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Sports
Giants Sign DE
Steelers Re-Sign James Harrison
JAMES HARRISON
The Pittsburgh Steelers turned to a familiar face to ad- dress questions they have at outside linebacker.
The team signed James Harrison to a two-year con- tract on Sunday, adding the 12th-year veteran to a position where they had just two players with NFL experience.
Harrison, who turns 37 in May, announced Saturday on social media that he would de- cide between the Steelers and Tennessee Titans.
Harrison seriously consid- ered the Titans because of his close relationship with Dick LeBeau, Tennessee's assistant head coach/defense who had been the Steelers' defensive co- ordinator for the previous 11 seasons.
Harrison's return to the Steelers puts off retirement -- or a return to it -- a little longer for the former NFL Defensive Player of the Year.
Sam Confident He'll Play This Year
MICHAEL SAM
TEMPE, Ariz. -- Michael Sam's first step to getting back in the NFL began Sunday morning under a hot Arizona sun.
The former seventh-round pick of the St. Louis Rams was one of 105 free agents to go through position-specific drills in front of scouts from all 32 teams at the NFL's first veteran combine hosted at the Arizona Cardinals' practice facility.
Or as Matt Birk, the NFL director of football develop- ment, who organized the vet- eran combined, said, they were "fighting for their football lives."
Sam said he did not talk to any scouts, instead meeting with the media immediately after his workout before quickly leaving the Cardinals' facility while the other defen- sive linemen in his group lin- gered around to cool down and recover.
Sam's fastest 40-yard dash was 5.07 seconds unofficially. His initial attempt was clocked at 5.1 seconds, also unofficially. At the NFL scouting combine in 2014, he ran the 40 in 4.91 seconds.
Steve Nash Retires After 19 Years In NBA
George Selvie
Los Angeles- After a 19- year NBA career in which he twice won MVP honors, tal- lied the third-most assists in league history and assured his place in the Hall of Fame as one of the greatest point guards to play the game, Steve Nash formally an- nounced he is walking away from the game.
"And that is what I'm most thankful for in my career. In my entire life, in some ways. Obviously, I value my kids and my family more than the game, but in some ways hav- ing this friend -- this ever-pre- sent pursuit -- has made me who I am, taught me and tested me, and given me a mission that feels irreplace-
The New York Giants an- nounced Friday on Twitter the signing of free-agent de- fensive end George Selvie.
The team did not disclose terms, but a source told ESPN NFL Insider Adam Schefter that Selvie signed a one-year contract for $1.4 million.
Selvie, who started 29 out of 32 games over the last two seasons with the Dallas Cowboys, will be reunited with former USF teammate Jason Pierre-Paul. The deal includes a $200,000 signing bonus, the source said.
Pierre-Paul echoed Selvie's sentiments.
"I'm excited to be here," Selvie told Giants.com. "It's a great opportunity for me. And I'm excited to be playing
GEORGE SELVIE
with JPP again, along with Spags (defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo, Selvie's first NFL head coach). I'm excited for the opportunity to be here."
"I think that's a great pickup," Pierre-Paul said, according to the team's web- site. "He's a good player. George can play the run and rush the passer. From the film I've watched, he's gotten better as a player."
STEVE NASH
able. I am so thankful. I've learned so many invaluable lessons about myself and about life. And of course I still have so much to learn. An- other incredible gift."
Nash, who didn't play this season with the Los Angeles Lakers because of injuries, finishes his career with 10,335 assists, third-most in NBA history behind John Stock- ton and Jason Kidd.
Ex-NFL Player Sharper
Lakers' Byron Scott To Miss 2 Games
To Begin Changing
LOS ANGELES -- Los An- geles Lakers coach Byron Scott will miss his team's up- coming road games in Okla- homa City on Tuesday and in Minnesota on Wednesday to attend funeral services for his mother Dorothy Scott, who passed away last Sunday at the age of 72.
Scott is expected to rejoin the team in Toronto, where the Lakers will play the Rap- tors on Friday, and be with the team for the remainder of its five-game road trip.
During his pregame media session Sunday before the Lakers faced the Philadelphia 76ers at Staples Center, Scott recalled how happy his
Pleas In Rape Cases
LOS ANGELES — For- mer NFL All-Pro Darren Sharper was expected to appear in one court in per- son Monday and another via video to enter pleas as he seeks to resolve rape and drugging allegations involv- ing women in four different states.
A change-of-plea hearing was scheduled for Sharper in a court in Los Angeles. He's then scheduled to enter a new plea via video confer- encing in Arizona. The cases combined with others in Ne- vada and Louisiana are likely to lead to a long prison sen- tence.
In each state he's accused of drugging and sexually as- saulting two women when they were unconscious or otherwise unable to resist or consent.
Similar hearings will fol- low in Las Vegas this week and in New Orleans in the next month.
Sharper's attorney on Friday announced that Sharper has reached agree- ments with prosecutors in all
Darren Sharper appears in Los Angeles Superior Court in Los Angeles. Rape charges have been filed on Friday, March 20, 2015 in Las Vegas against former NFL safety Darren Sharper, who already faces sexual assault charges in Los Angeles, New Or- leans and the Phoenix area.
of the cases against him. The 39-year-old former safety retired from the NFL in 2011 after winning a Super Bowl with the New Orleans Saints. He had a 14-year ca- reer with three teams and later worked as an analyst for
the NFL network.
The alleged sexual as-
saults all happened since Sharper's retirement as a player.
It was not clear what he would plead to in Monday's hearings.
BYRON SCOTT
mother was when the Lakers hired him as head coach in 2014.
Lakers assistant coach Paul Pressey will serve as acting head coach in Scott's absence.
He praised her courage and strength, then politely ended the session, brushing away tears as he walked to- ward his coach's office.
Thunder Shuts Durant Down For Season
Kevin Durant has been "removed from basketball ac- tivities" and could be shut down for the season, Okla- homa City Thunder general manager Sam Presti an- nounced Friday.
"He's not making the progress we'd hoped or ex- pected," Presti said.
Durant was held out of practice Thursday as he was "experiencing a little bit of soreness," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said Thurs- day.
When asked whether Du- rant was being shut down for the season, Presti said, "Es- sentially, that's the direction we're headed right now."
Durant underwent sur- gery Feb. 23 to attempt to al- leviate soreness and discomfort in his right foot
KEVIN DURANT
that was being caused by a screw inserted in October during a procedure to repair a Jones fracture. After the sec- ond procedure, Durant was re-evaluated after a week, then re-evaluated again after another week, at which point Brooks updated the player's timetable to a "week or two."
"The goal is to get him back on the court healthy, whenever that is," Presti said Friday.
PAGE 14 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, MARCH 24, 2015