Page 14 - Florida Sentinel 10-31-17

Sports
Majority Of Houston Texans Knelt At Sunday’s Game After Owner’s Racist Remark Revealed
The Houston Texans players knelt on Sunday after their team owner, Bob McNair re- marked,“we can't have the inmates running the prison”, at the owners meeting
Winston Says He Needs To Play Better For Bucs To Win
Houston Texans players, stung by team owner Bob McNair's remarks while discussing the NFL's national anthem demonstrations, knelt for "The Star-Spangled Banner" before their game in Seattle on Sunday.
Duane Brown and Jadeveon Clowney were among the majority of Tex- ans players who took a knee and linked arms during the pre-game anthem.
Their demonstration came two days after McNair apologized for a comment he made in a meeting with other team owners about the im- pact of the protests this month, when he was re- ported by ESPN to have said "we can't have the inmates running the prison."
McNair publicly apolo- gized on Friday and Satur- day.
"As I said yesterday, I was not referring to our players when I made a very regretful
comment during the owners meetings last week," Mc- Nair said in a statement re- leased Saturday. "I was referring to the rela-tionship between the league office and team owners and how they have been making significant strategic decisions affecting our league without adequate input from ownership over the past few years."
But McNair's seeming comparison of the league's players to "inmates" sparked a bitter backlash from play- ers across the league -- and even from players in other sports.
McNair also met Satur- day with Texans players, some of whom were report- edly prepared to boycott Sun-day's game.
"I know they were upset," McNair told the Houston Chronicle. "I wanted to an- swer their questions. I told themifIhadittodoover again, I wouldn't use that ex-
pression.”
McNair also recently do-
nated $10,000 to a anti- LBGT group in Houston fighting against the Houston Equal Rights Ordinance.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick launched the anthem protests in 2016, refus-ing to stand for "The Star-Spangled Banner" to draw attention to racial in- justice by law enforcement agencies.
The NFL, aware that many fans are turned off by the protests, has struggled to formulate a response.
But discussion of the mat- ter at the Fall League Meet- ing yielded no change in the NFL policy that players "should" stand for the an- them.
At the same time, owners and players reached a con- sensus to support programs which address and combat social inequality.
Tampa Bay Buccaneers star quarterback Jameis Winston insists his injured throwing shoulder isn’t the problem – that he simply has to play better.
The Tampa Bay Bucca- neers lost for the fourth straight time Sunday, failing to score a touchdown in a game for the first time since their young quarterback entered the NFL as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 draft.
Coach Dirk Koetter thought tricky winds might have affected Winston’s ac- curacy during a 17-3 loss to the Carolina Panthers, however the 23-year-old refused to use that as an alibi.
Playing with a sprained AC joint in his right shoulder for the second week in a row, Winston completed 21 of 38 passes for 210 yards.
He missed receivers badly at times, was intercepted twice, lost a fumble, and was sacked three times by a Car- olina defense that hasn’t al- lowed a TD in its last two games.
Receiver Mike Evans said the Panthers ”played well, but not well enough for us to have three points.”
JAMEIS WINSTON
What isn’t debatable is the bottom line.
A season that began with heightened expectations after Tampa Bay (2-5) won nine games a year ago is gradually slipping away.
The Bucs haven’t made the playoffs since 2007 and don’t have a postseason win since winning the Super Bowl 15 years ago.
Fans in an announced crowd of 58,545 that looked considerably smaller booed after Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly intercepted Winston in the fourth quar- ter.
Koetter shrugged off questions about whether Winston suffered a setback with his injury the previous week during a 30-27 loss at Buffalo.
Houston Gives South Florida First Loss Of Charlie Strong Era
Florida, Jim McElwain Part Ways; DC Randy Shannon Named Interim Coach
University Of South Florida suffered its first loss of the Charlie Strong era in a 28-24 upset by Houston on Saturday.
The Bulls came in as 10.5- point favorites, and it seemed warranted: South Florida (7- 1. 4-1 AAC) came into the game averaging 41.5 points a game while Houston (5-3 3-2 AAC) was forced to use a quarterback in D'Eriq King who had thrown all of two passes in 2017.
Still, it was apparent from the outset Houston could compete with the Bulls, hold- ing the usually potent USF of- fense to just seven points at halftime (a 2-yard run by running back D'Ernest Johnson). Houston tied the game at 7-7 early in the third quarter when King hit Courtney Lark for the 39- yard equalizer.
The Bulls looked as if they found their offensive groove at halftime, taking the ensu- ing possession 75 yards and a touchdown on 13 plays. The drive was capped off with a 3- yard touchdown run from
Houston WR John Leday, USF LB Auggie Sanchez
Quinton Flowers to give the Bulls a 14-7 lead. But Houston running back Mul- bah Car tied the game once again at 14-14 with a 4-yard touchdown run.
The teams traded touch- downs in the fourth quarter, and a USF field goal that made it 24-21 with 1:46 re- maining seemed to secure the Bulls' victory. But Houston drove 49 yards off nine plays on their final drive — includ- ing a 30-yard pass from King to Lark on fourth-and-24 at the Houston 37 — for the go- ahead touchdown. It came with 11 seconds as King hit Linell Bonner for the game-winner.
Florida and Jim McEl- wain have mutually parted ways after the football coach claimed family members and players received death threats last week, which the school was unable to verify.
McElwain's claims "cre- ated a different storyline and caused a lot of distractions," athletic director Scott Stricklin said at Sunday's news conference.
Stricklin also added,
JIM MCELWAIN
"This is more than just wins and losses. I'll leave it at that."
Defensive coordinator Randy Shannon will serve as interim head coach. Shannon, who was Miami's head coach from 2007 to '10, was promoted to defensive coordinator in January.
The Gators are 3-4 (3-3 in the SEC) and play at Mis- souri on Saturday (12 p.m. ET, ESPN2). Florida must win three of its last four games to become bowl-eligi- ble.
PAGE 14 FLORIDA SENTINEL BULLETIN PUBLISHED EVERY TUESDAY AND FRIDAY TUESDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2017