for a TD against the Bucs in the playoffs to seal that win

[IndianBaller27]

And then it's the hit on Patrick Crayton in the "Monday Night Miracle" that launched the ball about 20 yards in the opposite direction. This one should've capped the game off, as I will never be convinced that it wasn't a fumble. Regardless, it was still a huge play that prevented a sure first down after Dallas had crossed midfield and helped preserve the win.

Yeah, I was thinking about this one. And that did cap the game off, it was fourth down.

[LuvSkins17]

I like the score against Philly with the dive in the endzone. It is hard to define though. Sean was such a "Presence" in our secondary. I was a rare player that only comes along every once in a blue moon and when a player does come along,... WE'VE NEVER DRAFTED HIM... :doh:

My favorite game has to be against Dallas when he banged TO up sooooo bad. He had TO and Randy Moss's number. But TO messed his hand up trying to avoid a hit by Sean. I loved TO playing for Dallas back then because he was garrenteed a AWFUL GAME. As a matter of fact, when he was injured and we lost to Dallas, TO had the game of his life. All I remember saying was... He won't do that next time we play them when Sean is back.... he never made it back...

Man I loved this guys play ablity. He is missed and will always be missed. RIP 21

[Keino]

Yeah, I was thinking about this one. And that did cap the game off, it was fourth down.

Nah, it was 3rd down and under the current rules, would have definitely been a fumble. Dallas had one more play after that.

[InsomniaKiller]

Yeah, I was thinking about this one. And that did cap the game off, it was fourth down.

Great minds.

But no, that play wasn't 4th down. It was 3rd & short. I remember this game very, very well.

The defensive play that capped it was by Fred Smoot, who made a very solid tackle on a completion to Terry Glenn on 4th down, probably on the very next play.


(edit: er, yeah. Like Keino said...heh.)

[ClubSandwichGuy]

I'm surprised that his hit in the Pro Bowl hasn't been mentioned because it's pretty much the only memorable Pro Bowl play ever.

[GreenspanDan]

I'm surprised that his hit in the Pro Bowl hasn't been mentioned because it's pretty much the only memorable Pro Bowl play ever.

i personally LOVE that hit, but as a legendary player's signiature play? on a punter? at the pro bowl? nahhhhhh

[IndianBaller27]

Nah, it was 3rd down and under the current rules, would have definitely been a fumble. Dallas had one more play after that.

shoot, yeah you guys are right.

[BurgundyNGold]

I'd say Tampa, but this one has to be on the list. It's from him rookie year. This is when I knew he was going to be something special.

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/4810/seantaylormalycp.gif

Thanks to the original poster of this image.

[ObiWan1278]

I think it was to avoid a Sean Taylor hit...but didn't Pinkston totally stop on a play where he should have caught a long pass but heard footsteps of Taylor coming to crush him. That game was such a physical game....We lost but I don't think I have seen a more physcial game than that Eagles vs Skins game when TO was with the Eagles in awhile.

[Biggie]

I can't pick one. There were so many. Watching ST's big plays was one of the most exciting things about watching 'Skins games for one.

[MONK_in_HOF]

Is very hard to pick one play.

I think his signature play is the return versus the Eagles followed closely by the return versus TB.

His hardest hit IMO was when he crushed Willie Parker. I actually think it might have been a preseason game. Still I am not sure how Parker's rib cage survived that collision.

Edit: And I just noticed after reading the thread that B&G posted the image of that hit. Watching that hit never gets old. Also forgot about the pro bowl game when he hit the punter, probably his most devastating hit, but that wasn't even fair really.

[Keino]

I think it was to avoid a Sean Taylor hit...but didn't Pinkston totally stop on a play where he should have caught a long pass but heard footsteps of Taylor coming to crush him. That game was such a physical game....We lost but I don't think I have seen a more physcial game than that Eagles vs Skins game when TO was with the Eagles in awhile.

I remember that vividly. It was actually Ryan Clark who did that, but it was clear that Pinkston was looking for Sean Taylor. He was lightin T.O. up that whole game. In fact, it was that game where Taylor took T.O.'s heart.....that just carried over to little D.

[whitskins]

The fumble return vs. the Eagles to put us in the playoffs, easily.

Second is the kill shot on Patrick Crayton to break up a sure first down late in the fourth quarter against Dallas in 05 that preserved the Monday Night Miracle win.

[BurgundyNGold]

The fumble return vs. the Eagles to put us in the playoffs, easily.

Second is the kill shot on Patrick Crayton to break up a sure first down late in the fourth quarter against Dallas in 05 that preserved the Monday Night Miracle win.
Oh, man. Nice pull.

[CarMike]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neGsutVPOXw

Morman...."mommy"....lmao

[Santheb]

There were so many great ones. So many alligator armed receivers...so many devastating tackles..

I've gotta say the fumble return vs Dallas on the blocked FG. That was incredible. The fumble return to send us to the playoffs was epic but anything against Dallas gains bonus points in my book.

