One snapshot is of a man surrounded by loss, bowed head covered by a towel or buried in his huge hands in a somber locker room after the latest Dolphins defeat. The image would link the misery of the past six seasons in a row out of the playoffs with some fundamental lacking on Taylor's part, when in fact no player was less to blame.

Another snapshot, more recent and with a merrier soundtrack, would find Taylor not in uniform but in ruffled sleeves, in frivolous pirouette, hip-wiggling to the cha-cha or mambo on Dancing With The Stars, his controversial, Bill Parcells-irritating diversion of the past offseason. The image would invite a question mark on Taylor's commitment to football, when in fact nothing in his preparation or performance across 11 Miami years indicated anything but admirable dedication.

To frame either snapshot as the lasting picture of the Dolphins' No. 99 would be unfair because there is something far more accurate than loser or dancer to describe Taylor as he leaves us.

The single greatest defensive player in 42 years of Dolphins football is the description I would choose.

And it isn't even close.

Broadening the frame to include all players, I would depose that only Dan Marino was better or more accomplished at what he did.

One man's view of this franchise's 10 greatest players:

1. Marino; 2. Taylor; 3. Larry Little; 4. Larry Csonka; 5. Zach Thomas; 6. Mark Clayton; 7. Bob Griese; 8. Dick Anderson; 9. Nick Buoniconti; 10. Bob Kuechenberg.

The case that I omitted someone would be easier to sell me on than the argument I am rating Taylor too high. It might be too soon for some fans to see it, though. The divorce might be too raw, especially for that sizable faction of Dolfans who see Taylor in villain's clothes as he exits. As selfish for wanting out.

True enough the way Taylor left the Dolphins was neither neat nor sweet, but he's in good company. The franchise's twin titans, Don Shula and Marino, didn't exactly leave on their own terms and smiling, either. Csonka was called a traitor once, too, for jumping leagues.

Pain, anger, regret -- all of those things will fade, and let us more clearly see what we have lost in Taylor: the best we ever had at what he does. I believe he will make the Pro Football Hall of Fame someday, especially if his career continues productively in Washington beyond just one more season.

Taylor would be the only Dolphins defender other than Buoniconti to reach the Canton, Ohio, shrine, and Nick, history books remind us, was an established, seven-year Boston Patriots star before ever coming to Miami.

Taylor's credentials for Canton would be decent as is, even if the past weekend's news was his retirement rather than his much-anticipated trade.

The Giants' Michael Strahan is the only defensive end contemporary of Taylor's who has had, arguably, a greater career, although it is fair to note that Taylor's overall sacks-per-season average of 10.6 is better than Strahan's 10.1. It also is notable that Taylor's 100.5 sacks since 2000 make him the NFL's decade leader, by far.

That, coupled with his 2006 Defensive Player of the Year Award, makes a pretty strong argument that Taylor was dominant in his era -- one of the bedrock prerequisites for the Hall of Fame.

Oh, did I mention that Taylor has scored more defensive touchdowns than any player in history?

Competing in the Miami market, never on a Super Bowl stage and the six-year playoff drought have left Taylor far less a national star than his career performance (augmented by a model's looks and a star's personality) suggest he should be.

Put it this way. If Taylor is the same person with the exact same career, but with the New England Patriots -- same sack totals, same stats, but plus-three on the Super Bowl rings -- he is today considered to be the NFL's biggest defensive star, judged a first-ballot lock for the Hall, and probably being mentioned in Lawrence Taylor territory as one of the all-time defensive greats.

He is that player, diminished by the losses that surrounded him and by the rings that are not there, but never, ever diminished by his own performance.

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