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 demise 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 top end result wasn’t as a lot a statue because it was a wiry model with a number of facets of Taylor’s individual being supposedly misrepresented.
This was the final consensus, one among disgust, contempt, and flat-out disappointment. Amid all of the poorly-handled controversies the Commanders had endured during the last three or so years — the cheerleader electronic mail scandal, group proprietor Dan Snyder threatening to launch “dirt” on different NFL house owners and commissioner Roger Goodell, former first-round choice Dwayne Haskins’ tragic demise — the franchise was handed a public relations layup with Sean Taylor’s memorial. How exhausting might or not it’s to mess up honoring a fallen teammate? Build a statue. Put it entrance and heart inside the group’s stadium or simply exterior it, and voila, the general public would cheer endlessly. Well, apparently, it’s fairly simple.
G/O Media could get a fee
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, acknowledged “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 comparable 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 side of the statue that many 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 in regards to the soccer cleats. That is a failure on the top of the Washington Commanders. They didn’t correctly talk to followers what they had 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 swiftly 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 traditional 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 acquired after unveiling the statue?
I spoke with Dustin York, associate professor of Communication at Maryville University, on the matter. York has an intensive historical past in public relations, having labored with notable manufacturers comparable 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 — full of disappointment. However, as extra data concerning the memorial’s design selections got here to mild together with his household’s response, York’s disappointment shifted from pinning the blame on the whole 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,” stated 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 gaggle of individuals will tear it aside limb from limb in search of 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 may trigger an outcry from followers for being insensitive, traditionally inaccurate, or in any other case distasteful. York has expertise working on this side of PR, and was discouraged by the Commanders’ apparent oversteps concerning these primary 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 simple dwelling 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 in all probability additionally performed a task in how poorly the Taylor model was acquired. “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 completed 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 assessment their choices a little bit extra totally earlier than rolling them out.