Friday, December 5, 2003
Taylor reportedly received letter
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ESPN.com news services
Dolphins defensive end Jason Taylor received one of about 30 threatening letters sent to prominent, successful blacks over the last two years, the Miami Herald reported on Friday.
The letters, which include threats of castration and death, urge the men to "stop establishing relations with white females," according to special agent Robert Hawk of the Cleveland office of the FBI, which is investigating.
Taylor's wife, Katina, the sister of Taylor's teammate Zach Thomas, is white, as is Taylor's mother. Taylor's father is black.
Two NFL sources saw the letter sent to Taylor in late September and told the newspaper Thursday that Taylor is the only Dolphins player to receive one, according to the Herald.
"I have no comment on it," Taylor told the newspaper. "I have nothing to say about it whatsoever. It has nothing to do with being a player. It's society."
Contacted in Pittsburgh Thursday by the Palm Beach Post, Taylor's mother, Georgia, said, "There are going to be people that have a problem with our family structures. I'm not surprised by anything in today's society."
Taylor's agent, Gary Wichard, told the Post that he wasn't aware of his client getting such a letter. "I spoke to Jason today and we didn't discuss any letters," Wichard told the Florida newspaper Thursday. "I don't know about hate mail. I do know Jason gets a lot of love mail."
Stu Weinstein, the Dolphins' security investigator, would not confirm it was Taylor who received the letter, but did tell the newspaper that the player was alarmed.
During 19 years with the Dolphins, Weinstein says he has witnessed everything from "death threats to extortion to women writing letters to claim that players have fathered children with them," he told the Post. But he told the Herald that these letters have been his greatest concern since the heightened security surrounding pro football following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
An NFL source told the Herald that Taylor has not asked for additional security from the NFL or the team. Hawk said Thursday that the FBI has not connected the letters with any acts of "violence or any connection to violent activity."
"When you get something like that you have got to take it seriously," Dolphins President Eddie Jones told the Herald. "Obviously, it's something we're concerned about."
Running back Ricky Williams said he did not receive a letter but he isn't surprised by such threats.
"Most of us don't take it that seriously," Williams told reporters. "It's something normal. Things like that have been around forever."
According to a memo distributed to NFL players last week by the league's security department, and obtained by the Post on Wednesday, every piece of the hate mail comes from the same person, and postmarks show the correspondence was sent from Erie, Pa., Cleveland and Youngstown, Ohio.
The letters have been directed to prominent blacks throughout the United States, including leading businessmen, politicians and entertainers in addition to NFL players, an FBI source told ESPN. Players from as many as six NFL teams have received the three-to-four-paragraph letters.
In a letter obtained Thursday from the FBI by ESPN, the writer decried interracial relationships between black men and white women, but did allow for those involving Arab or Hispanic men. "At least their skin color is closer to whites," the letter said. "It is RACISM when black men don't want their own black women."
"We will attack the black man with any white girl to castrate and kill him," the letter said. "We will use detectives and police to find you."
It was signed, "Angry Caucasian women."
In Columbus, Ohio, a police report said the mother of suspended Ohio State tailback Maurice Clarett received a racially charged death threat addressed to her son.
Michelle Clarett received the letter, which had no return address, at her home on Oct. 2. The typed message was from "OSU cheerleaders" and said that "black men should stay away from white women." It included other racial remarks and ended with a message that the writer will "kill and bomb the place."
"We do not have any suspects," Hawk told the Palm Beach newspaper. "But we are currently conducting lab analysis to find the source. If we find this person we will refer him for prosecution, because obviously what has been done is illegal."
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
Racist Hate Mail Reportedly Sent to NFL Players
le sigh
Possible targets
and actually it's 6 wins out of 7 making us the hottest team in the NFL. After the P.I.M.P. (also known as Marvin Lewis) and the squad handle Baltimore, you really gon have to listen to your hubby run it down.
Linear Mode
