* After more than five seasons, veteran Lightning wing J.T. Brown is no longer a member of the Bolts. He was claimed off waivers by the Anaheim Ducks. Brown will be remembered in several ways. He was good, just not as good as hoped. He was the Bolts’ only African-American player. He was also the first player in the league to perform a silent racial protest during the national anthem. He raised a fist from the bench.
But he wasn’t done. He didn’t just raise the fist or kneel the knee. He literally got involved in police-community relations. He did ride-alongs with TPD officers to see patrol reality from their perspective. He also joined officers for trick-or-treating in Seminole Heights.
J.T. Brown was no star and ultimately came up short of expectations. But he showed social awareness, and he showed class. He was good for the Lightning and good for Tampa. Good luck, J.T.
* A lot of folks have an opinion on UCF’s perfect football season and whether the Knights were shortchanged by a system that precluded them from participating in a national championship playoff. Here’s Bobby Bowden’s take: “If I were (UCF), I would be yelling just like them, celebrating an undefeated season and a national championship.”
* So I get this head’s up from my brother who still lives in Philly. He’s been told–by some geek-buddy-high school-football-archivist sort–that I actually hold a record at my alma mater, La Salle HS. It’s for the most TD catches in a decade, in this case the 1960s. It’s been verified. They can check stats and game films. I was blindsided. Back-in-the-day stuff. Who knew? But, well, kind of cool, I guess.
Then came an inevitable, O’Neillian punch line. The, uh, grand total was three. It was the three-yards-and-a-cloud-of-dust era. We ran the ball all the time. But, yeah, it still counts.