Wednesday’s episode of Inside the NFL included a segment where each panelist shared what they were thankful for this Thanksgiving.
And NFL media multi-hyphenate Ryan Clark delivered a touching tribute to former Washington safety Sean Taylor, who was tragically murdered 17 years ago on Wednesday.
With Thanksgiving tomorrow we all shared something we were thankful for in our Football Lives. It was easy for me.
It’s 17 years to the day that we lost Sean Taylor, & not a day goes by that I don’t think of him. I’m grateful that God brought him into our lives. I’m honored… pic.twitter.com/sPLLFmwWvz
— Ryan Clark (@Realrclark25) November 28, 2024
“Today’s 17 years since Sean Taylor passed. And to have an opportunity to play with him, to be his friend, and to now develop a relationship with his daughter Jackie, and to have her as family still, it just goes to show you how much football matters, how much it means, how those relationships that we build — whether it be in the locker room or the practice field or inside stadiums — last a lifetime.
Sean to me was not only one of the greatest athletes I’ve been around, but he was a great human. He would come over, play video games with my son Jordan, hold my daughter Loghan. And now it’s crazy that they’re 23, they’re 19. My oldest daughter Jaden actually got an opportunity to be around him, see his smile, and know who he was.
There’s not a day that goes by that I don’t think about him, but also not a day that goes by that I’m not grateful for his presence and impact in my life. And I think without football that doesn’t happen for me. We don’t share those moments, we don’t create those memories. And so I think this game gave us all so much. And you know, sometimes those things are taken away but you can’t take away the memories that are made.”
Taylor was drafted 5th overall by Washington in the 2004 NFL Draft and was selected to two Pro Bowls in his abbreviated career; one in 2006 and one posthumously in 2007. Clark, a former defensive back himself, overlapped with Taylor in Washington during the 2004 and 2005 seasons. After returning to Washington in 2014, Clark would don Taylor’s No. 21 jersey during practices in his honor.
Clearly the two years together spurred a close relationship between Clark, Taylor, and their respective families. Good on Clark for using his platform to highlight an individual who obviously had a meaningful impact on him. And credit to Inside the NFL for letting him have that opportunity.
