Local prep school phenom, University of Miami standout, National Football League All-Pro. Fame, wealth, abundant talent dashing toward new goals. And now, premature death, a memorial service, a burial.

Relatives, friends and teammates eulogized slain football player Sean Taylor on Monday as a football star and a genuine hero, as a passionate and caring young man and as a victim and a symbol.

''Even champions live in danger,'' said the Rev. Jesse Jackson, issuing an emotional plea that lessons be drawn from this death.

''None of us will say, even champions, that our homes are safe,'' Jackson told the star-studded crowd. ``We've accepted violence as the norm. It is uncivilized. It must be rejected.''

Said Pastor David L. Peay Sr. of the Tabernacle Seventh-day Adventist Church, who castigated some of the media for jumping to erroneous conclusions about Taylor and the event that killed him:

``He gave his life with right decisions. He laid down his life for his family. Sean was doing what he was supposed to. He wasn't in the street. He was home.''

About 3,000 people gathered at the Pharmed Arena on Florida International University's main campus to remember Taylor, a star safety for the Washington Redskins, slain last week during an attempted burglary of his Palmetto Bay home.

He was just 24 years old, and he stepped toward the intruders, not away, determined to protect his girlfriend and 18-month-old daughter, both named Jackie.

''This is just so hard,'' said Ethenic Sands, 27, who played with Taylor for two years at UM and now plays in the Arena Football League. ``It's like every other year we're losing another brother. We have to start living right and stop killing each other.''

Most of those in attendance wore a pin emblazoned with Taylor's uniform number: 21. Among the songs they heard: Bridge Over Troubled Water. Soloist Tangela Shepard sang The Lord is My Shepherd.

Guests sat on long rows of white chairs or in the stands. Large floral wreaths, some in the burgundy and yellow colors of the Redskins, framed both sides of Taylor's casket. One wreath took the shape of a U, decorated with carnations of orange and green, UM's colors.

VIDEO MONTAGE

The three-hour service began with a video montage of Taylor, followed by hymns and prayers, and then remarks by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and many others.

''It's times like this that make all of us struggle to find the meaning in life,'' Goodell said.

''The NFL is proud of Sean Taylor,'' he said. ``He loved football and football loved him back. But more important is what he was as a man and what he was becoming as a man.''

Later, Taylor's 18-month-old daughter, in a burgundy dress, toddled up to her father's closed casket as her aunt, Carolina Garcia, tearfully spoke of Taylor's relationship with Garcia's sister.

''I have never come across anyone who loved their partner the way my sister loved Sean,'' Garcia said. ``She loved him from the moment she laid eyes on him. It was the same day Sean went home and told his stepmother he needed to learn Spanish because he met Jackie.''

FELLOW PLAYERS

Among the other attendees: many former UM and current NFL players, including many of Taylor's current and former teammates.

''This is something that you hate to see happen,'' said Andre Johnson of the Houston Texans, who played with Taylor at UM. ``This day means a lot to me.''

Also in attendance were actor Andy Garcia, an uncle of Taylor's girlfriend, NFL Players Association Executive Director Gene Upshaw, current UM football coach Randy Shannon and former UM coaches Larry Coker and Butch Davis. O.J. Simpson also showed up.