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Sports
Two Buccaneers Make The Pro Bowl
Jameis Winston, Bucs
Defense Face Saints,
Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Mike Evans and defensive tackle Gerald McCoy were the only two players to make the Pro Bowl. Evans, the big wide receiver from Texas A&M makes his first debut in the Pro Bowl. It’s no secret Evans has been an unstoppable force this year – besides when the Bucs don’t throw to him – catching al- most everything in sight. The competition he has faced at cornerback hasn’t been easy, either. Evans has squared off against the likes of Desmond Trufant, Patrick Peter- son, Aqib Talib and Richard Sherman. Evans was the first Buccaneer to ever have eight touchdowns through eight games.
The receiver has amassed
Leonard Fournette Responds To Noise Surrounding Bowl Decision Not To Play
LEONARD FOURNETTE
LSU running back and pro- jected first-round pick Leonard Fournette has one thing to say to anyone wanting to dismiss his reasoning for skipping the Buffalo Wild Wings Citrus Bowl on Dec. 31.
Not that he owes any of us an explanation.
Kirk Herbstreit, Danny Kanell and Ezekiel Elliott, among others, came out Tues- day against Fournette's deci- sion following Christian McCaffrey's similar an- nouncement.
Fournette has always maintained he loves the game because of his daughter, Lyric Jae, who was born five weeks premature in January 2015 and has become a mainstay on sev- eral of his social media ac- counts since her birth.
According to most projec- tions, Fournette's expected to be the first running back taken off the board in the 2017 NFL Draft. If seriously injured in the bowl game and unable to con- tinue his football career, Four- nette would earn $10 million tax-free thanks to his insurance policy, per ESPN's Darren Rovell.
He's not taking any chances.
for the young and talented wideout.
The Buccaneers defensive tackle, also received Pro Bowl recognition for the fifth straight season. McCoy has been one of the cornerstones of this franchise for several years now and continues to receive love as such. Gerald currently has seven sacks – which is good for third in the league by a defensive tackle. McCoy also has two forced fumbles and two fumble re- coveries. With this appear- ance, McCoy ties Buccaneer all time greats who also have five appearances; Hardy Nickerson, Ronde Barber and John Lynch. Next up on the list are Mike Alstott and Lee Roy Selmon with six appearances.
Drew Brees Saturday
Tampa Bay Buccaneers star quarterback Jameis Win- ston admitted that he did watch a portion of Monday night's game between the Washington Redskins and Carolina Panthers.
The Redskins lost, giving the Bucs some breathing room in the NFC wild-card race. Winston didn't stay up long enough to see it, though, nor has he gone through all the scenarios of what his team needs to do these next two weeks to reach the playoffs.
“I went to sleep in the third quarter," he said. “I love math, but I don’t trust the percentages and the probabil- ities. I trust our heart, this team’s heart and what we needtodotofindawaytoget in there.”
On Saturday in New Or- leans at 4:25 p.m. on FOX, they face a Saints team that has suddenly rediscovered its potent offensive attack. They put up 48 points last week against the Arizona Cardinal- son the road, with Drew Brees throwing four touch- downs and Brandin Cooks
JAMEIS WINSTON AND DREW BREES
amassing a career-best 186 receiving yards and two touchdowns.
The Bucs held the Saints to a mere 11 points two weeks ago and the Detroit Lions held them to to 13 in Week 13. Not that Winston would have taken them any more or less seriously. In fact, he's treating these next two weeks as if the- yare playoff games.
"We know that we’re going tobeontheroadinatough environment against the Saints, so yeah, it starts now. We’ve got to start preparing for the show," Winston said, adding that he does believe the Bucs are a playoff caliber team. “Absolutely. Because we compete and we’ve shown that we can beat the best and battle with the best.”
GERALD MCCOY AND MIKE EVANS
84 receptions for 1,159 yards and ten touchdowns. Mike Evans also averages 13.8 yards per catch and is cur- rently first in the league in first down catches with 72, the next closest being 60. Evans is the fifth receiver in Bucca- neers history selected to the Pro Bowl. The Buccaneers have never had a receiver make it more than once, I think this is the first of many
Dak Prescott And Ezekiel Elliott Among Players Voted To Pro Bowl
Emmitt Smith Thanks Dak
The Dak and Zeke Show is headed to the Pro Bowl — but not if the Dallas Cowboys can help it.
Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott were voted into the Jan. 29 all-star game in Orlando, however the Cow- boys are hoping their rookie stars won’t be playing — but instead preparing for the Super Bowl on the following Sunday.
Elliott leads the NFL in rushing yards (1,551) while Prescott is third in the NFL in passer rating (103.2) for the 12-2 Cowboys. They’re among 20 first-time selections; Kansas City’s Tyreek Hill was the only other rookie.
Tom Brady was voted to the AFC team for the 12th time, despite missing four games due to his Deflategate suspension. The Oakland Raiders led the way with seven players (Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, Rodney
EZEKIEL ELLIOT AND DAK PRESCOTT
Hudson, Khalil Mack, Reggie Nelson, Kelechi Osemele and Donald Penn) while the Atlanta Fal- cons had six selections (Vic Beasley, Matt Bryant, De- vonta Freeman, Julio Jones, Alex Mack and Matt Ryan).
Cleveland’s Joe Thomas joined Hall of Famers Merlin Olsen (14), Mel Renfro (10), Barry Sanders (10) and Lawrence Taylor (10) as the only players to make the Pro Bowl in each of their first 10 seasons.
Prescott For Touching Gesture
After Mother’s Death
Dak Prescott did some- thing awesome for Emmitt Smith.
Emmitt Smith has been a big fan of Ezekiel Elliott, and the Hall of Famer is a big fan of Dak Prescott now, too.
The Dallas Cowboys leg- end posted a video congratu- lating the team on Sunday’s win over the Tampa Bay Buc- caneers and thanked Prescott for sending his family flowers after the re- cent death of his mother.
Prescott lost his mother Peggy to colon cancer in 2013. He also helped comfort
EMMITT SMITH
Dez Bryant earlier this sea- son after the wide receiver’s father died.
Smith closed his message by telling the Cowboys to “go get your ring.”
Aaron Hernandez Identified As Shooter In 2012 Drive-By Shooting
A man who survived a deadly 2012 drive-by shooting in Boston identified former New England Patriots star Aaron Hernandez in court Tuesday as the one who pulled the trigger.
The judge presiding over the upcoming murder trial de- nied a bid by Hernandez's lawyer to push back the Febru- ary start.
Prosecutors asked Ray- chides Sanches during Tuesday's pretrial hearing to describe the chaotic scene the night of July 16, 2012.
Sanches said he had been a passenger in a car stopped at a light in the city's South End when an SUV pulled up. He said someone from the SUV said, "What's up, negroes?"
AARON HERNANDEZ
and then gunfire erupted. Sanches said bullets struck 29-year-old Daniel de Abreu and 28-year-old
Safiro Furtado.
When asked who the
shooter was, Sanches nodded in the direction of Hernan- dez in Suffolk Superior Court, the Boston Herald reported.
"Looked like him," he said. "Hernandez."
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