Page 27 - Florida Sentinel 8-11-17

Sports
Civil Rights Groups Plan Rally For Colin Kaepernick In NYC
Jameis Winston – And A
Cockroach – Take Center
Stage On 'Hard Knocks' Debut
Filmmaker Spike Lee is promoting a planned rally for free-agent quarterback Colin Kaepernick.
Lee tweeted an advertise- ment for the rally, scheduled for Aug. 23 outside the NFL's headquarters in New York.
Lee said on Twitter he did- n't organize the protest, but that he supports Kaeper- nick and "his stance on the injustices in the USA."
Several civil rights groups are organizing the rally.
Kaepernick, formerly of the San Francisco 49ers, be- came a topic of national con- versation last year for choosing to kneel instead of stand for the national an- them, citing police violence and social injustice against minorities. He parted ways with the 49ers in March and
Falcons RB Devonta Freeman Gets 5-Year Contract Extension
DEVONTA FREEMAN
The Atlanta Falcons and two-time Pro Bowl running back Devonta Freeman have agreed on a five-year contract extension the team announced Wednesday.
The deal is worth $41.25M and includes a $15M signing bonus, agent Kristin Camp- bell said. $22M is guaranteed.
In terms of average per year, Freeman's $8.25 average would exceed any current run- ning back with multiyear deals. Buffalo's LeSean McCoy would now be second at $8.010M, followed by Tampa Bay's Doug Martin at $7.15M. Pittsburgh's Le'Veon Bell with make $12.12M this year under the one-year franchise tag.
Freeman, a 2014 fourth- round draft pick out of Florida State, was moving into the final year of his rookie contract and was scheduled to make almost $1.8M this season. General manager Thomas Dimitroff said getting a deal done with Freeman was "100 percent'' the focus this week heading into training camp.
behind a starter? What's that going to do with your locker room? Your quarterback room? With your offensive room?
"I believe he'll be back in the league at some point this year with a team."
In May, Mara -- whose team has a settled quarter- back situation -- said he re- ceived plenty of letters from fans about their thoughts on Kaepernick's protest.
"It was a lot. It's an emo- tional, emotional issue for a lot of people, more so than any other issue I've run into," Mara told The MMQB in May.
Despite the fact Kaeper- nick is still without a job, Mara does not believe the 29-year-old quarterback is being blackballed.
The HBO series "Hard Knocks," chronicling the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' training camp, debuted on Tuesday.
On episode 1:
Inside the world of star quarterback Jameis Win- ston: The show is largely centered around the Bucs' starting quarterback, who visits his hometown of Besse- mer, Alabama. He shows his grandmother’s house and the bed he slept in. He points out the spot outside where men urinate when there’s a line for the bathroom, and stomps on a cockroach, de- claring, "This cockroach havin' a baby! This cockroach havin' a baby, for real! Or they mating. It's one of 'em.'"
Later in the show, Win- ston is shown waking up at 5:15 a.m. to arrive at One Buc Place and begin a weight-lift- ing session before dawn. The emerging star also has an in- teresting conversation in Dirk Koetter's office when the coach tells him that the young QB has to understand "how much is doing too much." Koetter tells him that the Bucs have a good de- fense now, so they don't need him to take unnecessary risks. He even compares Winston's game as more Aaron Rodgers than Tom
JAMEIS WINSTON
Brady.
Matt Dissinger, the di-
rector of "Hard Knocks," said Tuesday night that Winston has been the most compelling character on the Bucs.
“Jameis is truly a unique player. He’s been great to work with. He’s been all about access. We get to know who he is. I think the Bucca- neers are anxious to have the nation get to know who he is. And we’re more than happy to put that on display. I think you’ll see [in the first episode] a lot of the things we found really compelling about him.”
The cameras are always watching at Bucs training camp this summer.
SPIKE LEE AND COLIN KAEPERNICK
hasn't been signed by another team.
New York Giants owner John Mara said Tuesday that he believes Kaepernick will be on a roster this season.
"I think he still has some good football left in him. I agree with that," Mara said on The Michael Kay Show on 98.7 FM ESPN New York. "But obviously there are other issues that go along with him. Is he willing to sit as a backup
LaDainian Tomlinson
Honors Fans, Mother In
Hall Of Fame Speech
Lorenzo Neal wants peo- ple to know the true LaDain- ian Tomlinson, one of the best to ever play the game.
Neal said the relationship Tomlinson developed over the years with Neal's younger sister, Twlya, born with Down syndrome, was an ex- ample of LT's selflessness.
The 75th player inducted into the Hall of Fame on the first ballot, Tomlinson fin- ished his career as the Charg- ers' all-time leading rusher and No. 5 all-time in the league with 13,684 rushing yards.
He also owns the single- season touchdown record of 31, set during the 2006 sea- son.
During his Hall of Fame speech, Tomlinson talked about how he grew up watch- ing and dreaming about run- ning the football like his idols Jim Brown, Walter Pay- ton and Emmitt Smith. Working to obtain that stature is one of the reasons Tomlin- son wound up on the stage with a gold jacket, he said.
Tomlinson also acknow- ledged his mother, Loreane, for her work ethic and support of his dream of playing in the NFL, including buying him a weight set for a Christmas present and scraping together enough money while working two jobs to send him to foot-
LADAINIAN TOMLINSON
ball camp.
Tomlinson thanked the
fans who supported him throughout his football career, from his days at TCU to the nine years he spent with the Chargers in San Diego and his two seasons with the Jets.
He thanked some of his former teammates, including Rodney Harrison and the late Junior Seau. Others Tomlinson thanked who were in attendance included Drew Brees and Antonio Gates, in addition to his for- mer coach, Marty Schotten- heimer.
Tomlinson asked Schot- tenheimer and his wife, Pat, to stand, and they received a standing ovation. Tomlin- son said Schottenheimer was the best coach he ever had.
Lastly, Tomlinson thanked his wife, Torsha, who he said has always been there for him.
PAGE 16-A FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY FRIDAY, AUGUST 11, 2017