Seconds later, ESPN.com confirmed my worst fears. “Taylor Dead at 24”.

Sean Taylor died this morning in a Miami hospital bed just over 24 hours after being gunned down in his Miami home. Numb is the only feeling for Hurricane Nation… again. It’s Bryan Pata a year later. Another Cane senselessly executed down. It’s tragic, sickening and so damn wrong.

I never knew Taylor, but pulled a little bit more for him than the average Cane. He was from the neighborhood. He was a Gulliver kid. I went to Westminster. He played his high school ball on both our fields.

I grew up off Old Cutler Road, played at Perrine Khoury League and know the west Perrine area he called home.

Not too many kids from that pocket of town end up playing for the Canes, go fifth in the NFL Draft or wind up a Pro Bowl level safety — so when anybody from the neighborhood makes it, you tend to pull for them a little bit more.

A guy like Taylor connected me to my youth and the old neighborhood. Especially living on the west coast these days. Any connection to Miami means everything to me, so seeing a kid from Perrine achieving the ultimate success; it hit me on a completely different level.

A long-time bud of mine is a Palmetto Bay cop and was on the scene yesterday. A mutual friend was texting me updates all day and keeping me in the loop. By day’s end, he told me to expect the worst – even though ESPN was reporting things were looking better, with Taylor squeezing his doctor’s hand.

By then, my head was swimming. I didn’t know what to believe. Like I did when Pata was murdered, I logged off and tried not to think. I got out of the house.

No more Internet or TV. It was time to say some prayers, find a distraction and simply wait out the night. There wasn’t going to be any “new” news and I couldn’t read the same stuff over and over again, like so many other Canes and Skins fans riding out the storm.

This morning, everyones worst fears were realized.

Taylor is gone at 24-years old, his whole life ahead of him. In the prime of his career and now leaving behind an infant daughter who will never know her father. Even worse, it was all over some ‘stuff’ – be it property some thugs were looking to steal or some scumbag looking to settle a beef.

A few pathetic jackasses have already started pointing fingers and blaming this on what some are calling a checkered past for Taylor, instead of simply focusing on the tragedy itself.

True, the former Cane found himself in a little trouble years back. In and out of hot water with Redskins management. A few run ins with the law. Taylor wasn’t perfect – but he was a boy still growing into the man he’d become as well as learning how to handle his newfound fame, fortune and success.

At 24 years old he was already turning things around – which is a hell of a lot sooner than most of us get our ‘wake up call’ in life. Lessons had been learned, old ways had been changed and through the birth of his daughter, Taylor had seen the light. The young, new father had that lifechanging experience and was a new man.

Ask his coaches and teammates. Ask his friends and family. This was a new Taylor. A twentysomething professional athlete smitten by his one-year old daughter, Jackie – the biggest and best reason for any man to turn over a new leaf.

The rebirth of the new Sean Taylor was underway and now we’ll never know what could’ve been. He was taken from us too soon… like so many who have gone before him.

I’m sure many are now playing the inevitable “what if” game. What if Taylor wasn’t injured? He’d have been with his Redskins teammates and a thousand miles or so away from any trouble in Miami. At worst, he could’ve been in DC recovering from the injury instead of back home for a few days – a week after there was reported trouble and a burglary attempt at his home.

Instead, he’s gone and everyone is left here picking up the pieces and asking God, “why?”

Another Cane shining bright in the prime of his career and taken from us. It feels like Jerome Brown all over again, but worse as so many members of The U Family have been taken since JB in 1992.

This is cruel and unusual punishment for this fan base, for Miamians who mourn the loss of one of our own and for anyone with a heart.

As a diehard Cane, like the rest of my brethren, I’m crushed beyond words. On one level, these are just kids who play football for the program we all pull for. But we all know it’s much more than that.

You live, eat, sleep and breathe The U for the better part of your life and these end up guys becoming more than just nameless faces wearing numbered jerseys their predecessors wore. They become part of the history and as big as the program itself. When we utter the words “U Family” we mean it.

The University of Miami is family. When one succeeds, we all succeed. When one hurts, we all hurt. When one is taken, we all mourn.

When these kids get drafted every April, you find yourself sitting back like a proud parent watching graduation day. You know that they have their whole lives ahead of them and you look forward to rooting for them on the next level – doing well for themselves, their families and doing right by their alma mater.

Even if you’re not a fan of the team they’re drafted by, you find yourselves rooting for the one time Canes out there to make plays and make The U proud.

God bless the Taylor family and The U Family as everyone is suffering and struggling to get through this. We search for answers, but there truly aren’t any. Another sick and senseless tragedy that never should’ve happened. It can’t be explained or reasoned. You simply have to lean on your faith – whatever it may be – and try to cope.

The pain lessens over time, but the memories remain. U Family forever. #26 was our star.

Please feel free to comment below and talk about Taylor. Share your stories, memories, thoughts and prayers please.

Just one more reminder that there are things bigger and much more important than 5-7 seasons and trashing coaches or players. Hopefully we can all learn from this one…

R.I.P. #26 (#21).

.:Canes305:.