Sean Taylor

Sean Michael Maurice Taylor (April 1, 1983 – November 27, 2007) was an American college and professional football player who was a free safety for the Washington Redskins of the National Football League (NFL) for four seasons. He played college football for the University of Miami, was a member of the Hurricanes' 2001 BCS National Championship team, and earned unanimous All-American honors. The Washington Redskins chose Taylor with the fifth overall pick of the 2004 NFL Draft. Due to his ferocious hits, several of his Redskins teammates nicknamed him "Meast," a portmanteau word from the expression "half man, half beast."

Taylor died at the age of 24 on November 27, 2007, from critical injuries from a gunshot by intruders at his Miami area home. His death led to an outpouring of national support and sympathy, especially in the Washington, D.C. area, where Taylor had been a fan favorite as a Redskin, and the Miami area, where Taylor had starred for the Miami Hurricanes, after leading Gulliver Prep to a Florida state high school championship and setting a state record for most touchdowns in a season (44).

Newsboys

Newsboys (sometimes stylized as newsboys) are a Christian pop rock band founded in 1985 in Mooloolaba, Queensland, Australia, by Peter Furler and George Perdikis. They have released 17 studio albums, 6 of which have been certified gold. Currently, the band consists of lead vocalist Michael Tait formerly of DC Talk, keyboardist and bassist Jeff Frankenstein, drummer and percussionist Duncan Phillips, and guitarist Jody Davis.

History

1980s

The band was formed in Mooloolaba, Queensland in 1985 by two young men: Peter Furler and his school mate George Perdikis. Two other teens were added soon after: Furler's best friend, John James, and bassist Sean Taylor. The band's original name was The News, but once in the US they changed it to The Newsboys to avoid conflict with the US-based band Huey Lewis and the News. The band came to the United States in late 1987 after getting signed with Refuge Communications and released the album Read All About It in 1988 in the United States.

1990s

After signing with Star Song Communications, they released two more albums in 1990 and 1991: Hell Is for Wimps and Boys Will Be Boyz, with its first self-titled video. None of the band's first three albums garnered much attention, and the band's line-up changed with every release.

Sean Taylor (author)

Sean Taylor is a British author of children's books. He grew up in Surrey, England, and taught in Zimbabwe before studying at Cambridge. He currently divides his time between the United Kingdom and Brazil, where his wife is from.

His books include the novel for teenagers, A Waste of Good Paper, a collection of folktales from the Amazon called The Great Snake, the Purple Class series, and picture books for young children including Boing!, Crocodiles are the Best Animals of All!, The World Champion of Staying Awake, The Grizzly Bear with the Frizzly Hair, Huck Runs Amuck!, Who Ate Auntie Iris?, The Ring Went Zing!, Tickling Tigers, and Goal!.

In December 2007, his book When a Monster is Born (ISBN 1596432543), illustrated by Nick Sharratt, won a gold medal in the Nestlé Prize for works for children five years old and under. However, he turned down the prize money from the sponsor, Nestlé, because of "questions surrounding Nestlé’s marketing of breast-milk substitutes".