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Kubiak, players reflect on Sean Taylor

November 28, 2007 Comments (0) | Avg. Rating
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Credit: Getty Images
Taylor, 24, was a teammate of three Texans players while at the University of Miami.

One day after the tragic death of Redskins safety Sean Taylor, Texans head coach Gary Kubiak and several players, including three former teammates of Taylor's at the University of Miami, shared their thoughts on Taylor's passing.

Head coach Gary Kubiak

(on the death of Sean Taylor)  "It's very unfortunate.  I actually had a chance to meet him a couple times when I had (RB) Clinton Portis in Denver.  Him and Clinton were good friends.  It's just very unfortunate, those situations.  You're thoughts and prayers go out to him and the Redskin family and his family.  It's just a tragedy."

(on if this is a time to reiterate to the team that NFL players are sometimes targets and they have to be careful)  "I talked to them this morning and one of the things I try to tell them all the time, our job in this business is to win football games, to practice, compete, and win and that's what we're paid to do, coaches and players.  We have good days and we have bad days.  We have good weeks and bad weeks.  One thing I've tried to always mention to them every now and then, regardless of whether we're having a good day or a bad day, their lives are the most important thing.  If they have problems, coaches, players, anybody, we have to stop and deal with there issues and that will never get bigger then the game.  We're a family and you try to make sure everyone understands that because you want those guys to pull on you.  It's like I told them today, if I hollered at you all day Wednesday and you have a problem Wednesday night, you better call me because I care a lot about you.  We're no different then any other family."

T Rashad Butler

(on the death of Sean Taylor)  "When I got the phone call around 5:30 in the morning, I was just depressed.  I really couldn't go back to sleep.  I was, like, in a daze all day.  I'm real cool with Sean.  I came in with him back in 2001.  We were freshmen together, even though he left early.  Last time I saw him I want to say was probably this past summer.  I saw him out and about just having a good time.  He was a real good guy.  I'm still kind of hurting over it.  It will probably take me a while to get over this.  Basically, he had everything going for himself, had a girlfriend who just recently had a kid.  I feel for Sean and his family and the Redskins family."

(on what he would want to say to the family)  "Just keep your head up.  I really can't speak on something like this because I never was never really faced with something like this, as far as an immediate family member passing away.  I've had relatives, like grandmas and aunties, but nothing like a brother or a sister or mother or dad.  I really can't give them any advice.  I'll just pray for them and hope for the best."

(on what he remembers about Sean Taylor)  "Sean was quiet.  He was like a quiet kid, but he always spoke his mind.  As far as a player, he was a great player, hell of an athlete.  He didn't back down from anyone.  I just remember Sean for most part as an athlete making great plays and giving us a chance to win at Miami.  As a person, he was a quiet, shy type of kid, but at the same time, he was a great kid.  I know the media always talks about the problems he had off the field, but I know when he was at Miami, he was OK with me."

TE Owen Daniels

(on the passing of Sean Taylor and the situation involving CB Dunta Robinson earlier this season) "It's tough because I don't know the situations exactly, but it just goes to show that you really can't take things for granted. People are out there that – well, there are some not so good people out there, and we're not exempt from dealing with those people. We're just like everybody else out there and maybe even more of a target sometimes, so it's tough seeing someone in the league who you've played against, because we played against them last year and I dealt with him a number of times, and we've got some teammates were his teammate at one time. That's a tough thing; I can't imagine really knowing somebody and seeing them die in a situation like that."

WR Andre Johnson

(on the death of Sean Taylor)  "It is very tragic.  We lost a former teammate, a great person.  Right now, I'm still in disbelief.  I can't believe something like this has happened.  I've talked to a lot of my former teammates, all of us played together at Miami, and everyone is just in disbelief right now.  We really don't know what else to say, everyone is in a lot of disbelief."

T Eric Winston

(on his reaction to the death of Sean Taylor)  "It's sad, a sad story.  I guess it just proves how fragile life is and you remember, you just kind of start thinking back to all the days you spent with him and you there.  I wish I got to know him a little bit better.  He was a quiet guy, kind of hung to himself, and hung with a crowd from Miami, so I never really got to know him that great.  It's just sad, you never want to see that happen to anybody."

(on if he's talked with him since playing together at Miami)  "No, I ran into him once or twice going back there.  Like I said, we weren't extremely close like some of the other guys were, Kellen (Winslow) and Vince (Wilfork) and Andre (Johnson) were with him.  He was a great player, great competitor, a guy who just came to work everyday and just worked as hard as he could.  With all that talent, you don't see that a lot sometimes.  He was one of the most talented guys you'll ever see play.  He was huge.  He was 6-3, 230-235 and could run like the wind and just hit and just loved playing.  That's the big thing you remember about him, he just loved to be out there, loved to be playing, like a lot of we had back then.  It's sad.  It's just unbelievable.  There's been so much tragedy already in our UM family and for this to happen again, it's just another sad note for the end of this year."

(on if he looks at anything differently because of the situations other athletes have been in)  "I think it just magnifies what people have been saying and what our coaches tell us and what the NFL is always trying to teach us through the symposiums and things like that is that you have to be careful.  You have to be careful.  I don't know anything about (CB) Dunta (Robinson's) stuff still, but just in general, the people you hang around, the things you get yourself into and the things going on in your life, you have to be careful.  You have to take precautions and, sadly enough, you have to maybe close yourself off to people you might normally not do.  I think it just magnifies the problems, the additional problems that we face in our lives and things we have to be careful of.  If you feel like something's wrong, you need to address it.  I don't know if Sean (Taylor) did or not, I'm sure he tried to.  It's just a sad ending to a sad story."

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