The approach the Washington Commanders honored Sean Taylor was an ‘epic fail’

Over the weekend, the Washington Commanders revealed a brand new “statue” memorializing Sean Taylor, a former security who performed for the group from 2004-07, incomes two Pro Bowl nods earlier than his dying at 24 years previous. Taylor was an exceptional younger expertise, family-oriented, and a hell of a workhorse on the sphere.

Prior to the “statue” unveiling, the Commanders had tried, in years previous, to honor Taylor’s reminiscence. In 2021, the Commanders retired his No. 21 jersey previous to a matchup with the Chiefs. Apart from the ceremony, Washington additionally printed a big “21″ on the side of the field, sectioned off by plastic white chains. The ceremony was overshadowed by controversy though when Chiefs’ quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ annoying brother, Jackson Mahomes, took a video of himself dancing atop the “21″ meant to honor Taylor’s legacy, and promptly posted said video to social media.

This controversy led several people within the Commanders’ front office to believe Taylor needed another, more proper memorialization, one that wasn’t burdened with unforeseen controversy. Enter the “statue.” I’ve been placing citation marks round that phrase as a result of the tip consequence wasn’t as a lot a statue because it was a wiry model with a number of features of Taylor’s particular person being supposedly misrepresented.

This was the overall consensus, one in every of disgust, contempt, and flat-out disappointment. Amid all of the poorly-handled controversies the Commanders had endured over the past three or so years — the cheerleader e mail scandal, group proprietor Dan Snyder threatening to launch “dirt” on different NFL homeowners and commissioner Roger Goodell, former first-round choice Dwayne Haskins’ tragic dying — the franchise was handed a public relations layup with Sean Taylor’s memorial. How laborious might it’s to mess up honoring a fallen teammate? Build a statue. Put it entrance and middle throughout the group’s stadium or simply outdoors it, and voila, the general public would cheer endlessly. Well, apparently, it’s fairly straightforward.

Despite the general public’s dissatisfaction with the Taylor statue, members of Taylor’s internal circle appeared greater than happy with this memorial. Taylor’s half-brother, Jamal Johnson, said “It’s an honor, like I said, once again it’s an honor to get that kind of love and respect from an organization.” Taylor’s daughter, Jackie Taylor, expressed related content material, saying, “It was beautiful, honestly. They put everything that he wore — soccer cleats, little things that were special to him and that he did as a player. That was really special.”

An facet of the statue that a lot of the public appeared to despise, Taylor’s household cherished most of all. Even as I write this now, most informal followers who’ve seen the statue are upset concerning the soccer cleats. That is a failure on the tip of the Washington Commanders. They did not correctly talk to followers what they have been doing with every a part of the memorial. While the identical protection can’t be made for the black gloves that may be made for the soccer cleats, I’d hesitate to imagine that call was made rapidly and with out thought, as many individuals assumed with the soccer cleats.

Still, many questions stay. The Commanders would’ve been praised in the event that they’d simply constructed a standard bronze or copper or stone statue, simply because the Arizona Cardinals did for Pat Tillman when he was killed, or the Philadelphia Eagles did to commemorate the “Philly Special” play that helped them win their first Super Bowl, so why didn’t they do this? What steps might the Commanders have taken to restrict backlash from the statue? Did the Commanders’ horrible public picture play a task within the large public backlash the group obtained after unveiling the statue?

I spoke with Dustin York, associate professor of Communication at Maryville University, on the matter. York has an in depth historical past in public relations, having labored with notable manufacturers akin to Nike, PepsiCo., and Scottrade Financial Services, in addition to former President Barack Obama’s 2008 political marketing campaign. York’s preliminary response to the statue was the identical as most of us — stuffed with disappointment. However, as extra data concerning the memorial’s design decisions got here to mild together with his household’s response, York’s disappointment shifted from pinning the blame on your complete Commanders’ group to pinning the blame on the group’s PR group.

York expressed his discontent with the Commanders’ lack of transparency in addition to inside communication earlier than the statue’s unveiling. “Whether there’s hierarchy issues or strategy issues, the internal communication with this organization has not lived up to the benchmark other teams have set,” mentioned York. “This event clearly lacked oversight. It probably didn’t even undergo red teaming.”

Red teaming is “the practice of rigorously challenging plans, policies, systems, and assumptions by adopting an adversarial approach.” Essentially, an concept is introduced forth and a bunch of individuals will tear it aside limb from limb on the lookout for any angle that the general public might misconstrue as poor style. This group ought to, in an ideal world, discover any flaw or lack of transparency that will trigger an outcry from followers for being insensitive, traditionally inaccurate, or in any other case distasteful. York has expertise working on this facet of PR, and was discouraged by the Commanders’ apparent oversteps concerning these fundamental advertising and marketing guidelines.

“I don’t know if they’re not paying for it, or if they’re paying for the wrong people,” cried York. “But these golden rules of laying out these plans and processes aren’t being followed.” York expressed much more dismay concerning the Commanders’ lack of transparency concerning the choice to place Taylor’s statue in soccer cleats. “Even [Taylor’s] daughter said that the soccer shoes represented his hobbies. That was the intention behind that decision. It was supposed to represent his hobbies. [The Commanders] didn’t even communicate that well. So now rumors are going around that they just messed up. ‘Why would you even pick soccer?’ So, even with the things they did ‘right’, the team isn’t communicating those decisions and then they are seen in a bad light.”

Obviously, rolling this model out as a memorial was a dangerous resolution, given the straightforward residence run {that a} bronze or stone statue would’ve been. Why not give Taylor that send-off that followers would have thought of worthy of Taylor’s legacy? “I don’t have that exact answer,” admitted York. “Timing is probably the most likely culprit. I mean, the Commanders have faced a lot of other crises recently, so perhaps this memorial was given the back-burner. I’m sure this was planned out a year ago, but because of other stories and issues surrounding the team, perhaps something like this that was supposed to be a fan relations softball, was put off to give resources and attention to other, more immediate, urgent matters.”

Dan Snyder and the Commanders’ poor public picture most likely additionally performed a task in how poorly the Taylor model was obtained. “It’s always easy to beat up on the troubled child. Anytime any organization has had a series of crises, any other small misstep is going to shine a huge spotlight on them.” York continued, “If this happened to the Dallas Cowboys, let’s say, would it have gotten as much bad press? I wouldn’t think so. Think of it like this. If there’s an NFL player that’s known for being dirty, do you think the refs would keep a closer eye on him, and call penalties on that player quicker? Absolutely, because there’s a history. The same basic concept is happening here.”

Despite York believing the Commanders’ Taylor memorial was higher than most individuals will give it credit score for, he doesn’t consider the group is finished honoring No. 21. “What the Commanders are really searching for is a PR win, and I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s something else planned down the line, because this obviously was not a win.” If that’s the case, hopefully, the Commanders will evaluate their selections just a little extra completely earlier than rolling them out.