Washington

Washington Commanders will replace criticized Sean Taylor installation with statue

Published

4 months ago

August 25, 2024

Washington Commanders will replace criticized Sean Taylor installation with statue

After facing widespread criticism over an installation meant to honor the late two-time Pro Bowl safety Sean Taylor, the Washington Commanders have permanently removed it and announced plans to build a statue in its place.

“After careful consideration, we have decided as an organization to remove the Sean Taylor installation from Commanders Field,” a team spokesperson said Saturday in a statement. “We realize that the installation fell short in honoring one of our franchise’s most iconic players. Together with the Taylor family, we are working on a plan, which includes unveiling a statue that will rightfully celebrate the legacy and impact that Sean had on our organization, fanbase and community. The Washington Commanders are committed to honoring our legends in a first-class manner.”

The team also announced that Taylor’s daughter, Jackie, will have input in the design process of the statue. Jackie was 18 months old when her father was murdered at the age of 24 on Nov. 27, 2007, during an attempted home invasion.

The original installation was inaugurated in November 2022, during a game against the Atlanta Falcons. At the time, the team was under the ownership of Daniel Snyder, who became known for several blunders in team-fan relations against the backdrop of creating a toxic workplace culture that resulted in a $10 million fine by the NFL and allegations of sexual harassment.

In July 2023, however, the NFL owners approved the sale of the team to a group led by billionaire Josh Harris.

“I’m thankful to Josh Harris and the Commanders family for their continued commitment to keep my dad’s legacy alive,” Jackie Taylor said in the statement. “I look forward to sharing plans in the future and learning more about my dad through this process.”

The original installation that has since been removed was inaugurated on five day’s notice, and featured a mannequin-style structure that merely had a Washington jersey with Taylor’s No. 21 on it. The jersey, however, wasn’t even from the right era, as the NFL’s apparel partner at the time during Taylor’s playing days was Reebok, not Nike.

The statue that will replace the installation becomes the first statue in team history to honor a former player.

Taylor played in the NFL from 2004-07, all with Washington, earning Pro Bowl honors in his last two seasons. He finished with 305 tackles, 12 interceptions, eight forced fumbles, one fumble recovery and one touchdown. The year after his death, Taylor was inducted into the team’s Ring of Honor.

Taylor wore the jersey No. 36 during his rookie season, but changed it to No. 21 the following year. The Commanders retired Taylor’s jersey in 2021, making him the fourth player in the team’s history to receive the honor.

Taylor was the fifth overall selection in the 2004 NFL Draft, out of the University of Miami.

“I’m forever grateful for the outpouring of love and support from this special fan base,” Jackie Taylor said. “I’m filled with gratitude to know that my dad will forever be a part of the burgundy and gold family.”

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Washington

Southwest Washington officials look to state for new law enforcement training center

Published

2 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Press Room

Southwest Washington officials look to state for new law enforcement training center

Vancouver Police Department, West Precinct, in Vancouver, Wash., June 29, 2024.

Anna Lueck / OPB

The legislators will make an initial request of $3.5 million toward plans for the training center, which would serve new recruits and current staff. They will seek an additional $3 million during the 2026 legislative session as well as federal appropriations from Washington’s Congressional delegation, according to a letter from Vancouver Mayor Anne McEnerny-Ogle.

“We really need one place to come together and have the ability to give our officers the best training,” said Vancouver Police Department Deputy Chief Erica Nilsen, who noted Southwest Washington’s booming population. “That’s really why we need the regional academy.”

The academy would primarily serve as a training site for police and sheriff’s department staff from Clark, Cowlitz and Skamania counties, Nilsen said. Her department hopes to have a facility where prospective officers could train on squad car driving, firearms and scenario training, and do classroom work.

Since January, the Vancouver Police Department has used a repurposed elementary school in the city. They also rent a driving track and send recruits to the Washington State Criminal Justice Training Commission academy in Burien, about two-and-a-half hours north.

