Complexities Surround Redskins' Taylor

Friends say Taylor felt picked on by the media during his rookie year, and targeted by the NFL. One associate, who requested anonymity because he wasn't sure how Taylor would interpret his comments, recalled Taylor saying, "They can't break me." Taylor has a tattoo on his right biceps with the words, "Steel Standing."

After the season, Taylor and his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said they wanted to renegotiate the seven-year, $18 million contract Taylor had signed before the 2004 season, feeling his rookie deal, which with incentives is potentially worth $40 million, did not have enough guaranteed money. People close to Taylor say the contract dispute was not the reason for his decision to skip all of the team's voluntary workouts this offseason -- he was the only member of the team with an unexcused absence. He told friends that Rosenhaus assured him that Redskins owner Daniel Snyder would be willing to offer him an improved contract.

While Taylor -- the second oldest of four children -- struggled last year adjusting to aspects of his new life in Washington such as the cold winter weather, his main qualm about life in the D.C. area was not being able to see his parents and his buddies back in South Florida.

So when the season ended, Taylor returned home.

Looking Back

Although Taylor's parents split up shortly after his birth, he remains close to both. "My parents weren't together after I was born," Taylor said in an interview last year, "but they've always been there for me."

Friends said that Taylor still loves home-cooked meals, and attributes his size to eating his great-grandmother's cornmeal during summer visits. Taylor has a large extended family in the area, friends said, that has increased recently as some cousins moved here from Georgia.

Although Taylor frequents popular clubs at Miami Beach and Ocean Beach, one friend said that Taylor also occasionally enjoys the solitude of fishing for snappers, bluefish and other saltwater fish.

Residents of Taylor's neighborhood from his high school years -- where his father and stepmother still live in a one-story, yellow home -- said that he occasionally drops by, and is quick to offer a helping hand. The working-class area has tree-lined streets with one- and two-story homes near a park with basketball and tennis courts.

Sean Martin, a teenager, moved into the neighborhood from Brooklyn about two months ago to live with his cousin Marc Spencer, 11, and his aunt. Soon after arriving, Martin said he met Taylor when the safety was tending to his car across the street.

"I was like, 'Wow,' " Martin recalled last week, standing outside his home. "He seemed like a nice guy. My aunt had some groceries. And he saw her and came over to give her a hug and then helped us take the stuff inside. I heard about the [June 1] incident, and I was kind of surprised."

In late April, Taylor made an impromptu appearance at Gulliver Prep Middle School -- located in an affluent neighborhood -- and spent both 45-minute lunch periods signing autographs for fifth- through eighth-graders.

"He was great. He just sat there and signed for all the kids," recalled Mark Schusterman, the athletic director. "Then he walked throughout the school and did neat stuff like that."