Randal “Thrill” Hill holds quite the diverse resume for a retired football legend.

After the electric wideout departed the University of Miami as a national champion, he played professionally and then became a federal agent for the Department of Homeland Security.

Now he’s running for congress for Florida’s District 24.

“[The interest has] always been there but we kind of kept in a box only to really talk about sports,” Hill said of his interest in politics on the Marc Hochman Show with Zach Krantz. “People who’ve known me know that I’ve tried to be politically astute and I I’ve set forth goals in my life. For example, I’ve always wanted to play professional sports. Done. I’ve always wanted to be a police officer. Done. I’ve always wanted to be a federal agent, kind of like Jason Bourne. Done. And now I want to go to the last chapter of my life and go into politics.

“When you have guys who are hyperactive, in tune with the community and want to give back to the community, it’s gonna happen. It’s gonna happen. And it’s gonna happen now because I’m gonna win.”

Hill will run against Rep. Frederica Wilson.




(cbs.local.com)

#proCane #Bears P Pat O’Donnell and S Antrel Rolle workout at #TheU

#UFam #BearDown

A photo posted by Pat O'Donnell (@patodonnell_16) on Jul 9, 2015 at 5:40pm PDT

After struggling last season with the Knicks, Shane Larkin is hoping a different system and borough will rejuvenate a career that he believes was stalled by Phil Jackson’s triangle.

“(The triangle) just wasn’t the best fit for me,” Larkin said. “It’s a good system but I’m a pick-and-roll point guard. That’s how I got in the NBA, playing pick-and-roll in college. That’s how I got here and now being back in a system where I can play the pick-and-roll and just getting in the lane, create for others, shoot my floater, and do a bunch of other things.”

Larkin was introduced Thursday as Brooklyn’s new point guard, signing a two-year, $3 million deal to play alongside Brook Lopez and Thaddeus Young. Where he fits in the rotation is still up in the air, considering the Nets have four point guards on the roster and it’s not clear who will stick around before training camp.

Larkin, 22, who is on his third NBA team in three seasons, acknowledged that he’s motivated to avoid a journeyman’s career, that he wants to stick around in Brooklyn beyond his contract. The former 18th overall pick out of the University of Miami averaged 6.2 points and three assists last season, leading the 17-win Knicks in minutes played.

“My rookie year (in Dallas), coming off an injury, I broke my ankle, miss the first 20 games. Last year, being in a system where it wasn’t really a fit,” said the son of MLB Hall of Famer Barry Larkin. “I feel like this year I can really go out there and be in the pick-and-roll, be in my comfort zone.

“I’m not talking bad about (the triangle),” Larkin clarified, “I just want to get that out there. It’s a great offense. I wish them nothing but the best.”

The three other point guards on Brooklyn’s roster have considerable more experience than Larkin – Deron Williams, Jarrett Jack and Steve Blake. But Williams and Jack are on the trading block as GM Billy King attempts to cut salary.

A source told the Daily News that the Nets are still deciding whether to keep Steve Blake, who was acquired in a trade last month with Portland and is a buyout candidate.

“I know we have a lot of guys at the point guard position. That’ll be resolved hopefully in the next month, eliminate, so hopefully we won’t have as many going to camp,” King said.

Larkin isn’t going anywhere.

“The one thing he’s still young. He came out (of college) early,” King said. “And we just said we want to get back to how you played in Miami – allowing you to be a leader on the floor, run the pick-and-roll, get up and down the court. That was the pitch to him.”

The Knicks did not try to re-sign Larkin, who was acquired from the Mavericks before last season.

“I talked to Billy (King) at 12 midnight, the first minute we could talk,” Larkin said. “I knew they had strong interest. I had some other teams that called but he was the only other GM that called at that time of night and express that type of interest. So just for him to do that showed me that they wanted me here. That was enough for me.” 


(nydailynews.com)

After being cut by the Texans in March, there were several teams interested in signing wide receiver Andre Johnson.

Unfortunately for Johnson though, none of those teams were the Miami Dolphins.

The Miami-native, who went to both high school and college in South Florida, had hoped that the Dolphins would contact him about possibly signing with the team during free agency.

"I always had a dream of playing at home," Johnson told the Miami Herald recently. "I was a huge Dolphins fan. But they never called."

After Johnson didn't hear from the Dolphins, he ended up signing with the Colts.

As for Miami, the Dolphins ended up calling former Vikings receiver Greg Jennings, who signed a two-year, $8 million deal with the team in April. Jennings contract was a lot cheaper than Johnson's, who ended up signing a three-year, $21 million deal with Indy in March.

