Florida Sentinel Bulletin

DETROIT — Authorities say New York Jets receiver and former Michigan standout Braylon Edwards was involved in a minor car crash on the Detroit River island park of Belle Isle.

Officer Phillip Cook said Edwards was driving a two-seat sports car with an unidentified passenger about 3:40 a.m. Friday when he lost control, drove off the road and into a pylon. Neither he nor his passenger was injured.

Cook said there were no tickets issued and alcohol doesn’t appear to be a factor. Edwards tweeted: Got into a fender bender last night, turns out Audi’s & rain don’t mix to well. I’m good.”

Edwards faces trial in a New York DWI case stemming from a Sept. 21 police stop. He has denied the charges.

WIMBLEDON, England — Returning to Grand Slam tennis after a year out with health problems, Serena Williams opened her Wimbledon title defense Tuesday by beating Aravane Rezai in three sets — then burst into tears on Centre Court.

After serving her 13th ace to close a 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 victory, Williams buried her face in her towel and sobbed from her courtside chair. She was still crying as she left the court, overcome with emotion after enduring a long layoff that included two foot operations and treatment for blood clots in her lungs.

EAST RUTHERFORD, NJ  — Tiki Barber says failures off the field after his retirement from football in 2006 led to a yearlong bout with depression.

The 36-year-old Barber, the New York Giants’ career leading rusher, acknowledged that he now needs football more than it needs him.

Barber has spent the past four months working out in an attempt to make a comeback, although his chances rest on the league and its players reaching a new collective bargaining agreement.

Barber said football represents a necessary anchor in a life turned upside down by the depressive aftermath of scandalous divorce and disintegration of his television career.

DETROIT — Denver Broncos defensive player Jason Hunter was struck in the left upper chest by a kitchen knife hurled at him by his girlfriend during an argument over cell phones.

Hunter told police the woman waved the knife and told him to stay back before throwing it. She then took her boyfriend to receive medical treatment and later was arrested “after being pointed out by hospital security,” the report said.

The officers who wrote the report said the girlfriend was angry about having found a bag of cell phones, which Hunter claimed “were not his and belonged to his boy.”

Venoy Overton, former back up point guard for the University of  Washington Huskies has allegedly now turned into a pimp after being charged with a second-degree felony for promoting prostitution. The girl he didn’t want to refuse money from is an 18-year-old woman who was reportedly encouraged to perform sex acts on other men for money by Overton.

It began when the woman claimed she was broke and called her “boyfriend” Venoy who dropped her off at Pacific Highway South, a place known for prostitution and told her to “walk slow and sexy.” The result was a $200 payoff which she split evenly with him and since then she’s been paying him $100 a week whenever she wanted to see him. Venoy’s made approximately $3,000 from her in total.

PHILADELPHIA — Long-time NFL defensive end Raheem Brock was arrested in his hometown of Philadelphia after a dispute at a restaurant.

Police Lt. Raymond Evers says Brock ran out on a $27 bar tab at Copabanana on Thursday.

Brock’s party was asked to leave after one of them brought in food from another eatery. Harris says they told the waitress they weren’t going to pay the bar tab

MIAMI — Pat Riley expects better days are ahead for the Miami Heat.

Speaking Tuesday, Miami’s team president said that not winning the title was a disappointment – but insisted the season still had plenty of successes.
“I’ll say it. I’m not afraid to say it,” Riley said at his annual end-of-season availability. “We are going to be multiple contenders, OK?

Riley said the team would add more pieces to complement LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh next season, plus was looking forward to seeing what can happen with a healthy Udonis Haslem and Mike Miller, both of whom had their 2010-11 campaign marred by injuries.

He also said Erik Spoelstra would coach, shooting down any notion that the Hall of Famer was considering a return to the bench.

A college football player was pulled off a flight and arrested because he was wearing his pants too low.

Deshon Marman, 20, a University of New Mexico player was boarding a flight back to college when he was stopped because his pants were ‘below his buttocks, but above the knees, and his boxer shorts were showing’.

Police said the man who was flying back to Alberqurque from home in San Francisco, California, was told by a U.S. Airways employee to pull up his pants, but he refused.

Officers said that after 15 minutes Marman left the aircraft and was arrested for trespassing. ‘One of the flight attendants on that aircraft was offended by the fact that she could see the outline of his private area,’ Sergeant Michael Rodriguez said.

Marman was taken to San Mateo jail and has been charged with trespassing, battery and resisting arrest. A U.S. Airways spokesman said the airline’s dress code forbids ‘indecent exposure or inappropriate’ attire.

But his mother Donna Doyle said: ‘He was attacked for three reasons – his clothing, his skin, and his hair.’ She admits that her son should have pulled up his pants, but said he was upset as he had just come back to San Francisco to attend the funeral of fellow former high school football star who was murdered.

Dwyane Wade has plenty of awards on his mantelpiece for his exploits in the NBA, but the latest honor for the Heat star is for his work off the court with his kids.

On Thursday, Wade was named the 2011 recipient of a Fatherhood Award courtesy of the National Fatherhood Initiative for his “dedication to his two sons,” the NFI said in a statement.

“This Fatherhood Award reflects Dwyane’s commitment to being the kind of dad his sons need him to be,” said NFI president Roland C. Warren. “He gives dads everywhere a great example of what it means to be an involved, responsible, and committed father.