Twenty-four year old Washington Redskins star safety Sean Taylor died from a wound to his upper thigh that took place during an apparent burglary.

The Pro Bowl safety had taken a bullet in his upper leg, reports the AP, damaging an artery, causing serious blood loss and loss of consciousness. According to his former lawyer, Richard Sharpstein, Taylor seemed to show signs of recovery when he squeezed a nurse’s hand late Monday night, but never regained consciousness thereafter.

Taylor played his college ball at the University of Miami where he was an All-American.  His NFL career had been filled with many ups and downs, on and off the football field.   His nickname was ‘meast’ (half man – half beast) because he was such a hard hitter.