Johnson signed with Indy just three days after the Dolphins had agreed to give Ndamukong Suh a six-year contract that included $60 million in guarantees.

"I understand the business side. I have a good situation[in Indy]," Johnson said.

A wide receiving corps of Johnson, DeVante Parker, Jarvis Landry and Kenny Stills in Miami would've been pretty ridiculous, but you have to think that Johnson ended up in a place that will probably end up working out better for him.

Not only wil the seven-time Pro Bowler have Andrew Luck throwing him the ball, but he'll be apart of a strong receiving group that will include T.Y. Hilton, Donte Moncrief and rookie Phillip Dorsett.

If Johnson's bitter at all about the Dolphins not calling, he can take it out on them in Week 16 when the Colts travel to Miami.


(cbssports.com)

Former Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis was able to ride off into the sunset after winning his second Super Bowl ring, but would he have come back for another season without it?

The answer is no, according to Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti, who sat down for a detailed one-on-one interview with Russell Street Report. 

Lewis spent the bulk of the 2012 season rehabbing a torn triceps tear, missing the final 10 games of the regular season. He worked around the clock with hopes of returning for the playoffs, a move that paid off in spades. 

"(Ray) said he needed to talk to me and told me what he was doing, I remember he told me he didn’t want to tell the team for about a month. When he told me I said, 'Number 1, it’s between us.' He had talked to John, Ozzie and me. I said, 'Do me a favor. Leave yourself time – by us keeping it quiet you have a month to decide before you tell the players.'

"And I said if it’s going to be a month, we’ll keep it close and it will give you an opportunity to change your mind because you have to acknowledge that this is a terrible time to make this decision, when you are grinding back the way you have. To come back from an injury that would have sidelined people for five months and you’re trying to [come back in] 10 weeks."

The constant grind apparently told Lewis that it was also time to hang up his cleats, knowing that he wanted to walk away from the game healthy. 

"You have to understand that while I’ve been training and recovering 20 hours a day I realized that I can’t do it anymore," Bisciotti reported Lewis as saying. "I can’t come back from another injury and I won’t take a chance on walking away hurt. But I know through this rehab that I can’t do it again. And so I’m protecting myself against that inevitability."


(foxsports.com)

A lot of Love & Respect for This Man !! @eighttodanine Real 💯💯

A photo posted by Desean Jackson (@0ne0fone) on Jul 6, 2015 at 6:20pm PDT

Love and respect are two of the most powerful words in the English dictionary.

Together, they represent the highest form of admiration for an individual.

And they also are what current Washington Redskins wide receiver DeSean Jackson sees in team legend Santana Moss.

Sure, they only played together for one season, but that shows what sort of reputation Moss had within the Redskins locker room and across the league.

Before Jackson and other diminutive wide receivers were making big plays each and every weekend, Moss was schooling opponents with his mix of speed, agility and excellent hands.

Here’s Antrel Rolle, clapping and yelling and leading the back end of an NFL defense for the 11th year in a row. He talks about bringing the fuel and whatever else he must from a back-end spot, not giving a rat’s behind, going full-go because he knows no other way. He’s 800 miles from where he lived and played the past five years, but he’s still trying to be the guy he always was. He is living a contradiction.

The truth is, Rolle is trying to change, too. You just know it. He boarded a plane for a new region on a whim, turning down money and a chance to keep the status quo. He’s growing the family, stretching the boundaries of what he thinks he’s here to do.

And he joined the Bears of all teams, that iconic NFL franchise so ingrained in ‘80s montages yet doing everything it possibly can right now to turn over a new leaf. He’s in Chicago, which has long been a place to preserve history but is becoming one hell of a landing zone to start fresh again.

That’s what Rolle wanted in early March, moments before he lay down to sleep. He prayed to God that night, asking for a sign of where he should go. He woke up randomly hours later, compelled to check his phone and the email that pinged into it. It was a message from Orbitz about discount flights to Chicago. That was the sign he wanted.

The prayer, and the decision that followed it, was mostly about free agency. But with his first child on the way and the constant, nagging feeling from the outside that he might be on the downward slide of his 11-year career, the prayer addressed a little about life, too. Ever since he’s arrived in Chicago, he’s spoken in terms of purpose – both for him and for this place and the ways those two will intertwine.

And so the questions Rolle faces are the epitome of becoming a Bear under today’s regime: What do I change, and what do I keep the same?

He’s always been rogue. Those things he says about fuel and fire and bringing it every day might be clichés carefully selected by many players, but they’re an ethos he’s tried to live inside for 11 years now. He’s totaled 799 tackles, 34 forced turnovers on the way to three Pro Bowls and one Super Bowl. He’s made $57.5 million, and so far, it’s been one big building project of him and his style of play.

