Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 11-10-15 Edition

Sports
Bucs ‘Drop’ Game Against Giants
Cam Newton Rips Down Packers Banner: 'It's Just A Respect Thing'
CAM NEWTON
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Pan- thers quarterback Cam New- ton tore down a Packers banner before his team's 37-29 home victory Sunday and said afterward that it sometimes felt like a hostile environment be- cause there were so many Green Bay fans at Bank of America Stadium.
The banner was near the en- trance where Newton and the Panthers run onto the field. It referred to the stadium being Packers' country.
"We take pride in having an edge in playing in Bank of America Stadium, of playing in front of the Carolinas each and every week," Newton said. "I feel it's my due diligence to protect this house. It wasn't just about tearing down a sign. It was respect."
Green Bay fans typically travel well, and there was a large contingent of fans around the lower bowl cheering on the Packers as they warmed up be- fore Sunday's game.
"We played in Green Bay last year, and I didn't see no 'This is Panthers Country' sign in their stadium," Newton said. "I was passing. The sign was dangling. Either somebody was going to take it off, or I take it off.
"It's no disrespect to nobody. It's just more of a respect to the stadium. We all know gangs, we all know territories, we all know businesses ... you're not about to sit up here and sell a Whopper at a McDonald's."
With the win, the Panthers improved to 8-0 on the season, including 5-0 at home.
"It just doesn't match," New- ton reiterated of the sign's being at Carolina's stadium. "No disrespect to any Green Bay Packer. It's just a respect thing."
Julius Peppers, Ha Ha Clinton-Dix, B. J. Raji In Sideline Altercation
In Sunday’s 32-18 loss to the New York Giants, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers have no one to blame but themselves.
Jameis Winston com- pleted 19-of-36 passes for 249 yards, and also scored a rush- ing touchdown. He threw no interceptions, and was not sacked. His performance was stellar.
However, Winston’s per- formance could not undo three lost fumbles and several dropped passes, most of them by wide receiver Mike Evans.
The Bucs (3-5) rushed for 136 yards in the game, with 59 of those yards coming from one play.
Although the Buccaneer de- fense spent a lot of time on the field, their conditioning paid off. However, the team did commit 9 penalties for 79 yards.
Although the team continues to stumble in some games, most of the players feel they
Wide receiver Mike Evans dropped five crucial passes and Doug Martin dropped one and fumbled.
are close to becoming a great team.
Next week, the Bucs will play another NFC East team when they host the Dallas Cowboys at Raymond James Stadium. Kickoff will be at 1 p. m.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- The Green Bay Packers' defense was already frustrated with its play. On Sunday, several play- ers became frustrated with one another as well during a 37-29 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
And while the players in- volved -- linebacker Julius Peppers, nose tackle B.J. Raji and safeties Ha Ha Clin- ton-Dix and Morgan Bur- nett -- downplayed the incident afterward, it's the last thing a unit that has allowed 1,475 yards in the past three games needs.
"Sometimes it's an emotional game, sometimes things are said, things are done. But ulti- mately we're a family, and we stick together," Raji said. "We'll discuss it and move for- ward. It's an in-house thing, it's a family issue and we'll take care of it."
During the fourth quarter, Fox Sports cameras captured Peppers and Clinton-Dix in an animated discussion on the bench. Raji came over to sepa- rate the two, then forcefully pushed Clinton-Dix back after it appeared Clinton-Dix said something that angered him.
"Just really emotional. I was talking to him and telling him to keep us going, keep us pumped up. That was it. Just a lot of emotions and a lot of things going on," Clinton-Dix replied when asked what he was saying to Peppers.
Asked why Raji stepped in, Clinton-Dix replied, "You've got to take that up with B.J. I don't know what's wrong with B.J., but it was just a lot of
Julius Peppers and Ha Ha Clinton-Dix altercation on sideline.
emotions. ... Sometimes it gets the best of us, but that got us turned up a little bit."
At the time, Green Bay's de- fense had surrendered 414 yards to the Panthers and the Packers were trailing 37-14.
"You want emotional guys on the team. That's what we have. Sometimes, emotions flare. It happens," Peppers said when told that the cameras captured the incident. "We were down 20 points, obviously. If you're not frustrated and you're not upset, then something's wrong."
Burnett then grabbed Clin- ton-Dix and led him away from the scene, while Raji was shown still gesturing and yelling.
"It was nothing big or any- thing like that. It was nothing to worry about," Burnett said. "Just in the heat of battle, things like that can occur. It's nothing to worry about. It's just their competitive spirit. What- ever happens on the sideline, you can't take it personal."
Adrian Peterson Bests Todd Gurley As Vikings Top Rams
MINNEAPOLIS -- All week, the matchup between Adrian Peterson and Todd Gurley commanded headlines before the Minnesota Vikings' game against the St. Louis Rams. On Sunday, the established star got the better of the young tal- ent largely because of what he could do in overtime.
Peterson ran for 21 yards on the Vikings' winning field goal drive, while Gurley lost 6 yards on his only carry of over- time, and the Vikings got to 6- 2 with a 21-18 win over the Rams on Sunday.
A Vikings official had said this week that the game might have a playoff atmosphere. Sunday's physical battle be- tween the two wild-card hope- fuls certainly had that kind of intensity, if not that level of ef- ficiency. The two teams com- bined for 18 penalties that totaled 154 yards. But while the Vikings held the Rams to
Byron Scott: Kobe Bryant
Adrian Peterson strolls to the end zone Sunday against the Rams.
102 yards after halftime, Pe- terson put Blair Walsh in position for the game winner. The Vikings survived without Teddy Bridgewater in over- time after he left with a con- cussion, and Peterson helped carry them to a win.
Gurley finished with 89 yards on 24 carries, and Peter- son wound up with 125 on 29 attempts.
1st Time This Is Last Year
Hinted To Him For
NEW YORK -- Los Angeles Lakers coach Byron Scott said star guard Kobe Bryant recently told him for the first time that this could be his final season.
Scott said the conversation took place in the past few days and was about a different sub- ject, which Scott declined to disclose, but he said it was during that talk that Bryant revealed that he might retire after the 2015-16 campaign, his 20th with the Lakers.
"That's the first time that he hinted to me that this might be his last year," Scott said Sun- day before the Lakers faced the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden.
Bryant maintained after the game that he has made no decisions about his future and will do so after this season. When asked what will go into that decision, he said it's "just desire, if i want to put my body through it again and continue to play."
Scott said he expects
Byron Scott and Kobe Bryant
Bryant to start play both games of an upcoming back- to-back set Tuesday in Miami and then Wednesday in Or- lando because, as Scott said, Bryant told him, " 'Coach, again, this might be my last year, so if possible, I would like to try to play every game.' "
The 37-year-old Bryant is in the final year of his contract with the Lakers and has said all along that this could be his final season, though he hasn't yet committed to retiring at the end of it.
PAGE 14 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2015