Page 23 - Florida Sentinel 2-26-21

Sports
Vincent Jackson Likely Died ‘Days’ Before Being Found
Deion Sanders’
A few days after former Tampa Bay Buccaneers star Vincent Jackson was found dead in a hotel room, more details are coming to light.
The tragic death of the 38- year-old came just 5 years after his final season in the NFL in 2016. On February 15, the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office announced his death after a maid found his body in a Brandon, FL hotel room.
However, on February 17 and 18, more details came to light. Firstly, Chad Chronis- ter, the local sheriff, ex- plained that Jackson was dealing with a battle with al- coholism.
Now, a new report from TMZ says that Jackson had likely died days prior.
According to the report,
Jackson's Family Donates NFL Star's Brain For CTE Study
Vincent Jackson's fam- ily is now taking steps to de- termine if the former NFL star suffered from CTE before his tragic death ... by donating his brain to researchers.
A spokesperson for the wide receiver's family told multiple media outlets this week that Jackon's brain was given to experts at Boston University for studying shortly after he was found dead last week.
"Vincent being who he was would have wanted to help as many people as possi- ble,” family rep Allison Gor- rell told the New York Times.
"It's something his family wanted to do to get answers to some of their questions.
Coaching Debut 53-0
The defending Super Bowl champions have made clear their desire to retain as many of their free agents as possi- ble.
More recently, coach Bruce Arians has narrowed the objective, without naming names.
Arians has said on multi- ple occasions that the Bucs need to keep “five out of six” free agents in order to set the stage for a second Super Bowl run.
“For us right now, it’s just keeping this team together,” Arians recently told WDAE radio. “And that’s probably going to eat up most of the salary cap if we can just keep five or six guys that we want to keep on this football team, and keep the closeness and the accountability factor that we have in the locker room.”
There are eight free agents of significance: linebacker Shaq Barrett, linebacker Lavonte David, receiver Chris Godwin, tight end Rob Gronkowski, receiver Antonio Brown, running back Leonard Fournette, defensive tackle
Found After Alleged Robbery During Debut
VINCENT JACKSON
hotel employees had appar- ently noticed Jackson while slouched as early as February 13. Further, they made the as- sumption that Jackson was just resting or sleeping.
But an employee on Feb- ruary 15 noticed he had not moved, and was the first to discover that the former NFL receiver had died. Like with other reports, TMZ’s uncov- ered no visible injuries or is- sues with Jackson’s body.
Deion “Prime Time” Sanders’ head coaching debut was a success, as his FCS-member Jackson State Tigers defeated Edward Wa- ters Tigers of the NAIA 53-0 at Mississippi Veterans Me- morial Stadium in Jackson, Mississippi on Sunday.
No live stats were avail- able at the end of the game, but Jackson State led 31-0 at halftime with 265 yards of of- fense, while holding EWU to just 42 yards of offense and just two first downs. Jackson State quarterback Jalon Jones was 16-18 for 151 yards and two touchdowns in the first half.
The best moment of the game might have been after the final whistle, when an as- sistant coach for Edward Wa- ters tried to get a selfie with Sanders during the postgame handshakes.
DEION SANDERS
ball coach Deion Sanders' belongings were found after he told reporters that they were stolen from the locker room during Sunday's 53-0 victory over Edward Waters.
A school official told Nick Niehaus of WAPT that the items were found after Sanders' press conference.
Sanders later took to Twitter to explain the situa- tion, saying that his assistant caught the person in the act of stealing:
Jackson State athletic di- rector Ashely Robinson confirmed the recovery of the items.
"We're going to find out who did it," Sanders said at the time, noting he had his wallet and cellphone taken.
Bucs Focused On Six Of Their Free Agents, With Goal Of Keeping Five
Deion's Belongings
Jackson State Wins In
Over NAIA School
CHRIS GODWIN AND SHAQ BARRETT
Ndamukong Suh, and kicker Ryan Succop. The fact that Arians has on mul- tiple occasions mentioned five of six suggests that two of those eight are not regarded as priorities — and that Ari- ans realizes one of the re- maining six likely will leave.
The easiest ones to keep will be Gronkowski and Brown. Gronk likely wouldn’t play for anyone else; Brown would have a hard time getting anyone else to sign him. After that, it gets a little more delicate.
Barrett should be the team’s top priority. However,
because the Bucs used the franchise tag on him in 2020, his franchise tender for 2021 spikes to $18.99 million. He has said he wants to “break the bank” with a long-term deal.
Fournette could attract a sizable offer elsewhere, and he could be replaced with a rookie or a veteran free agent who will be happy to take a seat on the Bucco Bus for a potential ride to Super Bowl LVI.
Also, with Ronald Jones still under contract, it be- comes easier to replace Fournette.
Former NFL star and cur- rent Jackson State head foot-
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