Bucs’ QB Winston suspended for three games
The Tampa Bay Buccaneers will open the season without quarterback Jameis Winston, who has been suspended three games for violating the NFL's personal conduct policy.
Winston said in a statement released on Facebook that the NFL informed him of their decision on Thursday.
The discipline stems from the league's investigation of an accusation that the 2013 Heisman Trophy winner groped a female Uber driver during a ride the quarterback took in Arizona, where Winston was attending a charity event in March 2016.
The driver did not file a criminal or civil complaint, however she reported the incident to Uber.
The NFL learned of the allegation, when it was reported publicly last November.
He will miss the Bucs' season opener at New Orleans on Sept. 9, as well as homes games against defending Super Bowl champion Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.
The suspension will cost Winston $124,411 of his base salary of $705,000 for the upcoming season.
The quarterback is set to earn $20.9 million in 2019.
Panthers owner fined by NFL
The NFL has fined former Carolina Panthers owner Jerry Richardson $2.75 million following its investigation into sexual and racial misconduct in the workplace.
The league said Thursday the investigation conducted by former U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White
substantiated the allegations against Richardson, that the improper conduct was limited to him and that the team and its ownership failed to report the allegations or any resolution agreements to the league.
The league also said most of the money will go toward organizations that address racial- and gender-based issues in and outside the workplace.
Richardson put the team up for sale after a Sports Illustrated report in December that Richardson made sexually suggestive comments to women and on at least one occasion directed a racial slur at an African-American Panthers scout. The report also stated that the settlements came with non-disclosure requirements forbidding the parties from discussing the details.
Richardson has an agreement to sell the Panthers for a league-record $2.2 billion to hedge fund president and owner David Tepper.
Brother of Giants player charged in death
The brother of New York Giants cornerback Janoris Jenkins had an alleged altercation in his brother's New Jersey home that led to the death of a 25-yearold man.
In releasing the complaint and the warrant against 34-year-old William H. Jenkins, of Fair Lawn, on Thursday, the Bergen County prosecutor's office says Jenkins showed extreme indifference to human life in recklessly causing the death of Roosevelt Rene.
The complaint says William Jenkins got into an altercation with Rene on Monday night that resulted in Rene's death. Jenkins then fled and was arrested later Monday by the New York State Police on an unrelated matter and held in the Ontario County Jail.
William Jenkins, described by the prosecutor as an employed music producer, has been charged with one count of aggravated manslaughter.