Two years after unveiling an Embarrassingly Bad Sean Taylor Memorial, the Washington Commanders announced Saturday that they have removed the mannequin and are now working with Taylor’s family to build a new one.
If you don’t recall, Sean Taylor was shot and killed during a robbery at his home during his fourth season with Washington in 2007, and it took the franchise more than a decade to memorialize him. Unfortunately, rather than erect a statue for the player, the team unveiled a wire frame memorial that left many disappointed.
As Paul noted at the time:
How bizarre is this gesture? Let us count the ways:
- There were reports earlier in the week that they’d be unveiling a statue. Obviously, this is not a statue; I’m not sure it even rises to the level of a mannequin. For starters, it has no face. And its arms are made of wire:
- As you can see in those last two photos, the figure is wearing a Nike jersey (something Taylor never wore in real life) and Reebok pants.
- As you can also see, they didn’t use Taylor’s signature facemask tape stripes. This is a particularly inexplicable omission given that they’re selling a T-shirt featuring the taped-up facemask, so they understand that the tape job was part of Taylor’s personal style. But they didn’t bother to include it on the figure.
- I’m not a footwear expert, but these Adidas cleats look more like soccer gear (can anyone confirm?):
So, so bad.
Paul was by no means the only one to point out how laughably bad the memorial was, and (perhaps surprisingly, since this was still during Dan Snyder’s ownership of the team) they actually attempted to “fix” it.
The team fixed the most egregious error (replacing the Nike-branded jersey with the period appropriate Reebok one), and “customized” it by adding the signature tape to Taylor’s facemask. Additionally, since Taylor would sometimes customize his socks by wearing multiple sets of stripes, so the team updated the mannequin’s hosiery. And Taylor actually did wear the soccer shoes shown on the mannequin, so at least they got that part correct.
But it all still felt inadequate.
Fast forward to this past year, when Snyder’s sale of the Commanders brought in a new ownership group — one determined to have much better public relations than Snyder did. They reached out to Taylor’s family, and on Saturday, Taylor’s daughter Jackie — who was only 18 months old at the time of Taylor’s death — announced the team will erect a proper statue to honor her father’s legacy and playing days with Washington.
A message from Jackie Taylor pic.twitter.com/4AVqyf5h9n
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) August 24, 2024
I’m excited to announce, along with the Washington Commanders, plans to unveil a statue to honor my dad. I’m thankful for Josh Harris and the Commanders family for their continued commitment to keep my dad’s legacy alive. I look forward to sharing plans in the future and learning more about my dad through this process. I’m forever grateful for the outpouring of love and support from this special fan base. I’m filled with gratitude to know that my dad will forever be a part of the burgundy and gold family.
Nice.
While Jackie and the Commanders announced the new statue, they have not given any specifics as to its size or design. They also haven’t given any timeframe for when it will be erected.
A spokesman for the Commanders did say:
After careful consideration, we have decided as an organization to remove the Sean Taylor installation from Commanders Field. We realize that the installation fell short in honoring one of our franchise’s most iconic players. Together with the Taylor family, we are working on a plan, which includes unveiling a statue that will rightfully celebrate the legacy and impact that Sean had on our organization, fanbase and community. The Washington Commanders are committed to honoring our legends in a first class manner.
Also nice.
Unrelated to the Taylor memorial/statue, earlier this year the new ownership announced the return of the gold pants to the Commanders home uniform set:
some new wallpapers for the occasion 🤩#WallpaperWednesday x #RaiseHail pic.twitter.com/0ppSF6lNeD
— Washington Commanders (@Commanders) July 10, 2024
The team will be entering their third year of the uniforms introduced in 2022, when the team changed its name from “Washington Football Team” to Washington Commanders. Let’s also hope the new owners will introduce a new design as soon as the current one reaches its five-year requirement for the current unis.
Burgundy tops and gold pants are a massive win. I wish the number font was better and the wordmark was gone, but that color combination alone will make the games a much better watch. Hopefully they make an appearance on the road to break up the mono-white.
Gee, I hope the yellows stay at home and far far away from the wreck that is the white jersey. B/W/B/white is as good as they’ll get – YVVM
It’s nice to see the new ownership is actually trying to address some of the embarrassing mistakes made by the former regime. I grew up a fan of the ‘Skins and would like to see a return of the proud franchise they once were. I only wish Harris had taken the opportunity to come up with a better name than Commanders. It’s just soooooooo bad and uninspiring.
To be fair, the name change to Commanders was done under Snyder’s reign
Yes, all of the stupid mistakes were made during Snyder’s ownership. But Harris appears to be fixing some of them, like the Taylor memorial and the gold pants. I believe there was a window where he could’ve also renamed the team, but he didn’t/hasn’t.
There awful things about the we Dan Snyder regime and one of them was the way they used the legacy of Sean Taylor. An ugly loss or bad off the field news often a meant an uptick of “random” Sean Taylor content. It came off as very cynical. I am shocked Snyder never invoked Taylor’s name in the defending the previous team name.
The original Taylor memorial was at least an interesting idea. To my eye, it looks to have been inspired by the now-iconic memorial Batman built in his Bat-Cave to honor Jason Todd, the second Robin, who was murdered by the Joker. (And then later brought back to life in a predictably terrible story, with lasting and predictably terrible consequences for the whole Batman mythos. But I digress.) I believe the first instance of the floating-uniform Robin memorial appeared in Dark Knight Returns issue 2:
link
Assuming that is in some way an inspiration, the idea behind the old Taylor memorial seems fine to me. But the execution needs to be right. The uniform needs to look like Taylor just stepped off the field in that exact set of clothes. And whatever framework fills out the uniform needs to be as close to invisible as possible, so the eye isn’t distracted from imagining Taylor. The uniform needs to look embodied despite there being no human body present.
