Do Pro athletes need bodyguards?

[VJCPatriot]

In the wake of the Sean Taylor tragedy, i am wondering why with all the money he had, the man didn't have at least one full time bodyguard to make sure he didn't get hurt. Especially if he had possibly been threatened before. To ponder the fact that someone walked into this man's home and shot him, without anybody stopping that person just boggles my mind.

This also makes me worry a bit about Brady. I mean Brady is a superstar athlete. What if some nutjob goes up and tries to make a name for himself by attacking Brady? Methinks Tom should hire a personal bodyguard ASAP if he doesn't have one already. Am I being overcautious, or does this make a lot of sense?

 

[BelichickFan]

I think you're being over cautious; that said, if the story about Taylor having had a knife left on his bed a week or two is back is true then I'd have definitely hired a bodyguard before I went to sleep again.

 

[PatsRI]

How about a security system at least.

 

[patchick]

I think you're being over cautious; that said, if the story about Taylor having had a knife left on his bed a week or two is back is true then I'd have definitely hired a bodyguard before I went to sleep again.

I'm with you on that. What he did for a living seems immaterial in this case -- his house was broken into and somebody left a threatening message. I would think that anybody who could afford it would consider hiring security in that situation.

 

[VJCPatriot]

I think you're being over cautious; that said, if the story about Taylor having had a knife left on his bed a week or two is back is true then I'd have definitely hired a bodyguard before I went to sleep again.

Well these things have happened before. Seles got stabbed by some nutjob in Germany and was never the same again.

Not just the Sean Taylor shooting, but Darrent Williams also got shot and killed earlier in the year.
Pro athletes seem to have become not only media icons, but tempting targets with bullseyes on their backs.

Tom Brady is about as high profile as you can get. I know I would sleep safer at night if he had a bodyguard protecting him from nutjobs.
With the money that pro athletes have, investing in a little security is a drop in the bucket right? So why not?

 

[Mogamedogz]

I think the NFL should start a Mentoring organization using designated players from each team (young guys who can relate to other young guys). This way, when a player enters the league and becomes rich overnight, he has a high character guy (like Warrick Dunn) to help guide him down the right path.

 

[LurkingLinebacker]

outside the lines on espn has a report on bodyguards/athletes and gun ownership right now.








*basically the segment said 20-50% of athletes are believed to hold guns. Athletes are aware they are targets, and get licenses/take classes to acquire firearms as a means of protection. They mentioned Paul Pierce and some other athletes have bodyguards. Pierce has a firearm, but does not leave the house with it, opting for a bodyguard instead in light of the stabbing he endured in 2000.

 

[Tunescribe]

Steering some of these guys away from gangsta/hip-hop culture might go a long way toward preventing some of that stuff.

 

[zarakotas5]

With the money that pro athletes have, investing in a little security is a drop in the bucket right?

I think you're over-estimating how much money these guys are actually making. IIRC, ST was in year 4 of a 7 yr/~18 M contract. ~2.45 M/yr.

That's much more than most and quite a bit. But professional bodyguards make $100K+. They can't work 24/7. Two or three of these guys are prohibitively expensive, except for true business titans or superstars.

Ostensibly, this doesn't appear to be a random incident. In this case, perhaps security WOULD have and SHOULD have utilized. Personally, I wouldn't have returned to the home so quickly after what is reported to have occurred 8 days prior.

In general, security doesn't seem necessary. The majority of NFL players could qualify AS a bodyguard. In fact, many ex-players do so after their careers are over (or never began). They generally live in nice places in the the nice part of town. But, as in ST's case, their houses are fairly non-descript within these circumstances. Their homes aren't any more of a target than the anonymous surgeon down the block.

What DOES separate them is either their notoriety or a darker inter-personal relationships. i.e.: That surgeon down the block gets murdered instead. After the media onslaught and investigation, it turns out he was involved in X with X people, etc.

The most shameful aspect is, despite his reputedly bad behavior in the past, that ST was maturing into a fine man, father, teammate, etc. All of that come to a voilent and unnecessary end because of someone with a beef and a bullet.

RIP, Sean Taylor.

 

[FrontSeven]

Anything to do with The U and shootings is most likely drug related, or money related, gang-banger related, hood related.

Taylor probably got mixed up with the wrong crowd at The U and never broke free.

 

[LiveShot]

With his money he could have moved to a safer and more remote neighborhood. A large dog/dogs and competently installed alarm inside and out with pressure pads and motion/heat sensors would have prevented anybody but a trained Delta Force person to enter his home. Stupid is as stupid does-and now he's dead. What a waste of a very athletically talented individual.