Page 22 - Florida Sentinel 12-11-20

Sports
Buccaneers Face
Mike Evans Joins Impressive List With Randy Moss, Rob Gronkowski
MIKE EVANS
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans continues to prove himself as one of the NFL’s best red-zone threats, and his two-touch- down performance in Sun- day’s loss to the Kansas City Chiefs has yet again put him in some rare company.
Evans now has 11 touch- down receptions this season, joining Hall of Famer Randy Moss and future Hall of Famer Rob Gronkowski (his current teammate) as the only players to catch double- digit touchdowns from Tom Brady in a single season.
Steelers Bud Dupree Feared To Have Torn ACL
Kirk Cousins And
The Strong Vikings
The Pittsburgh Steelers fear that linebacker Bud Dupree suffered a torn ACL late in the team’s 19-14 win over the Baltimore Ravens last Wednesday.
Dupree got hurt late in the game after stepping funny following a block while he was rushing the passer. He went down after injuring his knee and pounded the turf.
The way Dupree pounded the turf was an omi- nous sign about his health.
It’s no surprise that after the game ended, Dupree ap- pears to have a torn ACL.
The 27-year-old is playing this season under the fran- chise tag and was scheduled to become a free agent after
Defense Sunday
Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians had an important message for his players as the players went through the bye last week. The Bucs will face the Minnesota Vikings Sunday at 1 p.m. in Tampa.
"First and foremost, get healthy and beat the virus," said Arians. "Every team that's come back from the bye has had a virus problem. We can't finish our season with eight or nine or 10 guys staying home. Every game is a big game; 11-5 would do it. One at a time, but the first thing is to get healthy and beat the virus."
Arians’ target of 11-5 would mean a final-quarter sweep, as the Bucs dropped to 7-5 with their loss to the Chiefs and remain in the sixth spot in the seven-team NFC playoff field. Tampa Bay will finish with four straight NFC opponents, starting with another home game against the Minnesota Vikings on December 13. The Vikings improved to 5-6 with
BRUCE ARIANS
a comeback win over the Carolina Panthers on Sun- day, which has moved them to the edge of the NFC play- offs. If Minnesota beats the 1-10 Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 13 they will come to Tampa only one game be- hind the Buccaneers.
After that Week 14 con- test, the Buccaneers will play the resurgent Atlanta Fal- cons in Weeks 15 and 17, first in Atlanta and then at home to wrap up the regular-sea- son schedule. In between, Tampa Bay will travel to De- troit for their final road game of 2020. The Buccaneers are 4-2 on the road so far.
BUD DUPREE
the season. The injury will hurt his value, unfortunately. Dupree has eight sacks
this season and had 11.5 sacks last season.
The 22nd overall pick in the 2015 draft, Dupree is playing under a franchise tag that is paying him $15.8 mil- lion for the 2020 season.
James White
Helped Bring Summer
Shares Update
Games To L. A., Dies At 86
Olympic Gold Medalist
On His Mom’s
Rafer Johnson, who won the decathlon at the 1960 Rome Olympics and helped subdue Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin in 1968, died Wednesday. He was 86.
He died at his home in the Sherman Oaks section of Los Angeles, according to family friend Michael Roth. No cause of death was an- nounced.
Johnson was among the world’s greatest athletes from 1955 through his Olympic tri- umph in 1960, winning a na- tional decathlon championship in 1956 and a silver medal at the Melbourne Olympics that same year.
His Olympic career in- cluded carrying the U.S. flag at the 1960 Games and light- ing the torch at the Los Ange- les Memorial Coliseum to open the 1984 Games. John- son set world records in the decathlon three different times amid a fierce rivalry with his UCLA teammate C.K. Yang of Taiwan and Vasily Kuznetsov of the former Soviet Union.
Johnson won a gold medal at the Pan American Games in 1955 while compet-
Recovery
Rafer Johnson, Who
JAMES WHITE
James White last Wednesday provided an up- date about the status of his mother.
The New England Patriots running back told reporters that his mother is “doing bet- ter” following a September car accident that left her injured and killed her husband/James’ father.
White learned of the fatal car crash hours before his team was set to face the Sea- hawks in Seattle during Week 2. White did not play in that game or the following one. His mother was in critical condition following the crash but has since improved.
RAFER JOHNSON
ing in just his fourth de- cathlon. At a welcome home meet afterward in Kingsburg, California, he set his first world record, breaking the mark of two-time Olympic champion and his childhood hero Bob Mathias.
On June 5, 1968, John- son was working on Kennedy’s presidential campaign when the Demo- cratic candidate was shot in the kitchen of the Ambassa- dor Hotel in Los Angeles. Johnson joined former NFL star Rosey Grier and jour- nalist George Plimpton in apprehending Sirhan Sirhan moments after he shot Kennedy, who died the next day.
Johnson later called the assassination “one of the most devastating moments in my life.”
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