After months of practically begging Sean Taylor to report to work, the Washington Redskins are now telling him to stay away.
Taylor's latest legal trouble, a felony charge of aggravated assault with a firearm in Miami, led the Redskins on Monday to issue a statement excusing the safety from the rest of the team's offseason meetings and practices.
"As an organization, the Redskins believe that it is in Sean's best interest to focus on his personal and legal issues at this time," the statement said.
Taylor turned himself in to police Saturday night after a three-day search. Police said Taylor pointed a gun at an unidentified person Wednesday during a dispute over two vehicles he claimed were stolen. Taylor also punched one person, according to the police statement, leading to a second charge of simple battery.
Taylor, 22, is free on $16,500 bond with an arraignment date scheduled for June 24. His football career is in serious jeopardy if he is convicted of the felony charge: It carries a minimum sentence of three years as a result of a crackdown on firearms-related crimes passed by Florida's Legislature several years ago.
Taylor has been the only unexcused absentee from the Redskins voluntary offseason workout program and has not returned phone calls from coach Joe Gibbs, who several times expressed disappointment that Taylor was not participating. Last week, before the arrest, Gibbs did not know of Taylor's activities or whether Taylor would attend the mandatory minicamp on June 17-19.
Now, Taylor needn't bother.
"We have informed Sean's agent that, as of today, Sean is excused from participating in the remainder of the club's voluntary offseason workout program and the upcoming mandatory minicamp," the Redskins statement said.
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