Seventeen years after his tragic death, Sean Taylor's name still swirls around the sporting world.
Numerous figures and entities paid homage to the former Washington safety after he was killed in an attempted robbery, with his former franchise and his alma mater — Miami — raising his numbers into the rafters for posterity.
On Thursday, he received perhaps the highest form of tribute one could offer for his legacy. His daughter, Jackie, will wear his famed No. 21 while playing volleyball at North Carolina, the program announced on X, the website formerly known as Twitter.
Like father, like daughter 🤝
— Carolina Volleyball (@UNCVolleyball) June 27, 2024
Freshman Jackie Taylor will wear No. 21 as a Tar Heel, honoring her dad, Sean Taylor 💙 2️⃣1️⃣ 💙
📸: Seattle Times#GoHeels pic.twitter.com/HTQBwozTvb
Jackie Taylor is a highly-touted prospect, garnering praise for her penchant for spikes at Gulliver Prep (Fla.), the same school her father starred at as a teenager. Now, she has a chance to introduce the Taylor family name to a new generation of sports fans.
Here's what you need to know.
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Who is Sean Taylor's daughter?
Taylor's daughter, Jackie, was born in May 2006, a few months before Sean Taylor's third season in the league.
She rose up the ranks as a volleyball prospect during her time at Gulliver Prep, being billed as the No. 3-ranked prospect in the state of Florida by Max Preps. A 6-1 middle blocker, Taylor shrouds the court in a barrage of spikes. She tallied up 54 kills and 12 blocks in her final two games at Gulliver, the last of which was a state championship victory, the first in program history.
Jackie Taylor has honored her father before, rocking the same No. 1 jersey at Gulliver as he did during his high school days.
"My biggest thing has always been just making sure his name stays alive," Jackie Taylor told ESPN's John Keim in November. "It's never felt like a burden, but it's just felt like a part of me to connect with him."
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What happened to Sean Taylor?
Taylor was one of football's greatest talents, recording back-to-back Pro Bowl seasons in his first four years. On Nov. 27, 2007, Taylor was murdered when a group of people broke into his Florida house and shot him in the leg. The bullet severed his femoral artery, leading to significant blood loss and eventual death.
The man who prosecutors said fired the gun was sentenced to more than 57 years in prison in 2014.
