Page 28 - Florida Sentinel 12-11-15 Edition

Sports
Hornets' Al Jefferson Gets 5-Game Ban For Violating Anti-Drug Program
Jameis Winston's 'Honest-To-God True'
Story About Winning TD
Moments before Jameis Winston tossed a game-win- ning touchdown on Sunday, the rookie quarterback posed a question to the Buccaneers players in the huddle. Trailing by three to the Falcons, Win- ston wanted to know who in the huddle wanted to score the game-winning touchdown.
Mike Evans quickly spoke up, saying "Me! Me! Me!" ac- cording to Winston.
Winston's reply? "Alright, you're going to get it."
Winston explained the story, which he calls "honest-
JAMEIS WINSTON
to-God true."
Pelicans Emerge As Suitors For Disgruntled Suns Forward Markieff Morris
The New Orleans Pelicans have emerged as a suitor with interest in acquiring disgrun- tled Phoenix Suns forward Markieff Morris, league sources say.
The Suns and Pelicans have had preliminary contact about a potential trade, but Morris’ pending felony aggravated as- sault charges remain a possi- ble obstacle for virtually every team interested in making a deal. Nevertheless, the Peli- cans have significant interest in pairing Morris on a front- line with Anthony Davis.
Phoenix general manager Ryan McDonough has been cautious in his approach to ful- filling Morris’ longstanding trade demand, but coach Jeff
MARKIEFF MORRIS
Hornacek’s benching of Morris on Sunday night could be the beginning of the end for the forward in Phoenix. Mor- ris played seven minutes in Phoenix’s 103-101 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Monday.
AL JEFFERSON
Cam Newton’s truck was totaled. Panther fans had a sigh of re- lief after Newton flashed a smile from the crash site.
One Year Ago This Week Cam Newton Nearly Died
December 9 marks the one- year anniversary of Carolina Panther quarterback Cam Newton rolling his truck after a collision and breaking two bones in his back. Photos of the crash were gruesome. Initial reports on Twitter were sparse and conflicting.
"When you first heard Cam Newton was involved and saw the picture of the truck, it was scary," said Bobby Rosinski of radio station 730 AM in Charlotte, who was preparing to go on the air when news reached the station. "At first, panic set in."
Within an hour or so, it be- came clear that Newton was not critically injured. In fact, he would play football again. Soon.
Not only that, but the New- ton who returned to the field just two weeks later was differ- ent—better. Before the crash, Newton was a slumping, dis- appointing young quarterback playing out the string for a 4-8- 1 team. Since his return to the field, he has been a nearly un- defeatable MVP candidate.
A miracle? Newton said as much after the crash. Silly jokes about God's fantasy team 48 hours after breaking his back in a terrifying auto acci- dent? Yep, that was the same Cam Newton.
Newton's Cheshire Cat smile infuriates a certain breed of football fan. It is often inter- preted as a sign of cockiness or immaturity. But when New- ton smiled for cameras from the scene of the near fatal acci- dent, his car totaled and (we would soon learn) his back bro- ken, the smile was a symbol of
something else. Hope. Opti- mism. Toughness.
It's not hard to remember who Cam Newton was to much of the NFL world before this time last year. We get a re- minder every time an end-zone dance offends an angry mother from Tennessee. We see re- minders every time the televi- sion cameras flash images of Robert Griffin III or Colin Kaepernick in a baseball cap on the sideline. Newton was another young, mobile quarter- back on the verge of squander- ing his potential.
Those who followed the Pan- thers closely knew the full story. Newton had ankle sur- gery in the 2014 offseason. He was limited in training camp. He suffered a rib injury late in the preseason and missed the season opener. He returned to find his offensive line and re- ceiving corps depleted by a salary-cap purge. Newton had spent the losing streak playing through pain and hobbling for his life.
Newton's post-crash smile brought a sigh of relief. It re- placed the draped towel as his iconic image. Coming moments after a painful auto accident in- stead of a touchdown, the smile forced us to see Newton as more than just a goofy kid.
Or, as Newton put it after the accident: "I'm looking at this truck and I'm like, 'Some- body's supposed to be dead.' And I just can't stop smiling be- cause it's like, God has his hands on me." Obviously so, Newton and his team in this moment have the best record in football.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The NBA has announced that Char- lotte Hornets center Al Jeffer- son has been suspended without pay for five games for violating the terms of the NBA/NBPA Anti-Drug Pro- gram.
The Hornets released a statement Wednesday saying they're "disappointed in Al's decisions that led to this sus- pension" and the organization "does not condone this behav- ior."
The team says it has ad- dressed the situation with Jef- ferson and he's "regretful and understands that we expect him to learn from this mistake."
Jefferson released a state- ment through the team apolo- gizing for "the poor decision that I made."
Jefferson says, "I am truly sorry, and I am committed to making smarter decisions in the future."
Jefferson is currently out with a strained left calf. He will begin to serving the suspension once he's physically cleared to play.
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