That is, until now.

Rolle’s first child came into this world at 7:09 a.m. on May 21. It was a boy, and his daddy gave him his love and his time, missing a week of Bears practice to be there with his new family. He also gave him his name, calling him Antrel Rocelious Rolle Jr.

“It’s the best thing I’ve ever done in my life,” Rolle says. “It’s the best feeling I’ve ever experienced. I don’t think words can really explain the joy that having a son brings you to this world, but like I said, the hardest thing was to leave him to come back to work.

“But once I get out here on the field, it makes it all worthwhile. When I’m on the field, that’s the only thing I focus on.”

How the changing motivation will spill out into who Rolle will be in this new role – a sure-fire starting safety with an undefined position on a 3-4 defense on a roster of turnover – is another game of wait-and-see. But what Rolle isn’t hiding is that he does have to change, somehow.

He says every year is a challenge to get better from the year before. Right now, in that regard, Rolle might have quite a bit to improve. Rolle finished last season with 87 total tackles, his lowest total since his first year with the Giants in 2010, and it wasn’t hard to spot some of the ones he missed. Pro Football Focus rated his play at a -13.9, including -10.5 against the run. It had 80 safeties rated higher. The Giants just so happened to have their worst season in his five on the team, the bottom of a downward slide ever since they won the Super Bowl in 2011.

He was a free agent at year’s end, and the team expressed interest in bringing him back, but he said he knew it was time to leave. He was quoted as saying he believed he had “four great years left,” a hefty personal challenge for a 32-year-old coming off such a difficult year.

And so he came to Chicago, signing a three-year, $11.3 million deal. It’s good money, ranking 15th among safeties in cap hit, according to Spotrac, but it’s a far cry from the five-year, $37.1 million deal he signed with the Giants in 2010.

So maybe the Bears don’t expect Rolle to be the Rolle of the past, and maybe he doesn’t either. What they are offering him is plenty of opportunity on a defense in need of players in an organization going through tremendous change. They have a wide-open starting safety spot opposite Ryan Mundy, a chance to fix a secondary that finished 30th against the pass. They have a new 3-4 scheme in need of players who can pick it up quickly, and they have a locker room that just shipped out some of its long-time voices – Brandon Marshall, Charles Tillman, Lance Briggs – in search of something new.

Rolle feels he can check all the boxes. He started alongside Mundy in New York in 2013, when he notched the best season of his career with 98 tackles and six interceptions to go with a second-team All-NFL pick by the Associated Press. He studied Vic Fangio’s 49ers defenses before coming here, the career ballhawk falling in love with the freedom of movement he saw in the back end. And he’s always had the voice, the one that drew weekly headlines on a radio show in New York and has been said to put a teammate in his place a time or two.

He said he learned much of the vocal tactic at the University of Miami on those early-2000s teams known for swagger. Guys like Ed Reed, Ken Dorsey, Phil Buchanon and Mike Rumph showed the way with their pre-game speeches and on-field screams, and he followed.

“I just tell it like it is,” Rolle said. “Where I come from, it’s always been constructive criticism. You never lie to your brothers. You never lie to yourself. You never lie to your peers. That’s the way I like to approach it because when you do that, then you’re all getting better at the same time.”

It’s a tactic he admits doesn’t always instantly go over perfectly with every player, particularly sometimes with rookies. But he feels it’s one players adapt to – or maybe it’s that they need to adapt to it because at this point, that’s a little of who he is. But Mundy said it’s an attitude players generally learn to respect.

“He’s just like a natural, good-hearted guy and really authentic,” said Mundy, who left the Giants to sign with the Bears last offseason. “He wears his emotions on his sleeve. He lets you know exactly what he’s thinking, and you’ll know exactly where you stand with him. That’s one thing that I always appreciated about ‘Trel.”

Added Giants Coach Tom Coughlin at the NFL Scouting Combine: “I don’t think I was ever involved with a player who was more sincerely interested in how his team could improve.”

And so for now, Rolle will bank on what he knows to teach him what he doesn’t. He’ll poke and prod his teammates, pushing their buttons, seeing how they respond. He’ll command a voice in a locker room full of youngsters and a few veterans with something to prove. He feels like he understands their vices and wants to fill some voids where others cannot.

It’ll be different now, of course. That was part of the plan. The rest is what he’s waiting to find out.

“So far, our attitude has been great,” he said. “Everyone’s very enthused about what we have going on. New coaches, new players and new mindset. I haven’t been here before, but I’m not really concerned about what took place before. We’re going to worry about today and moving forward.”


