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Sports
Buccaneers Open
Austin Seferian-Jenk- ins: Practice Boot
A 'Wake-Up Call'
AUSTIN SEFERIAN- JENKINS
Austin Seferian-Jenkins
got kicked out of practice by Tampa Bay Buccaneers Coach Dirk Koetter in June. The tight end then went on an im- mature social media barrage.
ASJ lost his starting gig to Cameron Brate and is cur- rently running with the second unit during training camp. The 23-year-old pass-catcher said Tuesday that getting kicked out of practice by Koetter was a "wake-up call."
"Since then, I've been enjoy- ing every single moment I've had. I've loved it. I love Coach Koetter. I love all our coaches. I love my teammates. I love the competition in our tight end room. I love the competition from our D-ends. It's just been great all around. I'm really seiz- ing opportunities and I'm lov- ing just being out here playing football.''
"He's a detail-oriented guy,'' Seferian-Jenkins said of Koetter, via the Tampa Bay Times.
"If I want to be the great player that I'm capable of being, and I think I can be a really spe- cial player, I've got to be detail- oriented. And Coach Koetter is not going to let me be below that. He wants me to be a great player and he won't settle for me being average, he won't set- tle for me being good and he won't settle for me being great. He wants me to be special and I'm working towards that and I respect him to the fullest. I thank God every single day he kicked me out of practice. He was a wake-up call.
Longtime ESPN Anchor John Saunders Dies
Pre-Season Against The Eagles (Tonight)
John Saunders, the sports anchor whose baritone voice was a fixture on ESPN programming for 30 years, has died, the network an- nounced Wednesday. He was 61.
The cause of death was not immediately known.
ESPN president John Skipper saluted Saunders for his "extraordinary talent" and "friendly, informative style."
"He was one of the most significant and influential members of the ESPN family, as a colleague and mentor, and he will be sorely missed," Skipper said. "Our thoughts are with his loved ones at this extremely difficult time."
Reporting live from Rio de Janeiro, where she is covering the Olympics, ESPN anchor Hannah Storm announced Saunders' death on-air Wednesday.
Fighting back tears, Storm shared the "shocking and sad news" with viewers.
"Our generous and tal- ented and beloved colleague John Saunders has died," Storm said. "John is one of the most familiar on-air faces
The Tampa Bay Bucca- neers have begun their 2016- 2017 campaign with a pre-season road game against the Philadelphia Ea- gles at 7 p.m. tonight.
The Bucs will be featur- ing new head coach, Dirk Koetter, and second-year quarterback, Jameis Win- ston, as the team attempts to rebound from last year’s disappointing 6-10 record. After 12 games, the Bucs were a .500 team, but they dropped their remaining 4 games, and that closed the door for Lovie Smith to stay on as head coach.
The bright spots for the 2015 season came from Winston, who accounted for 28 touchdowns (22 pass- ing, 6 rushing), and passing for 4,042 yards, second highest ever for a Buccaneer quarterback.
Although Winston had a storied rookie season, he got a lot of help from running back Doug Martin, who finished the season 82 yards shy of claiming the NFL rushing yards title (Adrian
Peterson won).
Winston will have fa-
miliar faces to pass to, as Vincent Jackson and Mike Evans will be return- ing at wide receiver, and the defense will be getting a boost from first-round pick Vernon Hargreaves, III, a native Tampan and former Florida Gator.
After the Eagles, the Bucs will be facing the Jack- sonville Jaguars on August 20th in another road game before entertaining their home fans at Raymond James Stadium against Robert Griffin, III, and the Cleveland Browns on Friday, August 26th, and the Washington Redskins on September 1st.
The Bucs will open their regular season on the road, first against the Atlanta Fal- cons on September 11th, then against the Arizona Cardi- nals on September 18th. Their first regular season home game will be against Todd Gurley and his Los
Angeles Rams on September 25th.
Cordell Broadus, Son Of Snoop Dogg, Again Walks Away From UCLA
JAMEIS WINSTON
JOHN SAUNDERS
at ESPN."
"Our sympathy, love and
support goes out to all of those who loved and respected our colleague, John Saunders," she added.
More tributes from Saun- ders' colleagues came pour- ing in on social media.
"I cannot exaggerate how good a guy John Saunders was, nor how talented," tweeted longtime Boston Globe sportswriter Bob Ryan, a regular on ESPN. "This is a huge personal loss for us and a blow to ESPN's viewers."
ESPN NBA analyst Tim Legler called Saunders "one of the best men I've known."
"This is gutting news," tweeted "SportsCenter" an- chor Scott Van Pelt.
UCLA wide receiver Cordell Broadus, the son of Snoop Dogg, has, for the second time, decided to walk away from football, Bruins coach Jim Mora announced Monday.
Broadus, the No. 130- ranked player in the Class of 2015, made the same decision prior to last football season before returning to the pro- gram as a walk-on for spring practice.
"He is going to pursue other passions in his life, and we encourage that and I ap- preciate the fact that he came back out in the spring and gave it another shot, but this is an incredibly talented young man in so many areas," Mora said. "It will be fun to watch what he does with his life. We haven't heard the last from him. Probably just get- ting started."
In an emotional Insta- gram post last year, Broadus
Cordell Broadus, seen here with his father, Snoop Dogg, has elected to walk away from the Bruins for a second time.
said: "I played football for my father because I thought that was the only way he would love me & be apart of my life. It took me 12 years to realize he loves Cordell Broadus the person not Cordell Broadus the football player. The best day of my life was when I heard those exact words."
Broadus was not ex- pected to be a significant con- tributor.
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