Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 3-8-16 Edition

Sports
Buccaneers Release Bruce Carter
Tampa To Contend For Super Bowls 54 And 55
A few days before 2016’s free agency bazaar opens, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers part ways with one of the players they signed in last year’s marketplace.
The team released line- backer Bruce Carter on Monday. The Bucs signed Carter to a four-year deal worth up to $17 million last year.
Carter was expected to play a key role on defense after agreeing to that deal, but lost out a competition for the middle linebacker job to
BRUCE CARTER
Kwon Alexander and wound up starting only three games last season. Carter was set to make $3.5 million
in salary this season and had a $750,000 roster bonus coming his way as well.
The move would save the Bucs that $4.25 million in cash as well as cap space. Carter’s release comes a year after the Bucs parted ways with quarterback Josh McCown, defensive end Michael Johnson and tackle Anthony Collins a year into deals they signed as free agents. The team will need to a better job selecting pieces for their team this time around.
Peyton Manning Retires After 18-Year Career
Peyton Manning’s Super Bowl 50 victory over the Car- olina Panthers was indeed his last rodeo.
The five-time NFL MVP is retiring, the Denver Broncos announced Sunday. The team held a news conference Mon- day for Manning to discuss his stepping away from the game after 18 seasons and two Super Bowl victories.
“When you look at every- thing Peyton has accom- plished as a player and person, it’s easy to see how fortunate we’ve been to have him on our team,” Broncos executive vice president of football opera- tions and general manager John Elway said in a state- ment. “Peyton was every- thing that we thought he was and even more — not only for the football team but in the community. I’m very thankful Peyton chose to play for the Denver Broncos, and I con- gratulate him on his Hall of Fame career.”
Manning called the Bron- cos on Saturday night to in- form them he would be retiring. The Monday news conference had been previ- ously scheduled, but the Bron- cos didn’t know what Manning’s decision would be until he made the call.
History will show the quar- terback made four Super Bowl trips with two titles, set a mountain of records and earned a place on football’s Mount Rushmore. He will re- tire as the NFL’s all-time leader in passing touchdowns (539), passing yards (71,940) and quarterback wins (186, tied with Brett Favre).
With four Super Bowls al- ready on its resume, Tampa will be a contender for Super Bowls 54 and 55. Sites for the 2019, 2020, and 2021 Super Bowls will be decided at the NFL owners meeting in May in Charlotte North Carolina.
The Super Bowl Advisory Committee announced that Tampa, Atlanta, Los Angeles and South Florida would be in the running for Super Bowls 54 and 55. Previously, Tampa, Atlanta, and South Florida had been chosen as fi-
nalists for Super Bowl 53 in February 2019.
Super Bowl 51 will be held in Houston, Texas. The 2018 Super Bowl will be in Min- neapolis.
The Atlanta Falcons will be getting a new stadium for the 2017 season while exist- ing stadiums for the Bucca- neers, Dolphins and Saints are in the bidding. The Rams are leaving St. Louis for Los Angeles, and their new sta- dium won’t be ready until 2019.
Illinois Hires Lovie Smith As Next Football Coach
Rams RB Tre Mason Tasered, Arrested In Florida
A Twitter photo can say it all.
It was clear Illinois has se- lected former Bucs coach Lovie Smith as its next football coach after athletic director Josh Whitman posted two photos on Mon- day morning with Smith at Memorial Stadium.
Illinois will introduce Smith at a 2 p.m. press con- ference today.
Whitman fired former coach Bill Cubit on Satur- day on Whitman’s first day on the job.
Smith would be among the most high-profile hires Illinois has ever made. Smith coached the Bears from 2004 until he was fired in 2012, leading the team to three division titles and a Super Bowl appearance.
He most recently was fired after coaching the Bucca- neers from 2014-15.
LOVIE SMITH Smith last coached in col-
lege in 1995 as Ohio State’s defensive backs coach. He rose through the college ranks, starting in 1983 at Tulsa and made stops at Wis- consin, Arizona State, Ken- tucky, Tennessee and with the Buckeyes.
He has coached in the NFL since 1996.
Illinois is eager to enhance its reputation on and off the field after losing seasons and coaching scandals.
Los Angeles Rams running back Tre Mason was sub- dued with a Taser and ar- rested Saturday night in Hollywood, Florida, accord- ing to a Broward County Clerk of Courts police report.
The Hollywood Police De- partment arrested Mason on suspicion of possession of marijuana, reckless driving, failure to register a motor ve- hicle and resisting arrest.
“We are very disappointed to learn of an incident involv- ing Tre Mason in the Miami, Fla. area Saturday af- ternoon,” the Rams said in a statement on Sunday. “We are in the process of obtaining more information about the facts surrounding this inci- dent and will have no further comment at this time.”
An officer started following
TRE MASON
Mason after seeing him drive more than twice the speed limit in a 35 mph zone. The officer says Mason drove away from him and only stopped when his car was blocked by another vehicle.
The officer says Mason re- fused to give his name or pro- vide his driver’s license. The officer also says he smelled marijuana in Mason’s Porsche.
Joseph Randle Arrested In Kansas For Failure To Appear
Release, Said Kyle Shanahan
Former Dallas Cowboys running back Joseph Ran- dle was arrested Sunday morning on charges of failure to appear in court.
Randle was brought to jail after 1 a.m., according to a Sedgwick County (Kansas) sheriff’s deputy. He is being held on $150,000 bond.
Randle, 24, was released on bond Thursday after being arrested Feb. 21 and jailed in his hometown of Wichita. He is charged with four counts of aggravated battery and one count each of criminal threat, criminal damage to property and possession of marijuana after allegedly hitting three people with a car and then breaking through the front door of a home he had been asked to leave.
Former Cowboys running back Joseph Randle was ar- rested again, this time on charges of failure to appear in court.
The deputy could not con- firm whether Sunday’s arrest is connected to the February incident.
Randle, who was cut by the Cowboys in 2015, has been arrested six times in 17 months.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — Former Atlanta Falcons wide receiver Roddy White opened up about being re- leased after 11 seasons and was candid about his shaky relationship with offensive coordinator Kyle Shana- han.
The 34-year-old White, who participated in the UAB alumni football game Satur- day, said he wasn’t too upset about the Falcons’ final deci- sion.
“No, I ain’t frustrated at all; it is what it is,” the four-time Pro Bowler said. “That’s just the NFL. Eventually, it’s going to be your time. It’s just according to when it happens.
“They showed no indica- tion that I was going to be there, so I kind of expected it already. Like last year going
RODDY WHITE
through the whole situation, I knew I was going to be on the team because they said I was going to be on the team. But this year, they didn’t say that. They never gave any clear in- dication I was going to be there. When there’s no clarity early on about decisions like that, that means you already have a 50/50 chance, so I was just thinking to myself that it can only get worse.”
Roddy White ‘Kind Of Expected’
Wanted Him Out
PAGE 14 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, MARCH 8, 2016