The Washington Football Team will retire Sean Taylor’s No. 21 jersey over the weekend in a move that raised eyebrows amid the fallout around Jon Gruden’s emails.
Washington made the announcement Thursday as the league is being urged to release the findings of the 650,000 emails they recovered in their investigation of workplace misconduct. Gruden’s damning emails were messages sent to former team president Bruce Allen.
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Washington Football Team president Jason Wright apologized for the franchise’s rollout of the decision to retire Sean Taylor’s No. 21 jersey, stating, “the short notice does not properly reflect the impact Sean had.”
“We apologize to fans who would have liked more notice and will continue to share with fans ways we will be celebrating Sean Taylor’s legacy over the next month,” the organization announced.
Here’s what the Washington Football Team had to say about Sunday’s upcoming ceremony, via WashingtonFootball.com:
“During the Washington Football Team’s October 17th matchup against the Kansas City Chiefs, the team will honor nearly 100 alumni at FedExField, while also paying a special tribute to Washington alumnus and football legend, Sean Taylor. Taylor’s family will join the team on-field for a pre-game ceremony in which Taylor’s contributions to the team will be remembered alongside the retirement of his jersey number, 21. This will mark only the third time in the team’s 89-year history that a jersey number will be officially retired.”
Washington selected Taylor with the No. 5 pick of the 2004 NFL Draft. He was a two-time Pro Bowler before he was killed in a botched robbery attempt in 2007.