(chicagofootball.com)

Yasmani Grandal clubbed a three-run home run and walked in five plate appearances, helping the Dodgers outslug the Phillies in Monday's win.

Grandal, named to the 2015 National League All-Star roster on Monday, hit a game-tying three-run home run to right-center in the fifth inning against Sean O'Sullivan. The backstop has homered three times and knocked in eight runs in his last six games. As a result, he is now hitting .271/.384/.507 with 13 home runs and 34 RBI.


(rotoworld.com)

Arizona Diamondbacks Triple-A prospect Peter O'Brien will participate in the Triple-A All-Star Home Run Derby, the organization announced Tuesday.

O'Brien, who has 15 home runs for the Reno Aces this season, will participate in the event on July 13 in Omaha, Neb.

This is the third straight season that the Aces have had a participant in the Home Run Derby, as O'Brien joins Mike Jacobs (2014) and Matt Davidson (2013). Davidson, who won the event in 2013, will be a part of the 2015 field as well.

O'Brien, 24, hit 34 home runs in the minor leagues last season, and has hit 81 career home runs in 356 minor league games.

The former Yankees farmhand was acquired in the deal that shipped former Arizona third baseman Martin Prado to New York at the 2014 MLB trade deadline.


(arizonasports.com)

Nearly 30 years after Michael Irvin helped put Miami Hurricanes football on the map as a star wide receiver, his son will try to help put UM back at the forefront of college football.

Michael Irvin, Jr., has committed to Miami.

"It's what I've always wanted to do," Irvin, Jr., told 247sports.com. "I like the coaches. They told me I would play all over for them. In the backfield, at tight end and at receiver. ... (My father) was proud of me when I told him of my decision and he thinks it will work out for me just like it did for him going there."

Irvin is rated a three-star recruit by 247sports.com, which also ranks him as the nation's No. 27 tight end prospect. Of course, name recognition alone will make the 6-foot-2, 200-pound athlete one of the Hurricanes' most closely followed freshmen in 2016.

He attends Ft. Lauderdale St. Thomas Aquinas High, one of the nation's top prep programs, where Michael Irvin, Sr., also attended.

See highlights of the younger Irvin here:

According to The Florida Times Union's Ryan O'Halloran, Allen Hurns will enter training camp ahead of Marqise Lee. (Florida Times Union)

Fantasy Impact: Lee was disappointing last season and started 2014 with a hamstring injury. Allen Hurns right now simply gives the Jags a better chance to win. Lee isn't worth drafting in standard formats at the moment.



(fantasypros.com)

1) Where were you born? I was born in Miami, Florida.

2) What family member do you most take after? Probably my mom.

3) Do you have any pets? No.

4) Do you have any phobias? No.

5) What’s your favorite food? I’m a seafood guy.

6) What’s your guilty pleasure? ESPN.

7) What makes you laugh? Anything funny.

8) Do you have any superstitions? No.

9) What’s your secret talent? Catching footballs. That’s about it.

10) What’s your pet peeve? Naw, don’t really have one. (Maybe people asking him 20 questions!?)

11) What’s your must see TV? Reruns of Martin.

12) Who’s your idol? Jerry Rice.

13) What’s one thing on your bucket list? Win a Super Bowl.

14) What’s one thing you can’t leave home without? Cell phones.

15) What are you really bad at? Dancing.

16) Who’s your funniest teammate? Erik Walden.

17) Who’s your loudest teammate? Zurlon Tipton.

18) Who’s your smartest teammate? Andrew Luck.

19) Who’s your most stylish teammate? I’m going to hold off on that one. (We’ll give him a pass, since he’s only seen his teammates in practice clothes.)

20) Do you have a bold prediction for the 2015 season? Pat McAfee will throw a touchdown pass.


(coltsroundup.com)

Point guard Shane Larkin is on the move, but he won't have to go far, as the former Knick is signing a two-year deal worth $3 million with the Nets, per Yahoo Sports.

Larkin played well in a backup role last season, averaging 6.2 points and 3.0 assists in 76 games for New York. He'll join a crowded backcourt in Brooklyn, where the Nets feature Deron Williams, Jarrett Jack and Steve Blake at the point guard position.


(cbssports.com)

Alonso went 2-for-3 with a walk in the 2-1 loss. He managed to score the only run the Padres got.

Fantasy Impact: He still is not elite or even strong. However, he has his place in deeper leagues and the possible addition of 3B eligibility in some leagues adds even more value. If he has 3B eligibility, then he becomes a possibility for a CI spot in medium leagues. He also can serve as a counter-balance if you have a team with a lot of power but a need for someone to raise your position in BA, as he is hitting .307 so far this season.