A play that I don't think has gotten any love is at the end of his rookie season against the Vikings, when they still had Culpepper and Moss. It was nearing the end of the game and everybody knew that Pep was gonna air it out to Moss. Shawn Springs got burnt and then I saw #36 running stride for stride with Randy freaking Moss and then not only outjumped him when the ball was coming down but also tipped it away so Moss couldn't make a freak catch.

And all this talk about knowing he was special when he did this that and a third is all balogna in my opinion...we all knew ST was special during his first preseason game. Two INT returned for TD's. Wow.

R.I.P. Sean Taylor.

[FanFromArizona]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neGsutVPOXw

Morman...."mommy"....lmao

I've got 3 words for this video: WHACK A PUNTA.

[skinfan43]

I'd say Tampa, but this one has to be on the list. It's from him rookie year. This is when I knew he was going to be something special.

http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/4810/seantaylormalycp.gif

Thanks to the original poster of this image.
That was from the preseason if i'm correct bro?

[JoeJacksonTaylor28]

That was from the preseason if i'm correct bro?
Nope, regular season against the steelers

[Taylor21TheUndertaker]

Not sure, that hit on the raider's Porter said it all... but Id have to go with the TD vs the Eagles too. The man put up complete highlight reels in college and pros just against his teams rivals, in a short time.

[joethefan]

And then it's the hit on Patrick Crayton in the "Monday Night Miracle" that launched the ball about 20 yards in the opposite direction. This one should've capped the game off, as I will never be convinced that it wasn't a fumble. Regardless, it was still a huge play that prevented a sure first down after Dallas had crossed midfield and helped preserve the win.

And I still can't watch videos of him without bawling like a baby, btw.

You too?...After reading this from the beginning, I immediately thought of the Crayton Hit then to hear you say the same thing is WILD ... because both you and I were in the stadium that night....that's the game we met each other in Texas.....

On Thursday, I'm going to camp for the first time since his death. Gonna be hard because I'm sure I'm still gonna look for him...such great memories I have of the guy...ouside of highlights.....

The Signaure play IMO was the dive in the end Zone against Philly......classic.

[BurgundyNGold]

That was from the preseason if i'm correct bro?
I think it was regular season, Doc.

[fent]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=neGsutVPOXw

Morman...."mommy"....lmao

the japanese announcers that they play at the end of that always make me laugh. to my ears it's gibberish and then out of nowhere... "AGGHGGHGHGHGHGHH!!!!!!!" makes me smile every single time!

[fent]

There were so many great ones. So many alligator armed receivers...so many devastating tackles..

I've gotta say the fumble return vs Dallas on the blocked FG. That was incredible. The fumble return to send us to the playoffs was epic but anything against Dallas gains bonus points in my book.

A play that I don't think has gotten any love is at the end of his rookie season against the Vikings, when they still had Culpepper and Moss. It was nearing the end of the game and everybody knew that Pep was gonna air it out to Moss. Shawn Springs got burnt and then I saw #36 running stride for stride with Randy freaking Moss and then not only outjumped him when the ball was coming down but also tipped it away so Moss couldn't make a freak catch.

And all this talk about knowing he was special when he did this that and a third is all balogna in my opinion...we all knew ST was special during his first preseason game. Two INT returned for TD's. Wow.

R.I.P. Sean Taylor.

i considered this play as well. that was when Moss was still the freakish young Moss that no one could hope to cover and the last second tip showed the smarts Sean had.

and i distinctly remember Dorsey posting something like "that oughta light things up in here" during the first TD he had in that HOF game. still won't understand how the kid could play like that right off the bat and it STILL took old Gregg more than a month to let him start.

[MWballer]

Sean had a ton of great plays and many of them have been mentioned here already.

One of my favs. was when we were playing the Bengals and Rudi Johnson is going out on a sweep with atleat two blockers in front of him. Sean then comes completely out of nowhere to close line Rudy Johnson for either a no gain or a lose on the play. Rudy is no small man and for him to do that to him was just unreal to me.

Gone but not Forgotten, R.I.P S.T.

[RedskinsReaper21]

This thread makes me sad...

[CNYSkinFan]

Is very hard to pick one play.

I think his signature play is the return versus the Eagles followed closely by the return versus TB.

His hardest hit IMO was when he crushed Willie Parker. I actually think it might have been a preseason game. Still I am not sure how Parker's rib cage survived that collision.

Edit: And I just noticed after reading the thread that B&G posted the image of that hit. Watching that hit never gets old. Also forgot about the pro bowl game when he hit the punter, probably his most devastating hit, but that wasn't even fair really.

the first time i watched that hit i swear i thought the ball was parker's head. i seriously for a plit second thought he decapitated parker

[SkinsfaninNJ]

I cannot believe there are all these great plays discussed, and the man was still just 24 years old. It is impossible to estimate how great his career would have been.

