Sunday's NFL games maintained a moment of silence to respect the loss of Sean Taylor, the Redskins' young pro-bowl safety; but in his absence his presence permeated the day.

At 6am at Orlando International CNN screens proclaimed the capture of four suspects aged from 17 to 20 each with burglary and drug-related records. The attorney of one of them acknowledged his client's presence at the house but denied any association with the smoking gun. The law agencies currently are citing 'non pre-meditated' homicide.

In contrast to the multi presence of FloridaTV screens the cathedral ceilings at Reagan International, the stone mausoleum of the orange and blue Metro lines and the massive presence of RFK stadium provided a foretaste of the repressed emotion at Fed Ex Field.

'Taylor's senseless death and its immediate aftermath reminds us that effort alone is not enough'


The memorial service at 12.45 replete with image and audio; the Redskins' band with its fine, tasteful moving notes, the tee-shirts and black patches and the white 21 towels which 85,000 fans heaved into the air as if to magic the return of the young man whose absence was contributing so much to the downturn in the season fortunes of the Redskins. Gregg Williams contributed a brief cameo by starting the game with only ten defensive players - Taylor's inspiration on the field was a given.

The late field goal loss to the Bills resulted from the one deep incursion made by the opposition offense into the secondary before Rian Lindell completed a good afternoon's work with his fifth field goal. For 59 minutes and 50 seconds the Redskins had clawed out and held onto a lead that just briefly at one time extended beyond two scores. It could be argued that the unsportsmanlike 15-yard penalty on Joe Gibbs for attempting to freeze Lindell twice was the result his 'mean spirited' action deserved on a day when so much public good will had been in evidence.

However, by 4pm the DC icy rain complemented the low 36 degrees temperature. The white towels once so proudly displayed were now used defensively to protect wet and cold heads. Furthermore, many seats had emptied as fans escaped the conditions by moving indoors or had left the stadium altogether to try to beat the traffic. These factors now contributed to an emptiness that could be measured against the increasing 'flatness' of the day.

Without Taylor and along with too may other absences and injuries the call to celebrate the passing of Washington's brightest star had evolved into a wake and the cosmic gloom became impossible to overcome.

Taylor's memorial service was held in Miami on Monday and on Thursday the Redskins return to Fed Ex Field to line up again in a nationally televised game against the Bears.

For Joe Gibbs, although he will say otherwise, the season is done. It would take an unprecedented force of collective character to overcome the scale of tragedy and events at Fed Ex on Sunday suggested the team will not be able to regroup in the time they have. A season that had begun promisingly with a probable rush to the play-offs will now be a losing season.

The off season will be the time for new leaders to step up and whilst it is not Gibbs' style to clean house he will need to find players with the intensity, youth, skill and athleticism that Sean Taylor brought to the game. Taylor's senseless death and its immediate aftermath reminds us that effort alone is not enough.

But it is also the case that the loss of a young family man beginning to make sense of the world largely through the presence of his 18-month daughter only serves to remind us all of the secondary place of sport in the universal chaos.