Thousands attend funeral for Taylor

~ The slain NFL player was buried a week after his death.

MIAMI -- Thousands filled a university arena for Sean Taylor's funeral Monday, with his coach praising his "excitement for life" and the NFL commissioner telling mourners the Washington Redskins star "loved football and football loved him back."

The funeral comes a week after Taylor was shot in his home and days after four men were charged with killing him during the robbery. A lawyer for one of the suspects confirmed there was a fifth suspect.

Taylor's casket was surrounded by bouquets while a video display behind it showed Taylor from his days with the Redskins, Miami Hurricanes and high school.

"The NFL was proud of Sean Taylor," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell told the mourners. "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."

Clinton Portis, a Redskins running back and close friend of Taylor's, said seeing Taylor tackle another player was invigorating, earning chuckles from the audience.

"It was exciting to have Sean on your team," Portis said. "He would always be there no matter what."

Portis also spoke to the change everyone saw Taylor undergo with his daughter's birth. "Sean was living for his child, living for his girl," he said.

Actor Andy Garcia was also among the mourners. His niece, Jackie Garcia, was Taylor's girlfriend and was in the home when he was shot.

Former Hurricanes coaches Larry Coker and Butch Davis sat in the front row, along with current coach Randy Shannon. The Redskins organization filled one section of the building.

The remembrances for the 24-year-old player began Sunday night. Thousands paid respects at a wake at Second Baptist Church and at a vigil at the University of Miami.

Meanwhile, four young men charged with killing Taylor sat in jail cells on the other side of the state in Fort Myers.

Out of respect to Taylor's family, the suspects are expected to be transported to Miami after the funeral, said attorney Sawyer Smith, who is representing suspect Jason Mitchell, 19.

Ed Griffith, a spokesman for the Miami-Dade County State Attorney's Office, said the men could be in court as early as Tuesday morning.

Also charged are Eric Rivera, 17; Charles Wardlow, 18; and Venjah Hunte, 20. All face charges of unpremeditated murder, home invasion with a firearm or another deadly weapon and armed burglary.

Smith said there is a fifth suspect but declined to elaborate. Miami-Dade police spokesman Juan Villalba refused to confirm that.

Probable cause affidavits for Mitchell and Rivera obtained by The Associated Press said the two confessed to participating in armed burglary. According to the reports, Mitchell and Rivera admitted entering the home and said someone had a gun and shot Taylor, but they didn't identify who. Police and attorneys also have said some of the young men confessed, though they wouldn't elaborate.

Taylor died Nov. 27, one day after being shot at his home in an affluent Miami suburb. Police said the suspects were looking for a simple burglary, but it turned bloody when they were startled to find Taylor home.

The suspects all have prior arrests, according to police, including drug, theft and gun charges, though friends and family have defended them.

Police remain tightlipped about how the suspects wound up at Taylor's home. But his former attorney Richard Sharpstein said Taylor's sister was dating a relative of Wardlow and that one or more people tied to the suspects may have attended her 21st birthday party at the athlete's home.

Miami-Dade police wouldn't confirm any of the possible links.

The day of the robbery, Taylor and Garcia were awakened by loud noises and within moments he was shot. Neither the couple's 18-month-old daughter, also named Jackie, nor Garcia were injured, but the bullet hit the femoral artery in Taylor's leg, causing significant blood loss. He never regained consciousness.

Authorities haven't said whether they've linked the suspects to a break-in at Taylor's home eight days before the shooting.

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Associated Press Writers Rasha Madkour, Sarah Larimer and Matt Sedensky contributed to this report.