[Taylor21TheUndertaker]

I always loved this one by skin_fanatic

http://redskins.torresa.com/videos/taylor1.html

[native skin]

I like the score against Philly with the dive in the endzone. It is hard to define though. Sean was such a "Presence" in our secondary. I was a rare player that only comes along every once in a blue moon and when a player does come along,... WE'VE NEVER DRAFTED HIM... :doh:

My favorite game has to be against Dallas when he banged TO up sooooo bad. He had TO and Randy Moss's number. But TO messed his hand up trying to avoid a hit by Sean. I loved TO playing for Dallas back then because he was garrenteed a AWFUL GAME. As a matter of fact, when he was injured and we lost to Dallas, TO had the game of his life. All I remember saying was... He won't do that next time we play them when Sean is back.... he never made it back...

Man I loved this guys play ablity. He is missed and will always be missed. RIP 21

Makes me really sad reading all these posts. I have to agree with you on this. I love that game and I thought the exact same thing. I just couldn't wait to see Sean shut that punk up. But it wasn't meant to be. This game [to me] was when he was definitively declaring that he was the most dominant safety in the game and maybe on his way to becoming the greatest ever. Damn. I miss you Sean!!

[Simosthegooner]

I always loved this one by skin_fanatic

http://redskins.torresa.com/videos/taylor1.html

wow - so many, a legend.

[smoak]

This thread makes me sad... So much promise,,,

For me, the ground he covered against Chicago to break up a pass was really indicitive of how great he would be for years to come.

[joethefan]

Going to camp yesterday(thurs) was hard but I faced it...as I looked on the field, I kept looking at the Saftey spot and didn't see him...it was tough. I could only reflect him being back there....and how he flew around the field....

had my 21 hat on and saw the many 21 jerseys and gear. In other words

He was there...just wasn't in uniform.....

[guinness4health]

i think that all of these are great signature plays...but for me two others really stand out:

The first was from the end of his rookie year (i think) when he somehow found himself matched up one-on-one with randy moss going deep and of course the QB decided to throw a jump ball to randy (cause who the hell would think that a safety is going to win that match up) and not only does Taylor out jump randy on the ball but has the concentration to poke the ball away a second time as he is tossing Moss to the ground...simply put it was inhuman!!

The second one was in his final year here when we were up in greenbay and Sean was playing center field a good 20+ yards off of the receiver (apparently baiting the QB) and Brett Farve was licking his lips because he thought that he had a sure fire touchdown and as soon as Brett launched the ball Sean broke on it and before the receiver could blink sean was undercutting the ball and made a ridiculous leaping interception on the sideline.... in fact I seem to remember Brett being asked about the play in a post game interview and he said something to the effect of 'I have never seen someone close that much ground while the ball was in the air....'

Obviously these two plays didn't sum up the intimidating hitter that sean was...but to me it made it clear what was truly unique about sean, not only was he the hardest hitter in the league, but he had the skills to cover the best receivers in the game one-on-one (and did it over and over) and he could quite literately cover ever inch of the secondary by himself....that is something that I am not sure WE WILL EVER SEE AGAIN.

[TrueOracle]

I knew better than looking at this thread but I couldn't help it. My day is officially somber now. ST was such a great football player. Master of the big play, big hit, big heart, just big everything. When he was on the field it was like 12 vs 11. He played two positions on the field: 1) Safety, of course and 2) Wherever the play was.

It's hard for people that don't watch football, or understand Skins fanfare to understand how Skins fans feel about ST. I can't even talk about him without welling up. I remember when I heard he passed and I cried. My wife knew that I felt like I lost a member of my family. I, like many others, just loved him as a person and a football player.

Now I think about my son who is 3 y/o. I played football at many levels - and had my shot at the pros. It looks like he is showing signs of dawning the armor for gridiron matches in his future too. Should he play the game, like all boys he'll emulate players he sees on TV. When he models his game after his favorite players, including his father :-) , I'll tell him, "No son. If you want to play like anyone, play like Sean Taylor." Then I'll go to YouTube and show him why.

RIP my brother. You were the greatest.

[Ibleedburgundy]

Probably should be one of the TDs but for me it's the hit on Crayton that could have been ruled a fumble and possibly would have resulted in a TD.

[HAWGZHEAD]

Love the Crayton hit. Was it also Crayton when Sean made that Cowboys receiver poop his pants coming across the middle? It was great lol, gotta find that clip. I also remember his pick six in his first game ever, I believe, against Denver in the HOF game.

Edit: It was Terry Glenn not Crayton. Still can't find the clip but for those that remember it, it was classic.

[fent]

Edit: It was Terry Glenn not Crayton. Still can't find the clip but for those that remember it, it was classic.

i can't find it in a separate clip, but it's in a lot of the highlight tributes. i don't ever remember seeing a WR just duck and cover like he does in that play.