Page 24 - 8-7-15 Friday's Edition Updated

Sports
Kobe Gets Rock Star Welcome In China
Former Detroit NFL Star, Mel Farr Dies
Buccaneers Quickly Pushing Jameis Winston Into Leadership Role
Each time Jameis Winston steps into the huddle, Dirk Koetter is listening.
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers new offensive coordinator wants to hear if Winston, the No. 1 overall pick and newly- named starting quarterback, relays the right play calls and protections. He also is listening for signs that Winston is truly in charge.
Winston is rapidly adjust- ing to his role as the Bucs’ fran- chise quarterback.
Winston is a natural leader, so boisterous and charismatic, but in a way that draws people in rather than turning them away. He now must use all those traits as he balances the need to assert himself around veterans like former Green Bay Packer Smith, and longtime New England Patriots guard Logan Mankins, both of whom have played in Super Bowls and with MVP quarter- backs, while remembering that for any rookie — even the top pick — respect must be earned. That process started in May when Winston arrived for his first set of offseason practices, but it has accelerated in Au- gust, now that Bucs’ coaches have officially named him the starter. It means Winston has received the bulk of the prac- tice reps and will see extensive time in preseason games, start- ing with an Aug. 15 game at the Minnesota Vikings.
To prepare, Winston has been putting in marathon hours inside One Buc Place since reporting to camp last week. His alarm goes off by 5:15 a.m. ET, an hour earlier than roommate Kenny Bell, and he’s inside the facility a short time later for two-and-a half hours of time with his play-
Buccaneers defense knows it must improve to protect Jameis Winston.
book and the weight room. “Every day I walk in that locker room, he's in there working on his abs,” defensive tackle Ger- ald McCoy said.
Winston doesn’t leave the facility until after 10 p.m., re- turning to the team hotel for several more hours of review- ing plays on a white board and previewing the next day’s prac- tice script with Bell before falling asleep around 1:30 a.m.
“I've never seen anybody study like that. It's affecting me in how I play and how I study, because he's just bringing me along,” said Bell, a fifth-round pick who has been getting first- team reps alongside starting receivers Mike Evans and Vincent Jackson.
Though he has had his strug- gles in practice, including one team period on Monday when he threw three interceptions, and another on Tuesday morn- ing when two of his first three passes were picked off, his teammates and coaches are en- couraged. Winston has been aggressive, assertive, decisive and — perhaps most impor- tantly at this point — willing to learn from his mistakes.
Kobe Bryant is a star in the United States, where he was born and succeeded in the NBA. He is a star in Europe, where spent much of his child- hood.
He is a star in the Middle East, where his endorsement by Turkish Airlines increased his reach.
And Bryant is an über- mega-superstar in China, where basketball is growing and Bryant is the face of the sport. Bryant is three weeks short of his 37th birthday and has only played 41 games over the past two seasons after tear- ing his Achilles tendon in the 2013 NBA Playoffs. China does not appear to have gotten the memo.
KOBE BRYANT
Bryant made the trip across the Pacific as part of Nike's Asian Summer Tour and to promote his new Kobe Inc. brand. The Brand is working with the Alibaba Group and will include a social media site in China.
MEL FARR
Mel Farr, a former NFL Of- fensive Rookie of the Year who rushed for more than 3,000 yards in seven pro seasons with the Detroit Lions, has died at the age of 70.
Farr, along with then-team- mate Lem Barney, also sang backup in 1971 on Marvin Gaye’s “What’s Going On.” Farr and Barney were playing golf with the Motown legend when Gaye came up with the tune.
Farr played college football at UCLA and finished seventh in the voting for the 1966 Heis- man Trophy. He was drafted in 1967 in the first round by the Lions and ran for 860 yards in 13 games as a rookie. Farr spent his whole NFL career with Detroit, from 1967-73.
One of Farr’s sons told the team that Farr died Monday, a Lions spokesman said.
Farr finished his pro career and would go on to a second ca- reer selling cars in the Detroit area.
At one point, Farr owned about a dozen dealerships in several states and appeared in TV commercials as the cape- wearing Mel Farr Superstar. But the spiraling cost of thou- sands of loans to bad-credit customers, lawsuits and over- expansion helped lead to the end of his business empire.
Jacksonville Jags Doubtful That Suspended WR Will Return
Nearly two years after Justin Blackmon's last NFL practice, the Jacksonville Jaguars have all but given up on the suspended receiver.
General manager Dave Caldwell said Tuesday he's pretty much lost hope Black- mon will return. Caldwell hasn't had any contact with Blackmon in some time and believes the former Oklahoma State star's skills would be di- minished if he was reinstated by the league.
The NFL suspended Black- mon indefinitely in November 2013 after repeated violations of the league's substance- abuse policy.
In December, the Jaguars felt pretty good about Black- mon potentially returning. He had been getting professional help at a treatment facility, and Caldwell said he was ''hearing good things.''
But then the Jaguars stopped getting updates about Blackmon, and pictures sur- faced on social media sites ear-
Justin Blackmon was sus- pended indefinitely.
lier this year in which Black- mon appeared significantly heavier than his playing weight.
The Jaguars have mostly moved on.
Blackmon caught 29 passes for 415 yards and a touchdown in the four games he played in 2013 and was the team's leading receiver during that stretch. He has 93 catches for 1,280 yards and six scores in 20 career games.
PAGE 14-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, AUGUST 7, 2015