Florida Sentinel Bulletin

A man who was exonerated after spending five years in prison for a rape he did not commit has another chance to pursue his dream of playing professional football.

Brian Banks, a highly recruited standout football player at Long Beach Polytechnic High School, will play for the Las Vegas Locos of the United Football League this season. Since his release from prison, Banks has tried out for NFL teams, including the Seattle Seahawks and former USC coach Pete Carroll.

“Congrats to Brian Banks!,” Carroll tweeted Wednesday. “Signed by the UFL’s Las Vegas club… we’re fired up for him!”

TORONTO  — Jon Jones successfully defended his light heavyweight title, surviving an early scare to submit former champion Vitor Belfort in the fourth round at UFC 152 on Saturday night.

Belfort came close with an armbar in the first round, but Jones’ reach, varied attack and ground and pound took a toll on the veteran challenger.

Unable to get his striking game going, Belfort tried to take the fight to the ground where he could use his jiu-jitsu. But he paid a price and finally fell victim to an Americana submission 54 seconds into the round. Jones improved to 17-1, and Belfort dropped to 21-10.

In the co-main event at the Air Canada Centre, Demetrious Johnson won a split decision – 48-47, 47-48, 49-46 – over Joseph Benavidez to become the UFC’s first flyweight champion.

Jones took down Belfort down 30 seconds after the opening bell, and the Brazilian responded with an armbar attempt that looked dangerous. Jones slammed Belfort down to the canvas and eventually wriggled free as the crowd began to chant “Vitor! Vitor!”

“I’ve never had my arm pop like that before,” said Jones, who said he would have let his arm break rather than tap out.

Jones remained on top and began to throw elbows, cutting Belfort. The doctor had a look at the battered challenger between rounds.

Belfort, who does his best work traditionally in the first round, came out punching in the second. But he had a hard time penetrating Jones’ reach. The champion began to pick away at Belfort, who pulled guard later in the round to bring the fight back to the ground.

Four Long Island University basketball players have been suspended after they were arrested on charges of assault in a brawl with the track team.

The fight broke out during a welcome-back party for students at the Brooklyn campus last weekend. Police say the four players were arrested Thursday after the track team members filed complaints. They were not seriously injured but were taken to a hospital.

The arrested players included Julian Boyd, a forward who was named the Northeast Conference player of the year last year, and two high scorers, Jamal Olaswere and Troy Joseph. The fourth player is C.J. Garner. The team is ranked No. 1 in the conference.

The school’s provost says no other students were implicated.

This Sunday, the Bucs will hit the road again, this time traveling to Irvine, Texas to face the Dallas Cowboys.

The Cowboys opened their season with a big road win against their NFC East rivals, the New York Giants, before being humbled by the Seattle Seahawks the following week.

The Buccaneers started their season with a big win over their NFC South Division rival, the Carolina Panthers, before hitting the road and losing at MetLife Stadium to the Giants, 31-24.

Buccaneer quarterback, Josh Freeman, came out of last week’s game against the Giants throwing his first two interceptions of the season, along with a pair of touchdowns.
Cowboys quarterback, Tony Romo, has enjoyed great success against the Bucs with 11 touchdown passes and no interceptions through three games.

Although the Bucs beat the Panthers, they still allowed Cam Newton to pass for 303 yards, and last week, Eli Manning passed for 510 yards.

At this point of the season, the Cowboy offense is ranked 29th and the Buccaneer defense is ranked 19th. The Cowboys average 268.5 yards passing a game less than what the Bucs give up through the air (400.5 yards).

The Cowboys hope their wide receiver, Dez Bryant will return to form and have the success Giants receiver Hakeem Nicks had last week against cornerback Aqib Talib.

Neither team has set the world on fire with their ground game, but the Bucs’ rookie, Doug Martin, scored his first NFL touchdown against the Giants, and is expected to perform even better Sunday.

Kickoff will be at 1 p. m. with the Cowboys being 9-point favorites.

ATLANTA – Basketball legend Magic Johnson has opened an education center in downtown Atlanta for high school dropouts.

The Magic Johnson Bridgescape Center helps give those who have left school, or are at risk of dropping out, the opportunity to earn a high school diploma. The program, which has just opened its doors, is free and accepts students aged 14 to 20 years old.

Unlike traditional schools, Bridgescape takes a holistic approach, with life skills counselors as well as teachers on site to provide developmental and academic support. Students get academic credits online, including one-on-one and small group classes.

