Taylor's Day Ends on Sour Note

Safety Scores TD, But Is Ejected for Spitting at Pittman

TAMPA, Jan. 7 -- In his first career playoff game Saturday, Redskins safety Sean Taylor scooped up a loose ball and ran 51 yards for a touchdown. The play gave the Redskins a 14-0 lead, but it is not what will be remembered about the game where Taylor is concerned.

Taylor was ejected for spitting in the face of running back Michael Pittman with 2 minutes 59 seconds remaining in the third quarter of the Redskins' 17-10 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. It is unclear how the league will further discipline him, but he faces a fine if not a suspension.

According to a league source that attended the game as an observer, the NFL will consider various factors when making a disciplinary decision. The first is the degree of the infraction. The second is the player's history, and the third is what his coach may say on his behalf. The officiating crew had no comment after the game.

The play occurred with Tampa facing third and nine on its 19-yard line. Buccaneers quarterback Chris Simms scrambled for a three-yard gain. As players from both teams got up from the pile, Taylor and Pittman jawed at each other, face mask to face mask, with the Redskins' punt return unit already running onto the field. Pittman took a swing at Taylor. Then referee Mike Carey threw a penalty flag into the air.

Taylor was called for unsportsmanlike conduct, penalized 15 yards and ejected from the game. Officials explained later that Taylor had spit on the Tampa Bay running back. The call gave the Buccaneers a first down.

"I saw that, and I'm thinking, 'We don't need that right now,' " said Redskins defensive end Phillip Daniels. "He has to realize this is the playoffs. We were off the field. Now, he'll be labeled as one of the dirty players in this game. That's the kind of reputation that follows you. From now on, everyone is going to be watching everything he does."

A Washington player who asked not to be named said that Taylor told Redskins assistant head coach-defense Gregg Williams on the sideline that he did not spit in Pittman's face. Williams confirmed that Taylor denied spitting on Pittman to him, and said he told Taylor he would review the game film.

But Pittman recalled the play differently.

"There was a lot of trash talking all game. Sean Taylor got up talking a little bit and I was talking a little bit," Pittman said. "He spit in my face. No man is going to spit in my face. I had a lot of respect for Sean Taylor, but no more. My initial reaction was, hit him in the face. He'd get a lot worse than that on the street."

One of the league's most physical players, Taylor, 22, has straddled a thin line between being a tough intimidator and a troubled player. In the spring of 2004, the NFL fined Taylor $25,000 for leaving a mandatory rookie symposium. He appealed the amount of the fine. In one two-game span in 2004, Taylor was fined $17,500 for unnecessary roughness, $10,000 for hitting Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver Terrell Owens out of bounds and $7,500 for a late hit on New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning.

After a 17-10 Redskins loss to the Bengals on Nov. 14, 2004, Cincinnati Coach Marvin Lewis complained that a Redskins player spit on one of his players. Wide receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh claimed that Taylor spit on him. Immediately following the game, Houshmandzadeh charged after Taylor and the two bumped chests and exchanged words in the end zone at FedEx Field.

"It ain't no big deal," Houshmandzadeh told the Cincinnati Post that day. "Go to their locker room and ask him. See if he'll tell you. It's no big deal, though. He's a punk. It's just something he did. That's how he is, so be it."