That distance creates barriers to hiring potential officers who are female or single parents, Nilsen said.

“To leave your family for four months is incredibly difficult. Sometimes that stops the conversation before they even get past that,” she said.

Lawmakers are pitching the idea of a potential location in Ridgefield on property that’s privately owned by the family of Boschma Farms, near where Clark College is currently building an advanced manufacturing campus.

The likelihood of landing such a request for state funds remains uncertain, given Washington’s projected $10-12 billion budget deficit. Clark County and the city of Vancouver are also navigating multimillion-dollar deficits.

“With the budget issues that we’re going to be facing, it kind of remains to be seen where we’re at. It’s going to be probably quite a stretch, but [law enforcement] is certainly my priority going into this next session,” said state Rep. Stephanie McClintock, R-Vancouver, whose district spans the north end of Clark County.

McClintock said that in addition to being a training academy, she hopes such a facility would provide a new administrative home for the Clark County Sheriff’s Office.

Officials with the Vancouver Police Department and county sheriff’s office have both recently said they are among the lowest-staffed departments in the state per capita. McClintock said a new training facility could help attract more law enforcement officers.

“We need to send a message that they are a priority,” she said. “It’s a morale issue. And it’s a good recruiting tool to show that we support our law enforcement here in Southwest Washington.”

In November, the city of Vancouver attempted to increase property taxes to fund 80 new police officers. The proposal was rejected by voters. Clark County is considering asking voters to pay for 30 new sheriff’s deputies, according to the mayor’s memo.

From 2020 to 2023, Clark County saw a 3.5% increase in population. While a new law enforcement facility would take years to complete, the need to train officers will increase as the population of Southwest Washington continues to grow.

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Washington

Tale of the Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. Washington

Published

11 hours ago

December 26, 2024

Press Room

Tale of the Tape, Predictions: Louisville vs. Washington

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – Louisville (8-4, 5-3 ACC) is set to face Washington (6-6, 4-5 Big Ten) in the Sun Bowl on Tuesday, Dec. 31 at 2:00 p.m. EST at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas. Here’s how the Cardinals stack up against the Huskies:

*Mobile users can scroll left and right on the tables below*

	Washington	Louisville Advertisement
AP/USAT	NR/NR	RV/RV
CFP	NR Advertisement	NR
SOS	12th	28th
SOR Advertisement	46th	25th
SP+	61st	18th Advertisement
FPI	45th	12th
Sagarin	47th Advertisement	17th
Kelley Ford	49th	13th
CFB Insiders Advertisement	41st	11th

	Washington	Louisville
Total Offense Advertisement	68th (383.7)	10th (455.8)
Yards Per Play	52nd (5.96)	3rd (6.88) Advertisement
Scoring Offense	109th (22.5)	9th (36.6)
Passing Yards	39th (252.3) Advertisement	20th (272.4)
Yards Per Completion	113th (10.97)	37th (12.82)
Rushing Yards Advertisement	93rd (131.3)	37th (183.3)
Yards Per Rush Attempt	85th (4.07)	9th (5.60) Advertisement
First Downs Gained	76th (248)	57th (261)
3rd Down Con. %	102nd (36.4%) Advertisement	74th (39.7%)
4th Down Con. %	101st (45.8%)	(116th (40.0%)
Red Zone Con. % Advertisement	85th (82.2%)	95th (80.8%)
Turnovers Lost	19th (11)	19th (11) Advertisement
Interceptions Thrown	26th (7)	10th (6)
Fumbles Lost	15th (4) Advertisement	30th (5)
Tackles for Loss Allowed	87th (5.83)	19th (4.17)
Sacks Allowed Advertisement	111th (2.83)	23rd (1.25)
Avg. Time of Possession	66th (30:10)	73rd (29:57) Advertisement

Key: National Rank out of 134 FBS Teams (Value)

