Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 3-19-19

Sports
Bucs Back-Up QB
To Dolphins Deal
Raiders Part Ways With OT Penn After 5 Seasons
DONALD PENN
The Oakland Raiders re- leased offensive tackle and for- mer Buc Donald Penn on Saturday, cutting ties with the longest-tenured player on their roster.
The Raiders said they came to a mutual decision to release Penn, who became expend- able this week after Oakland signed Trent Brown to a four-year, $66M contract that is the richest ever for an offen- sive lineman.
The Raiders drafted Kolton Miller in the first round and Brandon Parker in the third round last year, leaving little room for Penn and his hefty salary.
ECU DE Nate Harvey Won't Get Extra Year Of Eligibility
NATE HARVEY
East Carolina defensive end Nate Harvey won’t be play- ing college football in 2019.
Harvey, who had 14.5 sacks and over 25 tackles for loss in 2018 and was named the American Athletic Confer- ence Defensive Player of the Year, had appealed the NCAA for an extra season of eligibil- ity. New East Carolina coach Mike Houston said after spring practice Saturday that Harvey’s appeal had been de- nied.
Harvey transferred to East Carolina from Georgia Military Academy. He played sparingly there as a freshman and was asking the NCAA to grant an extra year of eligibility because of that season. New NCAA rules in place in 2018 let play- ers play in up to four games in a season and still retain red- shirt status.
Investigation
Fitzpatrick Agrees
Involving Chiefs WR
The Miami Dolphins have agreed to terms with quar- terback Ryan Fitzpatrick on a two-year contract.
A source stated that the $11 million contract contains incentives that could boost the deal to between $17 mil- lion and $20 million.
Fitzpatrick could fill the opening starting quarterback role that was vacated when the Dolphins traded Ryan Tannehill to the Tennessee Titans on Friday.
Prior to Fitzpatrick's addition, the Dolphins had just two quarterbacks on their roster: Jake Rudock and Luke Falk. Neither has started an NFL game, and they have combined for five career passing attempts.
Miami is expected to con- tinue its search for a fran- chise quarterback in the NFL draft -- in 2019 or 2020.
He would step in for Winston again in 2018 when the former No. 1 over- all pick was benched. Fitz- patrick played in eight
RYAN FITZPATRICK
games with seven starts, fin- ishing with 17 touchdowns and 12 interceptions and completing 66.7 percent of his passes -- the highest completion percentage of his career. Fitzpatrick, 36, stepped in for the suspended Jameis Winston in Weeks 1-3 last season and led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to upset wins over the New Or- leans Saints and Philadel- phia Eagles. He became the first quarterback in NFL his- tory to throw for 400 yards in three consecutive games and led the NFL with 1,230 passing yards in that span.
An investigation is under- way into an alleged battery in- volving a juvenile at the home of Kansas City Chiefs star wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
In a statement Friday, the Chiefs acknowledged an in- vestigation involving Hill is taking place.
"The club is aware of the investigation involving Tyreek Hill," the Chiefs said. "We're in the process of gath- ering information and have been in contact with the league and local authorities. We'll have no further com- ment at this time."
Overland Park police offi- cer John Lacy said the case has been turned over to pros- ecutors for review. No charges have been filed against Hill,
TYREEK HILL
and Johnson County prosecu- tor's spokeswoman Kristi Bergeron didn't immedi- ately return a phone message seeking comment.
Police in Overland Park, Kansas, were called to Hill's home Thursday to investigate an alleged battery in which a juvenile was a victim and Hill's fiancée is listed as "oth- ers involved." Hill was not listed on the report.
Hill Underway
USC AD Lynn Swann
Was ‘Blindsided’ By
Operation Varsity Blues
Steelers To Sign Ex-Rams LB Barron
People across the United States have spent the last few days being totally stunned by Operation Varsity Blues, a gi- gantic bribery scheme that saw rich parents, such as ac- tresses Felicity Hoffman and Lori Loughlin, find il- legal ways to get their chil- dren into prestigious colleges. A sting occurred last week by the Justice Department, and according to reports, most of the children involved in this scheme were unaware that their parents were forking over gigantic sums of cash to get them into schools.
One such university was USC, which saw senior ath- letic director Donna Heinel and longtime water polo coach Jovan Vavic get ar- rested for allegedly playing roles in the scheme. The pair were fired by athletic director Lynn Swann after they were taken into custody on Thurs- day, and on Friday, Swann spoke about the allegations for the first time since they were levied against the pair.
“The reason why no one would know that this was happening is because we had one person in charge of sub- mitting the academic records to our admissions depart- ment,” Swann said. “And that one person was in charge of getting that information
Former Los Angeles Rams linebacker Mark Bar- ron reached agreement Sun- day on a two-year, $12 million deal with the Pitts- burgh Steelers.
He becomes the second notable veteran defensive player added by the Steelers in free agency, joining former Kansas City Chiefs corner- back Steven Nelson, who signed a three-year contract with Pittsburgh. The Steelers also signed wide receiver Donte Moncrief to a two- year deal.
He was sidelined four games to start the 2018 sea- son because of a nagging ankle injury and finished with 43 tackles (the lowest total of his career), a sack and a forced fumble. Barron,
MARK BARRON
who was the Rams' starting inside linebacker, was re- leased by the team earlier this month with two years re- maining on his contract.
The Rams acquired Bar- ron midway through the 2014 season from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who se- lected him with the seventh overall pick in the 2012 draft.
LYNN SWANN
back and distributing it to the coaches and letting other peo- ple know. So when there’s trust that this one person is doing the right thing, which Donna had been doing for years, there’s not a problem. ... So a coach could give her a list of five names and she could add a sixth name, give it to admissions, have it go through, admissions gives it back to her, she gives it back to the coach with only the five names that the coach gave her. The coach doesn’t know, no one knows, except for the person who added the extra name.”
Swann went on to say he has zero plans of resigning in light of the allegations against those in his athletic depart- ment and made a promise promise that USC will work to change its protocols when it comes to athletics going for- ward.
PAGE 14 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, MARCH 19, 2019