Page 23 - Florida Sentinel 5-24-19

Sports
Buccaneers, Gerald
OBJ Uses Instagram To Try To Recruit Gerald McCoy To Sign With Cleveland
ODELL BECKHAM, JR.
Odell Beckham, Jr. has started trying to recruit play- ers to come to Cleveland with a blitz of comments on Insta- gram.
Defensive tackle Gerald McCoy was released from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Monday.
Beckham immediately commented on a post from the NFL on Instagram and in true Cleveland fashion, began re- cruiting.
Man Arrested For Alleged Extortion Attempt Against Chiefs' Tyrann Mathieu
TYRANN MATHIEU
A New Orleans man was ar- rested after allegedly trying to extort Kansas City Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu for more than $1 million, according to a report.
WDSU reported that it ob- tained a federal affidavit in which Geourvon Sears is ac- cused of asking Mathieu for “$1.5 million deposited into his account” while threatening to provide the media with allega- tions of sexual misconduct.
According to WDSU, Sears allegedly texted Mathieu with the message: “$5 million by Friday, I’m done talking, emailing TMZ now.”
WDSU reports that court documents also allege Sears told some of Mathieu’s rela- tives: “I want $1.5 million by Friday or I am going to kill all you all.”
"He's dealing with a family member who is dealing with a mental health issue," a family spokesperson told WDSU. "Tyrann is fine. His family is fine. They are getting through."
Bucs Sign One-Year
McCoy Agree To
Deal With Ndamukong
Mutually Part Ways
Suh To Replace McCoy
The Tampa Bay Bucca- neers and 6-time Pro Bowl star defensive tackle Gerald McCoy have mutually agreed to part ways, the team announced on Mon- day.
McCoy was one of the franchise's most prominent players since being drafted with the third overall pick in the 2010 draft out of Okla- homa. His career with the Bucs included three 1st- Team All-Pro selections. He is one of only five players in team history to earn six con- secutive Pro Bowl berths (Derrick Brooks, War- ren Sapp, Lee Roy Sel- mon and Mike Alstott).
The 31-year old leaves Tampa Bay with impressive career numbers. His 54.5 sacks rank fourth in team history, and he racked up 79 tackles for loss and 296 total tackles from his interior line position.
Off the field, McCoy may have made an even bigger impact. He became a fixture in the Tampa Bay commu- nity through his charity en- deavors and was named Buccaneers Man of the Year in 2018.
Buccaneers General Man- ager Jason Licht said in a statement, "The decisions are very difficult, personally and professionally. Over the past nine years, Gerald has been a cornerstone of this franchise and a leader in our community. Parting ways
GERALD MCCOY
with a player and person such as Gerald is one of the toughest responsibilities of this job. We wish Gerald, along with his wife, Ebony, and the entire McCoy fam- ily continued success and thank them for everything they have meant to our or- ganization and community.
New head coach Bruce Arians added, "I know Ger- ald has done a lot of good things on and off the football field in Tampa during his time here. You hate to see good football players go, but this is a decision that we felt needed to be made in order to allow us, and Gerald, the ability to move forward. Gerald is a class-act and I wish him the best."
McCoy was due to make $13M this season, in the fourth year of his 6-year, $95.2M deal. However, the contract was not guaranteed after the third year, so the Bucs free up some much- needed cap space with the transaction.
One day after announcing a mutual break-up with long- time star defensive tackle Gerald McCoy, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have appar- ently already found a replace- ment.
Ndamukong Suh, the most prominent name re- maining on the free agent market, signed a one-year deal with the Bucs, according to multiple reports.
Suh, the second overall pick of the 2010 draft (by De- troit) and a five-time Pro Bowler, spent last season with the Rams and played in the Super Bowl for the first time in his career. Tampa Bay would become Suh's third team in three seasons after he and the Dolphins parted ways following the 2017 campaign.
With experience in both three- and four-man fronts, Suh projects as a better fit for new Bucs defensive coordina- tor Todd Bowles, who fa-
DL Ndamukong Suh spent the 2018 season with the NFC champion Rams.
vors 3-4 fronts. Suh played in Wade Phillips' base 3-4 scheme while with the Rams. McCoy, who was taken im- mediately after Suh in the 2010 draft by Tampa Bay, has played his entire career as an inside penetrator on 4-3 de- fenses.
In nine NFL seasons, Suh has amassed 56 sacks, 166 quarterback hits — many of the controversial variety — and 107 tackles for loss.
Cowboys Say Ezekiel Elliott
Vegas Incident Will Not
Julian Edelman Reportedly
The Dallas Cowboys say that the incident involving Ezekiel Elliott over the weekend in Las Vegas will not impact their long-term con- tract talks with him.
Elliott was handcuffed and detained briefly during an incident at the Electric Daisy Carnival music festival early Sunday morning in Las Vegas. TMZ Sports reports and shared video that showed the Cowboys running back shoving an event staff mem- ber to the ground. Las Vegas police handcuffed Elliott after the shove and detained him, though he was eventu- ally let go.
Police say the staffer who was shoved to the ground de- clined to press charges for misdemeanor battery.
“Two officers approached and placed Elliott into hand- cuffs while they investigated,” Las Vegas police said in a
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT
statement. “The security guard who was the victim of the misdemeanor battery re- fused to press charges and of- ficers escorted Elliott a short distance away and he was re- leased.”
Elliott later appeared at his youth football camp in Frisco, Texas that day.
Speaking with reporters on Monday, Cowboys executive Stephen Jones said the in- cident would not impact their contract negotiations with the running back.
Agrees To Multi-Year
Extension With Patriots
The New England Patriots are a bit thin at the wide re- ceiver position heading into 2019, but at least Tom Brady knows he will likely have his favorite target to throw to for the remainder of his career.
Mike Garafolo of NFL Network reports that Julian Edelman and the Patriots have agreed to a multi-year extension.
Edelman was set to count just $5.4 million against the salary cap for
JULIAN EDELMAN
2019, but the new deal will give him a raise.
Impact Contract Talks
PAGE 14-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2019