If there is a ''better place,'' we can hope Sean Taylor has found it. Whatever ''rest in peace'' means, we can hope his soul has found that place, too.

Back here on earth, though, there is no peace surrounding the death this week of the Washington Redskins star safety and former Miami Hurricane -- at least not the kind of peace that answers bring. Instead there is only the dark, hovering question:

What if it wasn't random at all? What if Taylor was targeted?

Miami-Dade Police Director Robert Parker said there is no reason to think anything but a random burglary led to the shooting and tragic death of Taylor at age 24.

But Cardinals cornerback Antrel Rolle, Taylor's lifelong buddy and former UM teammate, told reporters in Arizona he believes the player was an intentional victim of former friends-turned-enemies.

Neither possibility may be ignored. You wonder, though. Who knew Taylor and his situation better? A police official? Or a friend who'd known Sean since both were 6?

Too much has been made of the national coverage of Taylor's death, because media loves writing about media. Has it been ''fair''? Should reports of his death have mentioned his waving a handgun two years ago at guys he thought had stolen from him and being sentenced to community service?

We should know by now that modern journalism writes a hell of a rough eulogy sometimes, seeing an otherwise perfect face and feeling compelled to mention the wart.

The thing is, it hardly matters. No media coverage, glowing or harsh, can do anything to ease the suffering of Taylor's loved ones or make it worse.

What matters now isn't how Taylor's death is being reported but rather what led to it. Because what Rolle said is chilling -- essentially that one of the NFL's bright young stars was hunted down by someone he knew.

''This was not the first incident,'' Rolle told The Associated Press. ``They've been targeting him for three years now.''

Rolle spoke of former friends of a negative influence whom Taylor had let slide in recent years as he devoted himself to his girlfriend and new baby -- to a new life.

''He lived pretty much scared every day when he was down in Miami because those people were targeting him,'' Rolle said. ``Sean had a large group of friends he no longer hung out with. [There was] a lot of jealousy, a lot of angry people.''

Against this backdrop Taylor's father, Pedro, addressed the Redskins on Wednesday and exhorted them to make a playoff run in his son's memory. You wonder how a team in mourning will react. We may find out Sunday.

Meantime, what a wild season this has been for the NFL. The Spygate scandal involving Bill Belichick seemed like such a big deal, once. So did the various travails of Pacman Jones and Michael Vick. Countering that was the Patriots' run toward perfection.

But then somebody fatally shot Sean Taylor, and we don't know who, or why. And hardly anything else about this season seems to matter right now.

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