Florida Sentinel Bulletin

Lions coach Jim Schwartz turned and looked over his left shoulder as his star receiver Calvin Johnson sat quietly in a corner.

“That deal is signed, right?” Schwartz said. “Everything’s signed? I’d have held out for more money, Calvin.

“Calvin’s one of those guys that, and we’ve said this about a few guys in our building now, that whatever you pay him is not enough. And he’s truly a special player.”

The Lions made their special player the highest-paid receiver in the game Wednesday, signing Johnson to an 8-year, $132-million contract that would keep Johnson in Detroit through 2019.

The deal includes a record $60 million in guarantees, topping the $50 million Rams quarterback Sam Bradford got in his rookie deal two years ago, and frees up about $9 million in cap space that the Lions can use in free agency.

The final hours until Thursday’s 3 p.m. ET NBA trade deadline have disintegrated into complete chaos surrounding the future of Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard.

After Howard repeatedly changed his mind Wednesday on whether to sign a waiver for his contract’s early termination option for the 2012-13 season – he told Magic officials he would be back next season then told them later in the day he wouldn’t commit to signing the waiver, allowing him to enter free agency on July 1.

Howard said he would sign the paperwork for the waiver to remain with the Magic through the 2012-13 season and forgo free agency.

Howard initially asked the Magic to trade him before the start of the season. “Man, listen, you know my heart, my soul and everything I have is in Orlando,” Howard said. “I just can’t leave it behind.”

Howard also said in the interview that he had received “bad advice” in the weeks leading up to the trade deadline. “I apologize for this circus I have caused to the fans of our city,” he said. “They didn’t deserve none of this.”

Several of Howard’s advisers and other members of his inner circle were unaware of his change of heart Wednesday night.

SANTA CLARA, CA – Randy Moss is ready to show the world he can still be that dynamic deep threat who once dominated NFL defensive backs.

Even after a year away. Even at age 35. Even with a reputation he says isn’t all it’s made out to be.

Moss is getting a another chance in the NFL, signing a one-year contract with the San Francisco 49ers on Monday only hours after he worked out for the team and with former NFL quarterback and current coach Jim Harbaugh.

“I’m not a free agent. I’m a guy straight off the couch, straight off the street,’‘ Moss said. “One thing I want the sports world to understand is the love and passion I have for football.’‘

Almost a week after the NFL pointed to them for failing to stop a bounty program involving some two dozen Saints players, coach Sean Payton and general manager Mickey Loomis apologized and took the blame for violations that “happened under our watch.”

“These are serious violations and we understand the negative impact it has had on our game,” Payton and Loomis added. “Both of us have made it clear within our organization that this will never happen again, and make that same promise to the NFL and most importantly to all of our fans,” Payton and Loomis said in a joint statement Tuesday.

An on-campus party turned ugly over the weekend at the University of Arizona. According to the college’s student newspaper, four Arizona football players were arrested on charges of trespassing and assault.

Per police reports, sophomore cornerback, Jourdon Grandon, sophomore offensive tackle, Fabbians Ebbele and sophomore offensive lineman, Eric Bender-Ramsay (pictured) were arrested and charged with criminal trespassing in the first degree and assault.

INDIANAPOLIS  — Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts ended their successful partnership with a tearful goodbye Wednesday, when team owner Jim Irsay released the star quarterback rather than pay a whopping $28 million bonus while there are lingering questions about his health.

“We all know that nothing lasts forever,” Manning said. “Times change, circumstances change, and that’s the reality of playing in the NFL.”

Manning and Irsay each paused frequently, fighting tears and their voices shaking, as they appeared together at a news conference at the Colts’ team complex.

BOSTON  — Nine more men are accusing a now-dead Boston Red Sox clubhouse manager of sexual abuse, including assaults at Fenway Park and Memorial Stadium, former home of the Baltimore Orioles.

Attorney Mitchell Garabedian said 11 men have now come forward to him to claim abuse by Donald Fitzpatrick between the 1960s and early 1990s.

Ten of the men worked in their teens as clubhouse attendants, including eight who worked for the Red Sox and two for the Orioles. Another man says he was 12 when Fitzpatrick lured him to his Randolph home with promises of baseball memorabilia, then molested him.

Ron Shelton, a former Orioles attendant, said Fitzpatrick molested him twice, the first time after cornering him in an equipment room in 1990 at Memorial Stadium.

Fitzpatrick, who died in 2005, resigned from the Red Sox in 1991 after the first of the charges against him. In 2002, he pleaded guilty to attempted sexual battery on a child under 12. The Red Sox have also settled a lawsuit by seven Florida men who claimed Fitzpatrick abused them.

NEW YORK  — No better place for Gabby Douglas to have a coming out party than Madison Square Garden.

Oozing class, confidence and some serious star power, the 16-year-old upstaged world gymnastics champion Jordyn Wieber on Saturday by posting the highest score at the American Cup.

The London Olympics are less than five months away, and Douglas’ emergence is further sign that the Americans might have their deepest — and most dangerous — team yet.

Wieber was the official winner Saturday, giving her a second straight American Cup title and third overall. Fellow American Aly Raisman was second.

CHARLOTTE, NC  — For a few minutes Friday, First Lady Michelle Obama turned the hardwood floor at the Time Warner Arena into an elementary school gym.
Mrs. Obama was in North Carolina for two Democratic Party events in Raleigh and Charlotte.

But before those fundraisers, she promoted the “Let’s Move!” fitness program with children from two Charlotte elementary schools. It took place after the first women’s basketball game at the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association basketball tournament.

Mrs. Obama walked to midcourt and addressed the crowd about her national anti-obesity campaign. She touted basketball as a way to keep active. “We need them to be the next generation to handle challenges,” she said.

She promised she wouldn’t talk long because “we’re going to be moving around.”

“There’s no better way than basketball to illustrate the point (of staying healthy.) We are a basketball family and my husband is a crazy fanatic about basketball,” she said.

Mrs. Obama and Sen. Kay Hagan, D-N.C., then took part as students from two Charlotte elementary schools competed in a relay. After the students ran the length of the court and jumped rope, Mrs. Obama and Hagan tossed them basketballs so they could take shots. Afterward, Mrs. Obama hugged some of the children to cheers from the crowd attending the conference tournament.