The lights went dark in the classroom Wednesday morning, and a video of Sean Taylor's greatest hits started playing.

Taylor slamming some hapless Dallas Cowboy. Taylor taking out Donovan McNabb of the Philadelphia Eagles. There, on the screen before the all-male English class at William Fleming High School, Taylor laid a hit on Pittsburgh Steeler Willie Parker that rattled my teeth.

When Taylor wasn't hitting, he was stripping the ball from opponents' hands or stepping in front of them and stealing their passes -- and their glory.

That was the "explosive" Sean Taylor, as junior Tre' Jones described the Washington Redskins' star safety.

But when the lights came back up in the classroom, discussion turned to the dead Sean Taylor.

"It's all over that quick," Antonio Tucker, 16, lamented. "Just all over."

He was referring not to the video but to Taylor's young life

At 24, Taylor died after an intruder apparently shot him in his Florida home early Monday. The tragic killing has garnered a lot of attention this week.

"How did this happen?" asked Tim Thornhill, 16, a Bears fan who respected Taylor's game. "How could it happen?"

Mystery swirls about the circumstances of Taylor's death. Who did it? Why? Was it random or targeted?

In life, Taylor made his living in a profession built on statistics -- sacks, tackles, interceptions, yards, touchdowns. In death, he became a statistic.

Whatever the details, wealth and fame couldn't protect him from the violence that claims so many other young black men before their 25th birthday.

At Fleming, teacher Troy Manns sets aside some time to discuss "current affairs." Wednesday's topic was Taylor, whom Manns once met.

"Even though I'm a Cowboys fan," Manns said, "Sean Taylor is my favorite player in the NFL."

But for purposes of this discussion, he lumped Taylor's name with Bonds, Vick, Iverson -- a roll call of athletes whose images have suffered from off-the-field troubles.

"Image is everything," Manns told his students.

The teacher asked students what they knew about Taylor. One boy mentioned the reported break-in at the athlete's home eight days before the shooting.

Jones, 16, mentioned that Taylor had gotten in trouble for brandishing a gun.

Keith Vaughan, 17, chipped in that Taylor started settling down when he became a father 18 months ago.

Mentioning Taylor and the list of other athletes on the screen, Manns asked the teens what they had learned in their discussion of the men.

"People don't want to see them doing good," said Shaquan Manning, 17.

"Don't let everyone hang around you," said Darius Somieari, 17.

Jamelle Hagins, 17, added soberly, "They're just like us.

"They can get robbed and shot."

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• Posted by Shanna Flowers in State & national issues
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