(fantasypros.com)

RENO – Reno Aces (@Aces) outfielder Peter O’Brien and infielder Jamie Romak have been named to the Pacific Coast League All-Star Team as starters, the PCL announced today.

The Aces have had at least one All-Star starter since the club’s first season in 2009 and it is the fourth time in the last five years the Aces have had multiple starters.

The 28th annual Triple-A All-Star Game will be played Wednesday, July 15, at Werner Park in Omaha, Nebraska at 5:00 p.m. PST. The PCL All-Stars, made up of 30 players from the 16 PCL teams, will compete against the International League All-Stars.

O’Brien, 24, is hitting .281 with 60 RBI, 43 runs scored, 20 doubles and 15 home runs in 74 games in 2015. He is among PCL league leaders in total bases (149 – 3rd), RBI (T-3rd), home runs (T-3rd), hits (80 – T-7th), slugging percentage (.523 – 9th) and doubles (T-10th).

The Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) honored O’Brien with its Organizational Player of the Month Award in April when he hit .383 with 20 RBI, 17 runs scored, 7 home runs and 7 doubles. It’s the third midseason honor for O’Brien who was named a South Atlantic League midseason All-Star in 2013 and an Eastern League midseason All-Star in 2014.


(kolotv.com)

The Orioles signed relief pitcher Chris Perez to a Triple-A deal on Thursday, per masnsports.com.

Perez will have to serve a 50-game suspension for his second drug abuse offense before he can play a game in the minors.

"That doesn't affect us right now, obviously for 50 games. There are games played after August," Orioles manager Buck Showalter said.

"We all make some changes in our lives and get better."

Perez was an All-Star with the Indians in 2011 and 2012 and he recorded 75 total saves over that span.


(cbssports.com)

Cardinals outfielder Jon Jay was placed on the 15-day disabled list Thursday, the team announced.

Jay recently suffered a stress reaction/bone bruise in his left wrist. The move was made retroactive to July 1.



(cbssports.com)

Brewers right fielder Ryan Braun went 1 for 4 in Sunday's win over Cincinnati.

Braun scored once and hit his 15th double of the year. The double extended his hitting streak to 10 consecutive games. He's hitting .439 over the streak.



(cbssports.com)

Cincinnati – The math is still daunting. No question about that. But when you’re playing better baseball, it allows you to dream a little.

The Brewers a wild card contender? With a 34-48 record and 10 games out of the race for the second wild card in the National League, it stretches the imagination.
But, the way Ryan Braun sees it, why not stretch your imagination?

“We legitimately feel we’re in a place where the thought process is to shock the world,” said Braun. “Why not? We’ve got three months left. Why not? We can go undefeated in July. Why not? We feel good about it.”

No, Braun has not become delusional. In a way, he was having fun with the concept of wild-card contention. But in a week when the Brewers had won every game entering Saturday and the offense resembled the ’27 Yankees, why not let your optimism take a leap?

Yes, it would take a 14-game winning streak just to get back to .500 but that’s if you needed to do it this month. Braun would like to see the Brewers continue to peck away at the deficit they built with a horrendous start and see what happens.

“The last week has been fun,” said Braun, who was batting .462 during the road trip. “I think it’s the first time we’ve really enjoyed baseball all year. You get back to the point where you really look forward to coming to the ballpark.

“We show up every day, everybody feels good about where we’re at. We feel like we’re going to give ourselves an opportunity to win. It makes the season a lot more enjoyable.

“The encouraging thing about it is there are a lot of guys up and down the lineup really swinging the bats well. Our bullpen has been dominant all year. And you see a lot of starters trending in the right direction. So, if somehow there’s a regression to the mean and everybody ends up somewhere near the realm of what their career numbers are, then there’s a lot of good baseball to be played by us.”

But, what about the fact that the Brewers not only were 10 games out of the second wild card but ninth in line, ahead of only woeful Philadelphia?

“The second wild card gives everybody a little bit of hope,” said Braun. “Sometimes, I think it’s false hope. There’s a decent amount of teams between us and that spot but we feel good about ourselves. We really do.

“It’s not nice to just show up every day and feel we’re the team we expected to be at the beginning of the year. It’s a good thing we’re even having this conversation because a week ago this conversation is not something anyone could have.”


(jsonline.com)

After the Dodgers were shut out in fan voting on Sunday, they did well when reserves and pitchers were announced Monday. First baseman Adrian Gonzalez, catcher Yasmani Grandal, center fielder Joc Pederson and pitcher Zack Greinke all were selected to the National League All-Star team on Monday.

Grandal is batting .277, and he leads NL catchers with 12 home runs and an .890 OPS.


(latimes.com)