Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 1-26-16 Edition

Sports
Lynch To Join Former Teammates In Ring Of Honor
Super Cam Leads
Denver Broncos,
On Friday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers announced that former safety John Lynch will be the next person in- ducted into their Ring of Honor at Raymond James Stadium.
When Lynch retired from professional football in 2008, he came back to Tampa to make a formal announcement. Lynch pent 11 of his 15 seasons in Tampa before spending the last four with the Denver Bron- cos.
Lynch intentionally repre- sented both the Bucs and Bron- cos when he retired, and shared memories of both seg- ments of his career.
At a press conference Friday at One Buccaneer Place, Lynch was introduced as the next person to be inducted. His name will be added to the sta- dium façade during halftime of
Carolina
Advance To Super Bowl 50
PEYTON MANNING
between the surefire hall-of- fame quarterbacks. The match-up was pegged, appro- priately, as Brady vs. Man- ning XVII. Manning still trails Brady 11-6 overall but improved to 3-2 against him in the playoffs.
This will be Manning's fourth Super Bowl appear- ance. His lone win was when he was with the Indianapolis Colts, which came in Super Bowl XLI on February 4, 2007, against the Chicago Bears.
Manning turns 40 in March, and while he had not revealed his future plans going into the AFC title game, there had been wide speculation that this season could be his last.
Former Florida Gator, NFL Wide Receiver Arrested
Former University of Florida and NFL wide receiver Jabar Gaffney was arrested Friday afternoon in Sumter County and charged with marijuana possession, misdemeanor drug possession and felony drug possession, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
Gaffney, 35, posted the $7,000 bail and was released.
Troopers reported that Gaffney, a native of Jack- sonville, was driving a truck south on I-75 near the Florida Turnpike junction. Troopers said they pulled Gaffney over because of illegal window tint and failure to maintain a single lane.
A trooper reported detecting the smell of burned cannabis, and Gaffney was arrested for possession of 6.5 grams of mar- ijuana.
Gaffney played wide re-
JABAR GAFFNEY
ceiver for 5 NFL teams from 2002 to 2012, including the Houston Texans, New England Patriots, Denver Broncos Washington Redskins, and Miami Dolphins. He was sus- pended in November 2012 for failure to report a prior arrest.
Panthers Open As Clear Favorites Over Broncos To Win Super Bowl
JOHN LYNCH
a game in the 2016 season. Lynch will be the ninth per- son to join the Ring, following Lee Roy Selmon, John McKay, Jimmie Giles, Paul Gruber, Warren Sapp, Derrick Brooks, Mike Al-
stott, and Doug Williams.
CAM NEWTON
With two minutes left in the third quarter, Cam Newton was racing toward the Arizona end zone. A touchdown would put the Carolina Panthers up by 27 points in the NFC champi- onship and effectively slam the door on the last dying embers of the Arizona Cardinals’ season.
Newton could have run the ball in, edging around team- mate Ryan Kalil’s block on ei- ther the left or the right. Instead, Newton decided the best way in was over. He leaped straight up over Kalil, flipping forward to land on his back in the end zone. Game effectively over.
Flying in Cam’s wake, the Carolina Panthers throttled the Cardinals 49-15, booking their first trip to the Super Bowl in more than a decade. The Pan- thers will face Peyton Man- ning and the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl 50, a genera- tional quarterback matchup that will launch a thousand fiery takes about what a real quarter- back ought to be.
If there remain any doubters of Newton’s ability, this game — the most important of New- ton’s pro career, the most im- portant he’d played since winning a national champi- onship at Auburn — should have satisfied them. Newton was simply exceptional, orches- trating an offense that showed no weakness on the ground or in the air, passing near or far. Newton completed 19 of 28 passes for 335 yards, throwing two touchdowns and rushing for two more. Seven receivers caught a pass from Newton, capped by Corey Brown’s 86- yard touchdown that closed the first quarter.
Newton is now in line for that rarest of feats: a national championship and a Super Bowl, a Heisman and an MVP. The Broncos still stand in his way, but the way the Panthers played on Sunday night, the en- tire AFC Pro Bowl team might be an underdog.
With Manning's two touchdown passes to tight end Owen Daniels and a late es- cape by the Denver Broncos defense, the Broncos defeated the New England Patriots 20- 18 in the AFC Championship Game at Sports Authority Field at Mile High in Denver, advancing to Super Bowl 50.
They now know their op- ponent: The Carolina Pan- thers, who beat the Arizona Cardinals 49-15 in the NFC Championship Game at Bank of America Stadium in Char- lotte.
Super Bowl 50 is February 7 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, California.
Broncos Hang On
The Broncos led throughout the afternoon, but it was a nail-biter at the end, as a late comeback attempt by New England fell just short. The Pa- triots scored with 12 seconds remaining but couldn't con- vert on the two-point conver- sion to force overtime.
It also potentially was the final chapter of an epic rivalry between Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning and Patri- ots quarterback Tom Brady. Sunday was the 17th meeting
To Super Bowl
Peyton Manning isn't done just yet. Now, the 39- year-old quarterback has an- other chance to win an NFL championship
Carolina Panthers
Cam Newton and the Car- olina Panthers are Super Bowl favorites.
The Westgate SuperBook opened the Panthers as 5.5- point favorites over the Den- ver Broncos on Sunday. Other Las Vegas sports books went with a lower number.
Station Casinos' sports book opened the Panthers as four- point favorites. William Hill and CG Technology's Nevada books each went with Pan- thers -3.5. The line appeared to be settling at Carolina -4 late Sunday night.
"I'll be surprised if it doesn't get to 4.5," Jay Rood, vice president of MGM race and sports, said.
The over/under is set at 44.5 for Super Bowl 50 on Feb. 7, in Santa Clara, California.
Newton and the Panthers were impressive in a 49-15 rout of the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC Championship Game. Art Manteris, vice pres- ident of Station Casinos'
sports book, said he took ac- tion on Carolina every time the Panthers scored in the fourth quarter against Ari- zona.
Carolina began the year as high as 60-1 to win the Super Bowl.
The Broncos advanced to the Super Bowl with a thrilling 20-18 win over the New Eng- land Patriots. That's good news for a bettor who put $30,000 on Denver winning the Super Bowl at 14-1 odds on Aug. 18 at a William Hill sports book. They'll win $420,000, if the Broncos pre- vail in two weeks.
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