	Washington	Louisville
Total Defense	27th (324.8) Advertisement	58th (360.1)
Yards Allowed Per Play	28th (5.00)	49th (5.28)
Scoring Defense Advertisement	45th (22.8)	52nd (23.3)
Passing Yards Allowed	5th (166.8)	80th (224.7) Advertisement
Rushing Yards Allowed	83rd (158.1)	43rd (135.4)
First Downs Allowed	69th (241) Advertisement	40th (229)
3rd Down Defensive %	106th (43.9%)	39th (35.5%)
4th Down Defensive % Advertisement	91st (57.1%)	112th (64.5%)
Red Zone Defensive %	53rd (81.0%)	63rd (81.8%) Advertisement
Turnovers Gained	91st (14)	69th (16)
Interceptions Caught	93rd (8) Advertisement	75th (9)
Fumbles Recovered	69th (6)	49th (7)
TFL Per Game Advertisement	132nd (3.6)	39th (6.4)
Sacks Per Game	90th (1.67)	40th (2.42) Advertisement

Key: National Rank out of 134 FBS Teams (Value)

	Washington	Louisville
Net Punting	131st (34.49) Advertisement	109th (36.74)
Avg. Kickoff Return	30th (22.42)	60th (20.53)
Avg. Kickoff Return Def. Advertisement	92nd (21.83)	24th (17.42)
Avg. Punt Return	74th (7.27)	106th (5.13) Advertisement
Avg. Punt Return Def.	126th (14.94)	31st (5.00)
Field Goal Attempts	18-26 Advertisement	18-25
PAT	26-26	55-55

Key: National Rank out of 134 FBS Teams (Value)

– FPI Prediction: Per ESPN’s Football Power Index, the Cardinals have a 74.8 percent chance to win against the Huskies. Louisville has an FPI rating of 16.4 (12th overall), whereas Washington has an FPI rating of 5.1 (45th overall).

– SP+ Prediction: Per Bill Connelly’s SP+ model, the Cardinals have a 76.89 percent chance to take down the Huskies. Louisville has an SP+ rating of 15.5 (18th overall), whereas Washington has an SP+ rating of 3.0 (61st overall).

– Kelley Ford Prediction: Per the Kelley Ford ratings, the Cardinals have a 73 percent chance to defeat the Huskies. Louisville has a KFord rating of 16.5 (14th overall), whereas Washington has a KFord rating of 5.1 (48th overall).

– College Football Insiders Prediction: Per College Football Insiders’ IPR metric, the Cardinals have a 71.99 percent chance to take down the Huskies. Louisville has an IPR rating of 65.5 (11th overall), whereas Washington has an IPR rating of 53.5 (41st overall).

– Personal Prediction: Louisville 28, Washington 24

(Photo via Jordan Prather – Imagn Images)

You can follow Louisville Cardinals On SI for future coverage by liking us on Facebook, Twitter/X and Instagram:

Facebook – @LouisvilleOnSI
Twitter/X – @LouisvilleOnSI
Instagram – @louisvilleonsi

You can also follow Deputy Editor Matthew McGavic at @Matt_McGavic on Twitter/X and @mattmcgavic.bsky.social on Bluesky

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Washington

Notre Dame football continues transfer portal haul with TE Ty Washington

Published

23 hours ago

December 25, 2024

Press Room

Notre Dame football continues transfer portal haul with TE Ty Washington

Ty Washington’s 2024 season ended abruptly. The redshirt sophomore tight end was dismissed from Arkansas in late October for what head coach Sam Pittman described as a violation of team rules.

Notre Dame football wants to give Washington a second chance. The 6-foot-4, 247-pound tight end with two seasons of eligibility remaining announced Wednesday his commitment to transfer to Notre Dame.

Maybe Washington can find more success with the Irish after catching 14 passes for 212 yards and four touchdowns in 21 career games with the Razorbacks. Pro Football Focus gave Washington the second-lowest offensive grade on Arkansas’ roster for his play in the 2024 season. He received a 42.3 offensive grade on his 116 offensive snaps. The lowest offensive grade on Notre Dame’s offense so far this season is reserve offensive tackle Ty Chan’s 47.8 on eight snaps.