The Robin memorial was meant to be somber; when Batman sees it, he’s reminded of his own sense of guilt and failure for letting Robin, his adopted son, die in the line of duty. For Taylor, a different emotional spirit should be depicted. The uniform draped over a just-standing-there wire mannequin isn’t right. Better for the uniform to have looked like it was in the midst of game action, or even just walking onto or off the field. The memorial needs to show motion, even a sense of coiled readiness and power. Both to depict Taylor as a football player, and also to depict the idea of potential. One should look at a memorial to Taylor in whatever form, disembodied uniform, brass sculpture, whatever, and wonder what’s about to happen in the next moment, the one we won’t see because of how Taylor’s life was ended.
Any predictions on what details the new Taylor memorial will get wrong? Uniform number font? Anachronistic jersey maker’s mark? Brand of cleats? Even the best-intentioned athlete statues seem to get at least one uniform detail wrong.
I’d be very surprised if the word mark atop the chest numbers makes it onto the finished product.
It needs to say Redskins as he played for that team. If it does not, it will be a travesty.
Five year rule is waived for ownership changes. The reality is Snyder left such a big mess, Harris is consumed with greater issues than unis.
Do you have a cite for this rule waiver? I had not heard this.
Also, since it takes a minimum of 18 months for new uniforms to be designed and created, they wouldn’t be able to have new unis for at least two more seasons (assuing this five year rule is indeed waived). So with one year to go (again, assuming they are even beginning the process of a redesign and could possibly have new unis after a 4th season), they’d likely wait until 2026 for new unis.
In a similar vein, was there an ownership change when the Oilers moved to Tennessee? Also,how many seasons before they changed to their name to Titans? Does moving void the 5-year rule (or however many years it is), if there is one?
I may have missed this in the past, but why did Sean Taylor tape his facemask like this?
Style… that’s all….
Oh, and he hated NFL restrictions against striped socks, for which he was fined for wearing….
According to “legend”, Sean taped his façemask before a game but the EM saw it, didn’t like it and replaced it with an new untaped one…
Sean re-taped it before the game, wore it and the rest is history and a statue… hopefully with taped façemask and striped socks
“Let’s also hope the new owners will introduce a new design as soon as the current one reaches its five-year requirement…”
I’d be satisfied if they simply restored the entire WFT design with the Commie W helmet logo instead of numbers …and elated if they brought back the ‘Skins 1978 set (pre-burgundy pants of course) sans old brand’s helmet logo.
First things first in DC: building a better team, then adjusting the uniform (gold pants is a step in the right direction, now get rid of the car tyre stripes and scrap the black uniform), then change the name from the Snyder-inspired Commanders into Renegades, and finally bring back the burgundy coaches hat with the gold R. Such a beauty.
Two Thumbs Up
Renegades is a solid option but I still like Redtails. Washington could even keep the logo with the feather and not have it be an issue, IMO. But who knows if they go back to Redskins or keep the generic one they have.
Change the name too so the Snyder stink is completely gone! And try to buy a trademark if you have to! “Commanders” was like the only option not patented. Let the fans vote on a new name!
I don’t think many non- Washington fans would like the results of such a vote…
I hear you. The team would have to mandate that Redskins wouldn’t be chosen as the name. I would imagine 75+% of the fanbase would prefer they go back to Redskins.
I am sure they will do what all of the other teams looking for a name do. Give the fans a list of a dozen crappy choices and take the one with the most votes. Or at least what they say got the most votes.
Those are Adidas Copa Mundial soccer cleats
I’m just going to spend a brief non-uniform moment and remind some who didn’t see Sean Taylor play- whether in person, or on TV- just how different he was. Forget his style choices briefly. Starting right away, Taylor was on a path to the HOF. Taylor was becoming an elite Safety at a LB size with CB-type skills. But what many fans forget is that he was an elite special teams player, too. He was a game changer on the punt coverage team as a gunner, laying return men out, but also downing punts inside the 10 yard line with ease, usually catching the ball as well. Taylor also played jammer, which gave us the pro bowl punter hit. And if needed he would be a returner. Simply a dominate force all over the field with great effort.
Sean Taylor wasn’t just an elite athlete. He also was quickly becoming an elite overall football player. Taylor may be my personal all-time favorite player and it still stings what happened to him. Some in the media did him wrong and so did the Washington franchise. This is a nice gesture, even if way too late. It’s good that the new ownership is trying.
As for the uniform change with the pants, it looks good. But until they address the team name and come up with something more professional (if not back to redskins), then it really doesn’t mean much. The whole thing is a political, legal, and botched team ownership mess. I seen few few suggestions I like but I still wish Redtails would have been the choice. Not much needed changed.
Sean Taylor was as dominant of a player there would have been. Many think of him as an elite athlete, which he was. Many think of how great of a Safety he was becoming. But not all remember how great of a FOOTBALL player he was. Taylor was an elite special teams players on BOTH sides when he came into the NFL. Very underrated part of his game. Total effort guy and team guy, regardless of his ‘look at me’ style he had. Still is my favorite player in my lifetime (36 yrs old).
Washington didn’t do well by him and many in the media did worse. It’s all a shame, even more than not having a statue. But no one can say he didn’t pass without courage.
As for the uniforms, none of it matters much until they do something with the image of the organization, team name, and stadium issues. Until then, its doesn’t mean much to me.