Sean Taylor, a 24-year-old free safety with the Washington Redskins, was shot and seriously injured at his Miami home.
The shooting occurred about 1:45 a.m. in his home in Palmetto Bay, an upscale section of Miami, said Kathy Webb, a spokeswoman for the Miami-Dade police. Mr. Taylor appeared to be the victim of an attempted robbery, police officials said.
He was flown by helicopter to a trauma center at Jackson Memorial hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery and was listed in critical condition. Taylor was hit by at least one bullet in his femoral artery — a major blood vessel in the thigh.
Sean Taylor was a star football player at the University of Miami — earning the Big East Conference Defensive Player of the Year award — and was selected fifth over all in the 2004 National Football League draft by the Washington Redskins.
The team signed him to a seven-year, $18 million contract, and he is widely considered one of the toughest and best young safeties in the league. Although sidelined for the last two weeks because of a knee sprain, he leads his team this season with five interceptions.
Taylor has drawn attention for more than his playing ability, most notably in 2005. In June of that year, he was arrested and charged with felony assault after the authorities said he pointed a gun at three men outside a house in West Perrine, a rough neighborhood south of Miami, and accused them of stealing two all-terrain vehicles from him.
According to the police and witnesses, Taylor, accompanied by an entourage, assaulted one of the men and made death threats before driving off. Minutes later, a group of men drove by his parked GMC Yukon Denali and sprayed it with bullets from an AK-47 and a pistol. Taylor’s vehicle was empty at the time, and the gunmen were never identified or arrested.
Taylor was accused of spitting on yet another player from an opposing team, this time Michael Pittman of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, during the first round of the playoffs. He was ejected from the game and fined $17,000. It was an unfitting end to what should have been a triumphant day for Mr. Taylor, who scored a touchdown that helped propel the Redskins to a 17-10 victory and a spot in the next round of the playoffs.
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