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Washington will be a depth option for Notre Dame’s tight end room. The Irish will lose starting tight end Mitchell Evans to the NFL this offseason with four seasons of eligibility used. Reserve tight end Davis Sherwood will also have exhausted his eligibility. Seldom-used graduate senior Kevin Bauman still has one season of eligibility remaining, but it’s unclear if he’ll be on Notre Dame’s roster next season.

The obvious options to return to Notre Dame next season are current junior Eli Raridon, sophomore Cooper Flanagan, freshman Jack Larsen and 2025 signee James Flanigan. Raridon has played in all 13 games this season and caught nine passes for 70 yards and two touchdowns so far. Flanagan caught four passes for 55 yards and two touchdowns in 12 games this season.

So Washington’s impact at Notre Dame seems far from guaranteed, but that’s much better than the situation he was in at Arkansas. Washington shared his side of the story about his dismissal on the “4th and 5 Podcast.” Washington refused to enter a 58-25 victory over Mississippi State in the fourth quarter when the coaching staff wanted to put him in the game. Prior to the game, Washington said, he learned that his grandmother was in poor health and that put him in a bad place mentally.

“Our team was kicking butt,” Washington said on the podcast. “Our tight ends were doing their thing. Shout-out to Luke [Hasz] and shout-out to Andreas [Paaske] because they were playing a hell of a ballgame. To be honest, I didn’t think that I needed to go in to just try to fight through something and look bad or mess up the team in general when I’m already going through something mentally.

“To be honest, that messed me up and I should’ve taken accountability for that because that was the reason why I was thrown off the team — for not going into the game. I know I could’ve handled it differently, but at the time I let that shut me down. And it shut me down because mentally I’ve been going through a lot of stuff and physically I’ve been going through a lot of stuff. It broke me down a little bit. I’m only human.”

Pittman declined to expand on Washington’s dismissal after reporters heard Washington’s retelling of it. Hasz, Arkansas’ starting tight end this season, has already committed to transfer to Ole Miss.

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Washington signed with Arkansas as a three-star recruit out of Leesburg (Ga.) Lee County. Rivals ranked him as the No. 31 tight end in the 2022 class.

Washington redshirted his true freshman season by playing in four regular season games and a bowl game. His only catch of the season was a 17-yard touchdown in the first quarter of a 55-53 win over Kansas in the Liberty Bowl.

Washington’s playing time increased in 2023 with three starts in nine games, but his season ended with a shoulder injury. He recorded 11 receptions for 170 yards and two touchdowns in the four-game stretch before his injury. The 2023 season was Washington’s best, according to PFF. He received a 77.3 offensive grade with an 86.6 in the passing game.

Washington started just one game this past season and caught two passes for 25 yards and one touchdown in seven games played. His dismissal came after the eighth game of the season for Arkansas.

Notre Dame’s incoming transfer portal class is currently bigger than its outgoing transfer class. The Irish added Alabama defensive back DeVonta Smith, Virginia wide receiver Malachi Fields and Wisconsin wide receiver Will Pauling prior to Washington. Fields and Pauling announced their commitments on Monday and Tuesday, respectively, making Washington the third commitment in three days.

Notre Dame’s three outgoing transfer portal players were no longer with the team for most of the season. Defensive tackle Tyson Ford and defensive end Aiden Gobaira weren’t on the roster this season. Cornerback Jaden Mickey opted to seek a transfer after playing in the first four games of 2024, which allowed him to preserve a season of eligibility. Both Ford and Mickey have already committed to Cal.

Notre Dame has yet to address arguably its biggest transfer portal need this offseason: defensive tackle. At least in terms of public commitments. But at the rate this week has gone, who knows how quickly that could change.

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