Florida Sentinel Bulletin

NEW ORLEANS  — Saints linebacker, Jonathan Vilma has appealed his season-long suspension under the NFL’s bounty investigation, which named him as a ringleader of the cash-for-hits system.

In papers filed Monday, Vilma argues that Commissioner Roger Goodell should not hear the appeal and asks for a delay in the process until the matter of who should decide on it has been settled through NFL Players Association grievances filed last week.

Vilma’s appeal states the NFL has not presented evidence linking him to a system in which players were paid to injure opponents. It asks the league to provide documentation, including witness statements.

LAS VEGAS — Floyd Mayweather Jr. used his speed and accuracy to win a unanimous decision Saturday night over Miguel Cotto in one of his toughest fights ever.

Mayweather dominated late, rocking Cotto in the 12th round to pull out a win and remain unbeaten in 43 fights. But it wasn’t easy, with Mayweather getting his nose bloodied and Cotto fighting until the final bell.

Mayweather won Cotto’s 154-pound title in the fight, which two judges scored 117-111 and the third 118-110.

Mayweather Jr. will make a minimum $32 million for his fight with Cotto at the MGM Grand Garden. It is the largest guarantee payday for a boxer in history Mayweather could walk away with $50 million.

A Charlotte County judge reduced the bail Thursday for Tampa Bay Rays minor-leaguer Matt Bush from $1.015 million to $440,000.

Bush was arrested in connection with a March 22 hit-and-run crash on U. S. 41 in Port Charlotte that seriously injured a motorcyclist. Bush faces seven charges, including driving under the influence and fleeing the scene of an accident.

Bail was set March 24, but Bush’s attorney, Russell Kirshy, argued that it should be lowered after reviewing similar cases in Charlotte County.

New York Post columnist Phil Mushnick provoked outrage last week as he used a racial slur in an insensitive rant against the Brooklyn Nets and their co-owner rapper Jay-Z.

Opining that the team should consider changing their name to the ‘New York Ni**ers’ in what one can only assume is meant to be a dig at Jay-Z’s use of the n-word in his lyrics, Mushnick argues that since the team has a new “urban” locale, it should get the full “Jay-Z treatment.”

As long as the Nets are allowing Jay-Z to call their marketing shots — what a shock that he chose Black and white as the new team colors to stress, as the Nets explained, their new “urban” home — why not have him apply the full Jay-Z treatment?

Why the Brooklyn Nets, ,when they can be the New York N———s? The cheerleaders could be the Brooklyn B——hes or Hoes. Team logo? A 9 mm with hollow-tip shell casings strewn beneath. Wanna be Jay-Z hip? Then go all the way!

Mushnick’s comments have already fueled a firestorm on Twitter, with numerous commentators in the sports world calling for him to be fired by the Post immediately.

Retired NBA superstar Shaquille O’Neal graduated Saturday with a doctoral degree in education from the Miami Shores University. His 7-foot-1 frame donned a red-and-black velvet gown as he joins 1,100 graduating students at the commencement ceremonies at the James L. Knight Center in Miami.

Known simply as Shaq, he now can call himself Dr. O’Neal. For 4½ years, the former Miami Heat center took 16 courses, completed 54 credit hours and carried a grade point average of 3.813, according to the university. The 40-year-old’s exact degree is in Organizational Learning and Leadership, with a specialization in human resource development.

OCEANSIDE, Calif. – Junior Seau, regarded as one of the NFL’s elite linebackers over a 20-year career with the San Diego Chargers, Miami Dolphins, and New England Patriots, died of a gunshot wound to the chest Wednesday at his home. He was 43.

Police said Seau’s death was being investigated as a suicide. He was found by his girlfriend in a bedroom and a handgun was found near his body, police said.

A native of Oceanside, Seau starred at the University of Southern California before he was drafted fifth overall in the 1990 NFL draft by the Chargers.

A 12-time pro bowler, Seau played 13 seasons with the Chargers and was one of the team’s most popular players. In 1994, he led the team to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the San Francisco 49ers. The Pro Football Hall of Fame selected him for the 1990s All-Decade Team.

Seau is survived by three teenage children: a daughter, Sydney, and sons, Jake and Hunter.

Seau is the second retired NFL player to commit suicide in the past few weeks. Ray Easterling, a safety for the Atlanta Falcons in the 1970s and a plaintiff in a high-profile lawsuit against the NFL over its handling of concussion-related injuries, died last month of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

The circumstances of Seau’s death instantly raised comparisons to former Chicago Bears star, Dave Duerson. In February 2011, Duerson shot himself in the chest, saying in a note he wanted his brain donated to the study of football head injuries.

Eric LeGrand’s football coach at Rutgers helped him emotionally in the months after his on-field paralysis. Now, the coach is symbolically helping him realize his dream of making it to the NFL.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, now coached by ex-Rutgers head coach, Greg Schiano, announced Wednesday they’ve signed the former defensive tackle, who was partially paralyzed in a 2010 game, to their 90-man off-season roster.

Schiano offered the symbolic deal to his former player by phone Tuesday.

“LeGrand collided with an Army kick returner while making a tackle on October 16, 2010, injuring his spinal cord and leaving him paralyzed from the neck down.

New Orleans Saints linebacker Jonathan Vilma was suspended without pay for the entire 2012 season by the NFL. He was one of four players punished Wednesday for participating in the team’s cash-for-hits bounty system.

Defensive lineman Anthony Hargrove, now with the Green Bay Packers, was suspended for the first half of the 16-game season; Saints defensive end Will Smith was barred for the opening four games; and linebacker Scott Fujita, now with the Cleveland Browns, will miss the first three games. Like Vilma, they were suspended without pay.

All four players have three days to appeal NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell’s ruling, and the head of the NFL Players Association said the union would fight the penalties. Fujita is a member of the NFLPA’s executive committee.

The league’s statement said Vilma, Hargrove, Smith, and Fujita were suspended because of conduct detrimental to the NFL as a result of their leadership roles with the bounties.

Originally the league said that 22 to 27 defensive players were involved in the illegal scheme, which was orchestrated by then Saints defensive coordinator, Gregg Williams, and started in the season the Saints won its only Super Bowl championship.

Targeted opponents included quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers, Cam Newton, Brett Favre, and Kurt Warner. Knockouts were worth $1,500 and cart-offs $1,000, with payments doubled or tripled for the playoffs.

On the day after the Tampa Bay Buccaneers made a pair of trades to get Alabama safety Mark Barron, and Boise State running back Doug Martin in the first round of the NFL draft, analysts had high opinions of the team’s efforts.

On ESPN, former NFL players-turned analysts Trent Dilfer, Herm Edwards, and Ron Jaworski, all rated the Bucs’ first-round performance as the best in the league.

Former Washington Redskins and Houston Texans General Manager, Charlie Casserly, gave the Bucs an A-plus for their first round work, which also was deemed he best first day effort by former NFL quarterback, Kurt Warner.

NFL Network and NBC analyst, Mike Mayock, rated the Bucs as big winners, largely for their selection of Barron.

With LSU cornerback Morris Claiborne still available, the Bucs traded with Jacksonville, moving down two places and picking up a fourth round pick. The Dallas Cowboys traded into the No. 6 position to select Claiborne.