Page 12 - Florida Sentinel 5-7-19

Sports
Tampa Bay Buccaneers' Jason Pierre-Paul Released From Hospital After Car Crash
NFL Star Ryan Shazier
The Tampa Bay Bucca- neers say defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul has been released from the hospi- tal after a single-car crash in South Florida.
In a statement, Bucca- neers general manager Jason Licht said the crash occurred Thursday morning.
The two-time Pro Bowler was not cited. Licht says the team's immediate concern is
for the safety of Pierre-Paul and his passenger. The team did not release further details about the crash.
Licht says the team's medical staff will evaluate Pierre-Paul further.
Pierre-Paul had 12.5 sacks in his first year with the Buccaneers last season. He had spent eight seasons with the New York Giants prior to being traded to Tampa Bay.
Former Browns WR Selected For Canadian Football Hall Of Fame
TERRY GREER
The Canadian Football Hall of Fame recently an- nounced its five-member class for 2019, and most of them spent a brief period playing in the NFL.
A few of these players will spark memories for a few fans, but Cleveland fans specifically may remember former wide receiver Terry Greer.
After having a great colle- giate career for Alabama State, Greer was selected in the 11th round of the 1980 NFL Draft by the Los Angeles Rams. Despite having an op- portunity in the NFL, Greer decided to take a chance in the Canadian Football League and spent his rookie season with the Toronto Argonauts. Greer had his first 1,000- yard season during his second campaign (1981) and was a 1,000-yard receiver from 1981-1985.
Spinal Cord Injury
JASON PIERRE-PAUL
Ryan Shazier is celebrat- ing—inabigway!
The NFL star, who is a linebacker for the Pittsburgh Steelers, danced at his own wedding after saying his “I do’s” to bride Michelle Ro- driguez in Pittsburgh, Penn- sylvania, on Friday evening.
In a video shared on Twit- ter, Shazier, 26, can be seen smiling and waving his arms in the air as the couple danced to“ThisIsHowWeDoIt”by Montell Jordan.
The newlyweds, who share 3-month-old son Lyon, also happily cut their multi-tiered wedding cake together with
RYAN SHAZIER Shazier standing strong
alongside Rodriguez. (Shazier is also dad to son Ryan, Jr. from a previous re- lationship.)
Along with his Steelers teammates, actors Sofia Ver- gara and Joe Manganiello were also in attendance.
Dances At His Wedding
Over A Year After Severe
Bucs Coaches:
Lavonte David
Promising College
Can Thrive In
Football Recruit Shot,
New Defense
Killed At Prom Party
The Tampa Bay Bucca- neers lost a rangy, playmak- ing inside linebacker from LSU in free agency and added a rangy, playmaking inside linebacker from LSU in the draft.
The departed Kwon Alexander and the arriving Devin White are not the same player, though both are expected to make a huge im- pact on their new teams in 2019. But the Buccaneers also have a constant among their inside linebacking corps, and that's Lavonte David.
New Defensive Coordina- tor Todd Bowles was given a new weapon in the draft when the Buccaneers took White with the fifth overall pick, but months before that he inherited a defense that, despite its struggles in recent years, has a star player and a leader right at its heart. That
LAVONTE DAVID
combination of David and White looks awfully good to Bowles now.
"You really want a quar- terback on every level of the defense – up front, in the middle and in the back, and to have one in the middle [in White]...not that Lavonte wasn't one, because he is," said Bowles. "He's a heck of a player. We've got two in the middle right now and that makes me comfortable."
Tragedy has struck the East St. Louis football com- munity.
Jaylon McKenzie, a promising college football re- cruit who hadn't yet reached high school, was shot and killed by a stray bullet during a dispute at a party on Satur- day night in Venice, Illinois, multiple outlets are reporting.
McKenzie, a play-making running back in the 2023 class and star of his eighth grade class at Central Junior High in Belleville, Illinois, was mor- tally wounded after walking outside to leave the party and avoid the fight, his mother said.
McKenzie had already received Power 5 scholarship offers from Missouri and Illi- nois and was a rising star na- tionally on the recruiting trail. He was recently profiled by Sports Illustrated as one of America's "Six Teens Who Will Rule the Future in Sports" and dreamed of play- ing in the NFL.
McKenzie's football goal was to hopes to follow fellow Belleville native and former USC star Adoree' Jackson — who now plays for the Ten- nessee Titans — to the next
JAYLON MCKENZIE
level. McKenzie patterned his game after Jackson, who also played several different positions.
Once called the "Deion Sanders of the St. Louis scene,” McKenzie earned several local and national MVP awards over the past few seasons as a junior high foot- ball star.
An investigation is under- way into McKenzie's death, though no charges have been filed. "He is the best quarter- back on the team, best wide- out on the team, best defensive back and by far the best running back. Therefore to label him as one of them in particular, is doing him a dis- service,” East St Louis Jr. Fly- ers football coach Robert Boyd said in an interview published in 2018.
PAGE 12 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, MAY 7, 2019