Redskins’ Sean Taylor dies

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Washington Redskins free safety Sean Taylor died early Tuesday morning, just over 24 hours after he was shot in the leg in his home in Palmetto Bay, Fla., by an intruder.

"This is the worst imaginable tragedy," said Redskins owner Dan Snyder. "Our thoughts and prayers are with Sean's family."

Taylor, 24, underwent hours of surgery on Monday. He was listed in critical condition, but Vinny Cerrato, the Redskins vice president of football operations, said Taylor had squeezed a nurse's hand Monday night. That was seen as a hopeful sign.

Richard Sharpstein, a family friend and a lawyer who had represented Taylor in a criminal case, told the Associated Press that Taylor never had regained consciousness after being airlifted to the hospital.

"Maybe he was trying to say good-bye or something," Sharpstein said of the hand squeeze.

Sharpstein said he received a call from Taylor's father around 5:30 a.m. to tell him the player had died. Taylor's father Pedro Taylor is the police chief of Florida City.

Taylor was in his fourth season with the Redskins. He was playing exceptionally well this year. He had intercepted five passes and was covering the field so well that teams seldom dared throw deep when Taylor was in the game.

He had missed the past two games after suffering a knee injury against the Philadelphia Eagles on Nov. 11.

The preliminary investigation of the shooting by the Miami-Dade County police department states: It appears the victim was shot inside the home by an intruder. There are signs of forced entry at the residence. However, investigators, still processing the scene, have not yet determined if these signs were caused during the incident or as a result of a residential burglary reported at the residence on Nov. 18, 2007. Mr. Taylor's girlfriend and child were at the residence during the incident, but were not injured. We do not have a subject description at this time."

Police are trying to determine if the break-in on Nov. 18 is related to what is now a homicide investigation.

Taylor was the Redskins first-round draft choice in 2004, the fifth player taken overall. He was a standout player at the University of Miami.

"We are obviously in shock," Redskins coach Joe Gibbs said Monday afternoon. "I know I can't put it in words.

"In football, what you do is spend a huge amount of time with each other. You get to know somebody. With Sean, we really respected how much he loved football. He felt like it was what he was made to do."