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Just several days after Sean Taylor had passed away, fans flocked to FedExField to watch the Redskins play the Bills, a game that functioned as its own memorial service to the team's unparalleled leader and rising star.
The game, which took place on Dec. 2, 2007, saw 85,831 fans make their way through the gates, but not before they stopped outside a makeshift memorial by the Redskins Hall of Fame store at the stadium.
There, the No. 21 was painted on a grassy patch of land where fans left flowers, cards and signs and later given white towels with burgundy and gold No. 21 inscribed on it, eventually waved in unison.
The team wore a black and white patch on the right side of the uniform along with the No. 21 decal added to every NFL player's helmets. Before the game, a four minute video (see below) was presented with some moving messages from fans, players and coaches.
The Redskins ended up losing to the Bills 17-16 on a last-second field goal. But the memories – Clintion Portis scoring a touchdown and revealing a Sean Taylor tee-shirt underneath his jersey, for example – endure.
"We just want to say thanks to all the fans for all the support they gave us this week and being there for us," Jason Campbell said. "Even after we lost, there were still a lot of them in there standing, rooting us on and trying to give us a lot of encouragement."
Added Marcus Washington: "The crowd was definitely in it. It is amazing to see how big of an effect Sean had on so many kids in this area. There are some huge Sean Taylor fans. I think this will pull our team and the city closer together."
The next day, the entire Redskins organization flew down to Miami to pay tribute to Taylor and his family for the funeral service.
"It's times like this that all of us struggle to find meaning in life," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said at the service. "The NFL was proud of Sean Taylor. He loved football and football loved him back. But more importantly, it was what he was as a man and what he was becoming as a man.
"He made an impact on all of us. Honor him in the way we carry ourselves forward from this day on. Make sure we make a positive influence in our life, as he did in ours."
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