Florida Sentinel Bulletin

MIAMI – Quarterback Jacory Harris and 11 other Miami players who accepted extra benefits from former booster Nevin Shapiro will be allowed by the NCAA to play again, the first sanctions in a scandal that continues to overshadow the Hurricanes.

Of those, eight will miss at least one game, and all 12 must pay restitution.

The harshest penalties handed down Tuesday were reserved for those who took gifts from Shapiro while being recruited. Defensive lineman Olivier Vernon will sit out six games, while Ray Ray Armstrong – considered among the nation’s top safeties – and tight end Dyron Dye will miss four games apiece. Among the players sanctioned, only Vernon will miss more than one Atlantic Coast Conference game.

JACKSONVILLE — Running back Fred Taylor is retiring from the NFL after 13 seasons and nearly 12,000 yards.

Taylor will sign a one-day contract with the Jacksonville Jaguars on Friday so he can formally retire with the team that drafted him ninth overall in 1998.

The ceremony surely will be an emotional one, with family members, friends and former teammates on hand.

The former Florida star spent 11 seasons in Jacksonville and remains the franchise’s leading rusher with 11,271 yards. He ranks third with 286 catches and fourth with 2,361 receiving yards. More telling than his stats was his transition from a shy college kid who seemed to find trouble in Gainesville into a model player who became a team leader and a strong voice for league issues.

Coaches and teammates lauded Taylor as one of the hardest-working players in Jacksonville’s locker room. Media members and team personnel regarded him as the easiest to deal with, a class act on and off the field, regardless of wins or losses.

Taylor spent the last two seasons playing sparingly in New England, where he ran 106 times for 424 yards and four touchdowns.

CHARLOTTE, NC — Cam Newton was treated like a starter during his preseason finale. He led one efficient drive, threw a touchdown pass and exited.

Then, after the game, his coach made it official: Newton will start for the Carolina Panthers in their opener. Newton threw his first TD as a pro in Carolina’s 33-17 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday night.

“Even with this position given, it doesn’t stop here,” Newton said. “I can’t just sit back and say, `I’ve arrived,’ because we’ve got a long way to go. … The record begins now.”

SAN FRANCISCO – Frank Gore has long tried to pattern himself after Hall of Famer Barry Sanders, who played his entire 10-year career with the Detroit Lions.

Gore has seen other great running backs move from team to team while evolving into NFL stars – and he never wanted to be one of them.

Loyal to the San Francisco 49ers since the day they drafted him in 2005 in the third round out of Miami, Gore hoped to stay put with the same franchise for the long haul, for his career.

Gore agreed Tuesday to the $21 million deal, with $13.5 million in guaranteed money. In what was to be the final year of his contract, Gore had hoped to land a new deal before the Niners’ Sept. 11 season opener at home against the defending NFC West champion Seattle Seahawks – and he got it.

Tiger Woods said he was “honored” to be one of the two picks by U.S. captain Fred Couples for the 2011 Presidents Cup team. The biennial event against a squad of international players will be held at Royal Melbourne Golf Club in Australia November 14-20.

“They wanted me on the team, and I’m honored to be a part of the team,” Woods said. “It’s a wonderful mix of younger guys and older veterans.”

Five former Tampa Bay Buccaneers are part of a group of former National Football league players suing the league and helmet-makers over head injuries suffered during their careers.

The 18 players named in the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles also include former Bucs Jimmie Giles, James Wilder, Cedric Brown, Greg Roberts, and Jesse Solomon.

The suit claims the NFL, Riddell Sports Group and its parent company, Easton-Bell Sports, knew the long term effects of brain injury from trauma suffered by the players and purposely hid it.

NFL spokesman, Greg Aiello, said the league will strongly contest the claims.

More than 75 current and former NFL players filed a similar suit in July, and another group did so this month in Philadelphia.

AUSTIN, TEXAS — Cincinnati Bengals running back Cedric Benson has been sentenced to 20 days in jail after reaching a deal to settle two misdemeanor assault cases in Texas.

Benson was in court in Austin, Texas, on Monday and the deal was struck after a jury was picked. He said he will surrender to authorities on Oct. 17, which is the Monday of Cincinnati’s bye week.

Benson was arrested in 2010 for allegedly punching a bar employee in Austin, and he pleaded no contest in that case. He was also arrested last month for allegedly punching a former roommate in downtown Austin. That case was dismissed.

Benson has been the Bengals’ leading rusher since 2008. The former Texas star was an unrestricted free agent but chose to sign a one-year contract to stay in Cincinnati.

PHILADELPHIA — Michael Vick is really back on top now.

Vick and the Philadelphia Eagles agreed on a six-year contract on Monday that again makes the Pro Bowl quarterback one of the highest-paid players in the NFL.

A source familiar with the negotiations said the deal is worth $100 million, including about $40 million guaranteed.

Vick was due to earn slightly more than $16 million this season after the Eagles designated him the franchise player in February. He’ll make a little less, possibly giving the Eagles salary cap flexibility to give Pro Bowl wide receiver DeSean Jackson an extension.

NEW YORK  — Venus Williams pulled out of the U.S. Open shortly before her second-round match Wednesday, saying she was diagnosed with Sjogren’s Syndrome, an autoimmune disease that causes fatigue and joint pain.

The 31-year-old American, the champion at Flushing Meadows in 2000 and 2001, played her first match in two months Monday, when she beat Vesna Dolonts 6-4, 6-3 in the first round. Williams was supposed to face 22nd-seeded Sabine Lisicki on Wednesday.

Williams had cited a virus when withdrawing from hard-court tuneup tournaments between Wimbledon and the U.S. Open.

“I enjoyed playing my first match here, and wish I could continue, but right now I am unable to,” Williams said in a statement released by the tournament.

“I am thankful I finally have a diagnosis and am now focused on getting better and returning to the court soon.”