“Those students who finished school [from the center in Ohio] with us at the end of the last school year, 75 percent of them returned at the beginning of the school year to continue their education,” said Jennifer Parker from Bridgescape.

Johnson, who is well known for his philanthropic work, has over the years talked about the value of getting a good education. This program is part of the Provost Academy Georgia, a statewide virtual charter high school.

Magic Johnson Bridgescape centers are already operating in Ohio, Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. More Georgia locations are planned in Augusta, Macon and Savannah.

DALLAS  — Six years after entering the NFL as the third player taken in the draft, Vince Young finds himself without a team and with just a fraction of the money he received from a contract that guaranteed him $26 million.

In an increasingly caustic war of words, attorneys have been arguing for months over whether Young is an out-of-control spender who put himself deeply in the hole or simply a victim of inexperienced advisers, one of whom was his own uncle.

Either way, the quarterback whose future seemed unlimited after he led Texas to a Rose Bowl victory in 2006 is now back home in Houston.

Young was cut by the Buffalo Bills, his third NFL team, in August. He was trying to make the Bills as a backup, the same role he filled with the Philadelphia Eagles in 2011.

The fall has been a dizzying one for the player who twice made the Pro Bowl with the Tennessee Titans. Young sent out a tweet thanking the Bills and their fans after he was released, but hasn’t spoken to the media since.

Young is suing his former agent, Major Adams, and a North Carolina financial planner, Ronnie Peoples, alleging that they misappropriated $5.5 million. In some instances, the pair forged his signature or impersonated him on the phone or in emails, according to the lawsuit, filed in Houston in June.

We all know by now that Terrell Owens, a future Hall of Fame wide receiver, has been struggling with money issues for quite some time now.

But reports say that the NFL great’s pockets are really on struggle mode because he made just a paltry $4,300 dollars while he was in training camp with the Seattle Seahawks this summer.

When T.O. signed a tentative deal with the Seahawks around Aug. 7, he had to submit pay stubs as part of the L.A. case, which involves two of his children’s mothers. He was expected to earn $925,000 during the regular season, but he was cut after three poor showings during the pre-season.

To give you some perspective of the kind of money T.O. earned in his prime, he signed a seven-year deal with the Philadelphia Eagles worth $48.97 million big ones back in 2004.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers came into MetLife Stadium Sunday prepared to hand the New York Giants their second loss. They had a great game plan, and even led by two touchdowns at one point.

But, another heroic effort by Eli Manning in the fourth quarter preserved a 41-34 victory, leaving both teams with 1-1 records.

Manning finished the afternoon with 510 yards passing, 243 of them coming in the fourth quarter. The game was won with a 2-yard running score by Andre Brown with 31 seconds left in the game.

The Giants had two receivers, Hakeem Nicks and Victor Cruz, with nearly 200 yards in receptions. Throughout the game, Nicks repeatedly victimized cornerback Aqib Talib, drawing a penalty call, and scoring a touchdown.

Josh Freeman finished 15 of 28 for 243 yards and two touchdowns.

After the Bucs took a 27-13 lead in the second half, the game turned into a war of attrition.

Newly acquired cornerback, Eric Wright, returned an interception 60 yards for a touchdown, newly acquired wide receiver, Vincent Jackson, caught a touchdown pass, and Mike Williams caught a touchdown pass. Also, rookie running back Doug Martin scored his first NFL touchdown.

Next for the Bucs will be a road trip to Arlington, Texas to face the Cowboys before they return home to host the Washington Redskins and rookie sensation, Robert Griffin, III.

The game concluded with Giants head coach, Tom Coughlin greeting Bucs head coach, Greg Schiano (pictured), in the middle of the field, and letting him have an ear full after the Bucs knocked Eli Manning down as he attempted to take a knee to end the game.

LOS ANGELES  — Dwight Howard won’t finish his rehabilitation from back surgery in time for the start of the Los Angeles Lakers’ training camp or their first preseason game next month.

The Lakers provided an update on the newly acquired center’s condition on their website Thursday night, confirming their long-anticipated decision to take it easy in Howard’s return from spinal surgery.

The team doesn’t intend to announce a timetable for Howard’s recovery, but says he won’t participate in the start of training camp on Oct. 2, or the preseason opener in Fresno five days later.

The six-time All-Star has said he hopes to be ready for the start of the regular season Oct. 30, but the team isn’t speculating.