Florida Sentinel Bulletin

PHILADELPHIA —  Brian Westbrook will officially retire as a member of the Eagles on Wednesday and will be honored during a game against Washington in December.

The former All-Pro running back played eight seasons with Philadelphia from 2002-09. He is the franchise leader with 9,785 total yards from scrimmage, ranks second in yards rushing (5,995), and third in receptions (426) and total touchdowns (68). He is first among Eagles halfbacks in receptions, yards receiving (3,790) and touchdown catches (29).

Westbrook also is first in club history in yards rushing (591) and total touchdowns (6) in the postseason.

Westbrook, a third-round selection out of Villanova in 2002, set the all-time record in NCAA Division I-AA with 9,885 all-purpose yards.

He last played in the NFL with the 2010 San Francisco 49ers.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass.  — The Patriots released veteran wide receivers Jabar Gaffney and Donte’ Stallworth Monday.

The receivers are the biggest names of the bunch. Gaffney, 31, is a 10-year veteran who played for the Patriots from 2006-08, catching 84 passes for 1,059 yards and eight touchdowns.

He is a former standout at the University of Florida. Stallworth, 31, has played nine years after a college career at Tennessee. He was on the 2007 Patriots, posting 46 receptions for 697 yards and three touchdowns.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers prevailed 30-28 over the New England Patriots in their third preseason game, and final game at Raymond James Stadium before the regular season starts.

The Bucs (2-1) still need to fine tune their offense, but quarterback Josh Freeman used his two new additions brilliantly.

First round draft pick, running back Doug Martin, has made it more difficult for LeGarrett Blount to regain his starting position. Martin scored a touchdown and rushed for 53 yards, while newly acquired wide receiver, Vincent Jackson, caught three passes for 49 yards.

The Buc defense looked primed and ready, sacking Tom Brady twice, and rushing his throws on other downs. First round draft pick Mark Barron (defensive back) grabbed an interception from a tipped ball by Ronde Barber, and returned it 22 yards for a score.

The Bucs will enter their final preseason game against Robert Griffin, III and the Washington Redskins without the services of two-time pro guard, Davin Joseph.

Joseph is lost for the season with torn patellar tendon in his right knee. He is expected to have surgery Monday.

Joseph’s injury occurred when his teammate, Donald Penn, rolled up the back of his leg.

Ted Larson, who started 14 games for the Bucs last season, will be filling in for Joseph, although third-year pro, Derek Hardman, is listed as Joseph’s backup on the depth chart.

OMAHA, Neb. — Marcus Jordan, son of Michael Jordan, was fined $250 and court costs Thursday after pleading no contest to disturbing the peace during an argument with a woman outside a Nebraska hotel last month.

Marcus Jordan, 21, also had been charged with obstructing a police officer, but that was dropped as part of a plea agreement.

He was in Omaha for the U.S. Olympic swim trials July 1 and arrested after police responded to an early-morning call at an Embassy Suites hotel.

According to a police report, an off-duty officer working security for the hotel was trying to subdue Jordan as he argued with two women in the driveway. Jordan was “very animated, intoxicated and uncooperative.”

FLINT, Mich. – Everywhere you look, you see her name and face: on telephone poles, billboards, windows, and newspapers. For the last 10 days, whenever Olympic Gold Medalist Claressa Shields enters a room, she’s greeted like a conquering hero, all the while insisting on being treated just like everyone else.

Since returning from London, things have been a whirlwind for Shields after she made history as the first woman to win an Olympic gold medal in boxing, winning the middleweight title.

When she returned home on August 13, the scene at Flint’s Bishop International Airport was pandemonium.

“When I left [for London], there might have been 10 people who saw me off from the airport,” Shields, 17, said in an exclusive interview. “After the Olympics, I came back and there were 600 people at the airport. There were a bunch of people from the city, a bunch of people who weren’t from Flint were here. It was overwhelming. It kind of freaked me out.”

After leaving the airport, she was greeted by another 200 people at the Berston Field House on the city’s north side where she trains.

Just two days later, she was honored at the State Capitol in Lansing by Michigan’s Legislature before heading back to Flint to ride in the city’s the Back to the Bricks Cruise which drew an estimated 500,000 people.

“I’ve just been doing interviews and signing autographs and pictures,” Shields said. “It’s just really crazy, but I kind of still don’t believe it. I still really haven’t sat down and said ‘yeah, I’m ranked No. 1 in the world and I’m an Olympic Gold Medalist.’ It just hasn’t hit me.”

The video shows it all. Tony Farmer, a highly recruited high school basketball prospect out of Garfield Heights, Ohio, collapsed to the floor Tuesday after receiving a three-year prison sentence.

Farmer plead guilty in July to kidnapping, felonious assault and robbery and intimidation.

The charges stem from an altercation between Farmer and his ex-girlfriend Andrea Lane on April 23. Farmer was listed on several recruiting websites as a top 100 prospect in the 2013 class.  The 6’7 forward had drawn interest from DePaul, Illinois, Michigan State, Penn State and Xavier.

Farmer’s ex-girlfriend asked the judge for mercy, saying although she wants no future contact with Farmer, he shouldn’t have to go to prison. Lane, who is also 18, added that Farmer needs help and she does not think he will receive it behind bars.

Farmer would have been a senior this fall.

GEORGIA – A popular high school football coach is fighting to save his career and reputation amid allegations he sent nude photographs of himself to the mother of two of his players.

Martin Luther King Jr. High School’s head coach, Michael Carson, has been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. The 51-year-old is accused of sexting a single mom of two boys, who claims she spurned his advances.

“There were some nude photos involved of the coach,” said DeKalb County Schools Spokesman, Jeff Dickerson, in an interview.

“My understanding is that they were shown to people who were around at the time, and many of them may include students.”

A look at Nike’s new LeBron X, set to hit stores this fall.

Citing the rising costs of labor in China, of materials like cotton and of shipping, Nike is reportedly going to raise prices on its sneakers by between 5 percent and 10 percent this fall, according to the Wall Street. The across-the-board increase will result in a $5 bump on low-end kicks like the Converse Chuck Taylor All-Stars (the choice of Dan Devine since round about 1999) and a somewhat steeper price tag on the Oregon apparel giant’s higher-end items, including the forthcoming LeBron X, the 10th edition of LeBron James’ signature sneaker.

James unveiled the LeBron X — which are “inspired, both aesthetically and metaphorically, by the diamond, a precious and nearly indestructible gemstone.” The hotly anticipated signature shoe will hit the market this fall in two models: the standard version, which will retail at $180 a pair, and the LeBron X Nike Plus, which will run you $315, making it the most expensive pair of sneakers Nike’s ever brought to market.

Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson is being plagued by Murphy’s Law. It’s been just over a week since he was arrested for allegedly assaulting his wife, Evelyn Lozada, and now the former Miami Dolphins player is being sued, on top of mounds of other unfortunate luck.

Johnson’s former employee, Jacinth Preston, filed suit in Broward County, Fla. on Aug. 7, claiming that the 34-year-old owes him $130,000 for providing several services including landscaping and decorat-ing. Preston filed a lien against Johnson, which may result in foreclosure, if he doesn’t pay up.

Ironically the wide-receiver is already in fear of having his $400,000 Miami condo foreclosed on over thousands of dollars in unpaid maintenance fees.