[joecrisp]

Originally Posted by BleedBurgundy

"6. I think I'm hearing ominous signs out of Washington that first-round pick Sean Taylor does not want to be a Redskin. But I wouldn't expect Joe Gibbs to be too worried. He'll figure this one out."

Peter King, MMQB

What is this founded on? Joe Crisp, have you heard anything to back this up?

I haven't heard anything remotely like that-- but what do I know, right? I'm all the way down here in Richmond, VA and the great Peter King is right there in Ashburn-- wait... oh, that's right, Peter King does his speculating from Upper Montclair, NJ-- the oracle of all NFL and Redskins knowledge.

Let's look at the way this speculation is phrased-- and it is speculation until you have quotes from the principal parties to back it up-- "I think I'm hearing ominous signs..."

Okay, what the hell does that mean?

Did someone tell him, "Sean Taylor doesn't want to be a Redskin"?

Or did someone tell him, "you know, Sean Taylor didn't look all that upbeat during minicamp... he seemed a little disenchanted... and now with this whole agent-firing thing...he doesn't seem like a happy camper"?

Which sounds more plausible:

After one three-day minicamp, Sean Taylor confided in someone close to him that he doesn't want to be a Redskin, and then that someone ran off and told a prominent sportswriter like Peter King?

Or an observer-- perhaps another member of the media, maybe even a team employee-- at the minicamp noticed that Sean Taylor seemed rather sullen and unenthused in the face of the media throng that showed up to scrutinize his first practices as a Redskin, that observer casually mentioned it to King, and King-- having little to write about during the NFL's painfully slow news period between the post-draft minicamps and the June 1st cap cuts-- decides to run with it and do a little recreational speculating?

I'll go with the latter. I've read King's stuff for years, and while he's a great writer when he sticks to the facts and writes about things he actually witnessed firsthand or heard during an interview, I wouldn't lend any more creedence to his speculation than that from any of the countless rumormill websites that allege to have their own "reliable sources"-- especially when he doesn't even go into detail about these "ominous signs" or quote any sources that led to him drawing such conclusions-- or "things he thinks he thinks"-- as he likes to call them in his MMQB column.

That particular part of King's SI column is mostly devoted-- as the name of the section would indicate-- to idle thoughts and ramblings about whatever King happens to be cogitating on at the moment. I think sometimes he gets a little carried away with some of his conjecture-- as his Seattle-Jacksonville Super Bowl vision would clearly suggest. I think his comments about Taylor should be taken for how they were offered-- with very little support for belief, other than blind faith in the idea that what King deems worthy of printing is worthy of acceptance as fact.

Here's what I took away from minicamp regarding Sean Taylor: he's a quiet subdued, easy-going kid that didn't seem all that comfortable with the attention he had drawn to the Redskins' second minicamp. He didn't smile a lot around the press, he didn't look overly excited to be there talking to them, and he politely said as little as possible in answering their questions. But he did say all the right things during his press conference, he seemed to be getting along just fine with his teammates during practice-- even Ife Ohalete, whose job Taylor is ostensibly there to take-- and overall he seemed to be enjoying his first experiences as an NFL player.

So at least outwardly, there was nothing to indicate that Taylor was unhappy to be a Redskin, per se. There was nothing said amongst the media that would indicate there were any problems brewing beneath the surface. But I can see how an observer might misinterpret Taylor's aloof demeanor as an omen of general unhappiness or disenchantment with being a Redskin, and not just a sign that maybe he wasn't all that comfortable with having to face a crowd of reporters after his first practice as a pro. If someone didn't know that Taylor is generally reserved in his interactions with the media, they might easily speculate that he wasn't happy or didn't want to be a Redskin. Factor in the surprising termination of his relationship with agent Drew Rosenhaus-- who is known to work fluidly with the Redskins front office-- and it wouldn't be a dramatic leap of faith to assert that Taylor has a problem with the Redskins.

Peter King is a well-respected journalist, yes. But simply because he has more accolades than a lot of other journalists doesn't mean his speculation should be lent any more substance than what he gives it through citation of sources with primary knowledge of the facts. He provides none here, and therefore leaves it up to his readers to decide whether or not to believe it. Given what I saw and heard at Redskins Park, and knowing that Peter King wasn't at Redskins Park and probably is relying on secondhand or even third- or fourth-hand info, I would say that he's just stirring the pot for the sake of stirring the pot-- that's what guys like Peter King do, and that's why they get paid the big bucks.