Bills Offensive Guard Derrick Dockery
11/28/07
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On the shock over the death of Sean Taylor
I'm deeply saddened. I knew Sean personally. Great guy and a great teammate and a guy that loved to play the game. When I first heard that he had been shot it was a shock. Then they said he was doing a lot better and then I find out that morning that he had passed away. It was just a horrible thing for me. I felt sad. I'm sad for his fiancée, his daughter, his family and his parents. I know a lot of people know Sean. It's going to be a tough thing on Sunday. It's going to be an emotional game. My prayers and my thoughts go out to his family.
On the way Taylor was turning his life around
Everybody in their lives, go through times when people make mistakes and I believe that lots of people thought that Sean was growing up and maturing as a man. Even as a young adult coming into the league and even to now, as he matured, he was not just a great player, but becoming a great individual in the community on and off the field. Other than that, you just got to sit down and get to know him. People can speculate and say this or that about him, but until you really just sat down and just talked to him and got to know, that would really change your thinking about him.
On the idea that this could happen to an NFL player
The fact that I knew him personally, that was the tough part about it. This goes on in life. As athletes and just people in the community we have to do a better job of reaching back and going back and trying to make a difference and just trying to help people and making the right decisions and doing the right thing. Treat people how you want to be treated and the rest will take care of itself. It hit close to home and it hurts. To know the type of person he was and how much he loved the game. He was probably one of my best teammates I've ever had from playing in high school to college to the pros. He was a great individual.
On why he was such a great teammate
We would just sit down and talk and he would just encourage me when I was going through tough times being a young guy. I was the youngest on my offensive line. He was just real. Just to see how he played the game. The energy, the enthusiasm, the tenacity and how fearless he was on that field. I loved the guy.
On how Dockery got through yesterday
It was one of those things that me and my wife talked about. Talking to some of my former teammates and just being able to communicate with one another. Being able to share our feelings with one another. You are not just going to get over it in one day or one week or one month. It's going to be with us for a long time so we just got to keep playing and just keep believing for the best.
On how difficult the moment of silence for Taylor will be on Sunday
It'll be difficult. You might shed a tear here or there. When I heard it, it was tough.
On how the Redskins will be on Sunday after this very difficult week
I know their leadership. I know Coach Gibbs and Gregg Williams. They'll have their team ready. They'll fly around and they'll play emotional. They'll play some great ball and we'll have to be ready for that. We know that going in. It's going to be a very emotional game. Other than that, they'll be ready.
On thinking about his own personal security being an NFL player
It's one of those things where you just have to be careful. If they can get you in your home that's anybody. It's one of those things where you have to be really careful where ever you go. If you go to a restaurant or to the mall or if you go to some kind of event at night time you just have to be careful and make sure you do the right thing because anything can happen.
On who he called this week from the Redskins
When (Sean Taylor) went into the hospital I talked to Demetric Evans, Chris Samuels and some of those guys. They were just talking about how they were coping and how they were trying to get over it. Get through this difficult process and difficult situation, but for the most part they just said they were going to lean on one another.
On what it will be like to play against the Redskins this weekend
It's going to be tough just like any NFL game. They're very good defensively and offensively they're also tough but they've just made some mistakes offensively and the crowd is going to be unbelievable come Sunday. We are going to have to step our game up. We are going to have to be emotionally ready. Our intensity is going to have to be high and it's going to be a fun game.
On knowing Gregg Williams and what to expect from their defensive schemes
Knowing Gregg, you don't know what you're going to get. You're going to get a defense that is going to attack, that's going to try to be physical and we're just going to have to match their intensity in the physical part of the game. We are going to have to be physical and we'll have to execute mentally. We'll just have to be on our game.
On it being tough to focus on football at this point
It is but at the same time you're a professional. You have to be able to focus. You are going to have adverse situations in life where you're going to have to overcome. As a team we are just going to have to focus and just try to get down to business and make sure we're on top of our game.
On how the focus of the game has changed
It's difficult. It was suppose to be a homecoming type of thing. I'm going back my old team and London Fletcher is playing against his old team. It was suppose to be a fun time but this makes it difficult but we are all professional so for that time and that moment we just have to focus on playing a game.
