Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 12-29-15 Edition

Sports
Bucs' Doug Martin, Gerald
'Santa Claus' Von Miller's Gifts To Broncos Teammates: Underwear, Alcohol
VON MILLER
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Den- ver Broncos linebacker Von Miller's potential free-agent bonanza is just a bit over the horizon, but he is still quick to dispense the holiday cheer to his teammates.
“I’m Santa Claus, I just ac- cept that," Miller said with a smile last Thursday.
Miller, who is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, gave each of his teammates underwear and a bottle of whiskey.
While that may seem like an odd combination, Miller said the underwear is useful “be- cause it increases blood flow to the area" and that “everybody can use some underwear for Christmas."
Miller had a label made for each of his teammates on the whiskey bottles that read, “It’s an honor and a privilege to go out and play with you every Sunday" with Miller’s signa- ture below that.
The fifth-year linebacker was just named to his fourth Pro Bowl, and with 10 sacks, he has recorded his fourth double- digit-sack season.
Miller will be one of the Broncos’ biggest offseason pri- orities, and they have a fran- chise tag available if they wish to use it on Miller while they work on a long-term deal.
Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Justin Houston, who has 56 sacks in his career as compared to Miller’s 59, signed a six- year, $101 million deal ($52.5 million guaranteed) in July.
Serena Williams
McCoy Selected To Pro Bowl
Selected As AP Female
Bucs RB, Doug Martin cel- ebrates his second Pro Bowl selection. This is Martin's first selection since his rookie season in 2012. After battling through injuries the past two years, the Tampa Bay Bucca- neers' first-round pick in 2012 has shown everyone how dy- namic he can be when he's healthy. Martin is second in the league in rushing with 1,305 yards, trailing Adrian Peterson by just nine yards. Martin has the most rushes of more than 20 yards this sea- son (13), is tied for the most 50-yard-plus gains (three) and is second in most gains of 10 yards or more (32).
Gerald McCoy made the Pro Bowl for the fourth con- secutive year. He is one of nine players to be voted to four Pro Bowls in Tampa Bay his- tory. He leads the team with 7.5 sacks, which is fourth among NFL defensive tackles. He also leads the Buccaneers in quarterback pressures with
Athlete Of The Year
Doug Martin, second in the NFL in rushing yards, was se- lected to his second Pro Bowl.
15 and has seven tackles for losses. McCoy has accom- plished this despite missing a game because of a hand injury and battling a shoulder issue since the first month of the season.
Serena Williams spent a good portion of 2015 deflecting questions about whether she could complete the Grand Slam. After coming oh-so- close, she can acknowledge how much she cared about the rare feat.
"I wanted it. But ... winning one [major title] is not easy. And then, [when] you have a 'bounty' on your head, it's even harder," she said with a laugh. "If you know anything about me, I hate to lose. I've always said I hate losing more than I like winning, so that drives me to be the best that I can be."
Williams' will was on dis- play time and again this year, along with her best-in-the- game serve and other skills, fashioning comeback after comeback and nearly becoming the first tennis player in more than a quarter-century to win all four Grand Slam tourna- ments in a season. In a vote by U.S. editors and news direc- tors, Williams was chosen as The Associated Press Female Athlete of the Year for the fourth time.
Results were announced last Friday.
Williams collected 50 first- place votes and 352 points.
Serena Williams, who won three of four Grand Slam tour- naments this season, won The Associated Press Female Ath- lete of the Year for the fourth time, with 50 first-place votes.
Carli Lloyd, whose hat trick in the final lifted the U.S. women's soccer team to the World Cup title, was the run- ner-up, with 14 first-place votes and 243 points. UFC star Ronda Rousey finished third, one spot ahead of the woman she stunningly lost to last month, Holly Holm. UConn basketball player Bre- anna Stewart was fifth.
Stephen Curry Named AP Male Athlete Of Year
OAKLAND, Calif. -- Super- star Stephen Curry's great- ness as a basketball player can be measured by his record-set- ting shooting numbers that are changing the game.
His immense popularity de- rives from something less tan- gible.
While many NBA greats rely on uncommon height and ath- letic ability that average fans can only dream of having, Curry's game relies on the skills that every casual player can work on: shooting, drib- bling and passing.
The difference is, perhaps nobody ever has put those three skills together the same way Curry has in the past year, as he has dominated on the court and made the once- downtrodden Golden State Warriors the NBA's must- watch team.
"The way that I play has a lot of skill but is stuff that if you go to the YMCA or rec leagues or church leagues around the country, everybody wants to shoot, everybody wants to han- dle the ball, make creative passes and stuff like that," he said. "You can work on that stuff. Not everybody has the vertical or the physical gifts to beabletogooutanddoawind- mill dunk and stuff like that. I can't even do it."
That's about all Curry is un- able to do on the basketball court. His amazing year, in
Warriors star Stephen Curry joins LeBron James, Michael Jordan and Larry Bird as the only basketball players to win AP Male Athlete of the Year in the 85 years of the award.
which he won an MVP, led Golden State to its first title in 40 years and helped the War- riors get off to a record-setting start this season earned him The Associated Press 2015 Male Athlete of the Year.
Curry finished first in a vote by U.S. editors and news direc- tors, with the results released last Saturday. He joined Le- Bron James, Michael Jor- dan and Larry Bird as the only basketball players to win the honor in the 85 years of the award. Curry beat out golfer Jordan Spieth, who won two majors, and American Pharoah, who became the first horse since 1978 to win the Triple Crown.
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