Six Former Tennessee State Tigers Start NFL Camp

NASHVILLE, Tennessee - The 100 Moments of TSU Athletics presented by Taco Bell® series continues by recognizing a handful of former Tennessee State student-athletes who are currently preparing for contests on the gridiron.

As of Aug. 7, there are six former TSU Tigers competing to make NFL rosters and are practicing with their respective teams in training camps.

Former Tiger Rico Council is just starting his NFL journey and is trying to find a place on the Falcons' depth chart.

Council, a linebacker from Chattanooga, Tenn., was signed by the Atlanta Falcons as an undrafted free agent after senior season in which he was tabbed as the Ohio Valley Conference Preseason Co- Defensive Player of the Year. In 2011, he led the Tigers in tackles with 87 and recorded 8.5 tackles for loss. Council has a strong chance to make the Falcons' roster after the team lost linebacker Curtis Lofton to free agency and multiple other linebackers due to injury.

On Aug. 6, the Cowboys announced the signing of former TSU running back Javarris Williams. Dallas marks the third team that Williams has played for since being drafted in the seventh round by the Kansas City Chiefs in 2009. Williams has six career carries in the NFL after tallying over 3,000 yards at Tennessee State. The Richmond Tex. native currently has four players ahead of him on the depth chart.

Another player trying to stick with his current team is center Cecil Newton of the Baltimore Ravens. Newton started for four years at center for the Tigers and helped pave the way for the afore-mentioned Williams. Following college, Newton signed a contract with the Jaguars as an undrafted free agent. Since that time, Newton has played for four different clubs on their practice squads.

Safety Anthony Levine is looking to move up the Green Bay Packers depth chart after spending much of his first season on the team's practice squad. Levine posted 129 tackles and five interceptions during his TSU career and was earned second-team All-Conference honors as a senior. Levine is currently Green Bay's third free safety.

Defensive Tackle Lamar Divens has been in the NFL since 2008, but this will be his first season as a member of the Tennessee Titans. Divens has played for three other teams during his time in the league, but played in all of his five career games with the Ravens. After transferring from Vanderbilt after his sophomore season, Divens came to TSU and posted 43 tackles and recovered one fumble. According to the team's website, Divens is expected to join the club's defensive line rotation thanks to his size and strength.

Perhaps the most publicized of the bunch is cornerback Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie who enters his fifth season in the league and second with the Philadelphia Eagles. Rodgers-Cromartie was originally drafted by the Arizona Cardinals in the first round of the 2008 NFL Draft after an impressive college career. He was selected to the Pro Bowl after the 2010 season and is trying to repeat that feat after becoming one of the team's top two cornerbacks.

See some of Rodgers-Cromartie's highlights from last season with the Philadelphia Eagles:



The 100 Moments of TSU Athletics presented by Taco Bell® highlights some of the greatest moments in honor of Tennessee State's centennial celebration. A new moment will be released each weekday for a total of 100. These moments were chosen by the TSU 100 Moments committee, which consists of alums from various departments. TSU has so many great moments, not all can be represented in these 100.

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VSU to play in Gannon's Porreco Cup basketball tournament

GANNON, Pennsylvania - Virginia State University has been added to the Gannon University men's basketball Porreco Cup tournament.

Bowie State University originally has been scheduled as part of the four-team field Dec. 14-15 at the Hammermill Center. The Bulldogs were coming off a season in which they went 22-6 overall and won the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association Northern Division.

When the Bulldogs withdrew, Gannon added the Trojans, who went 8-19 overall and 7-9 in the CIAA a season ago. Virginia State was 1-12 on the road, including 0-5 against non-conference opponents.

Notre Dame College (Ohio) and West Virginia Wesleyan College also are in the field for the 39th annual tournament.

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Know the Opponent: South Carolina State Bulldogs

TUCSON, Arizona -- Continuing our know the opponent series, we’ll spend the next three entries going back to the FCS ranks before finishing with FBS teams. Today we look at the South Carolina State Bulldogs who went 7-4 and 6-2 MEAC.

In 2011 the Bulldogs played at Central Michigan and Indiana both losses, this season they’ll again travel to a pair of FCS opponents. On September 15 they’ll travel to Tucson’s Arizona Stadium to face the Wildcats at 7:30 pm on the Pac-12 network and a week later they’ll visit College State and Texas A&M.

Returning will be two signal callers Richard Cue playing in nine games and Derrick Wiley who played in seven. Cue threw for 900 yards with seven touchdowns, he also rushed for 514 yards reaching the endzone eight times. Wiley had 727 yards through the air with six TD’s his longest pass being 71 yards.

Asheton Jordon played in all 11 games running for 774 yards with five scores good for 70.4 yards a game. Jalen Simmons is the third leading returners behind Cue and Jordon with 304 yards with two TD’s.

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JSU sprinter Jobodwana reaches 200m finals

LONDON — The most surprised competitor at the Olympic track and field competition Wednesday night might have been Anaso Jobodwana.

He will be a unexpected participant in today's 200-meter finals after finishing second in his heat on Wednesday. "I didn't expect it so, it's like a bonus,'' said Jobodwana, who runs for Jackson State and represents his native South Africa. "It was a goal, but I was not expecting it.''

Jobodwana earned his spot in the finals with a time of 20.27 seconds, a time that was second in the heat to you-know-who: Usain Bolt, the fastest human being on the planet.



"Well, it was incredible running against the world record holder,'' Jobodwana said, beaming. "It actually pushed me so much. I knew he was jogging so it was like, 'Hey, let me try.''

He tried well enough to finish second and extend his time on the track by a day.

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JSU Tigers' Mitchell hopes long wait ends this year comeback

JACKSON, Mississippi - On Tuesday, the Jackson State football team finished its second practice of the day like it did the first, by sprinting the width of the field and back.

For that evening session, Tigers coach Rick Comegy added a new wrinkle - sprint down and then bear crawl your way back. With a sweltering mid-day sun beating down on them, JSU players labored on, calling on every ounce of mental and physical strength they had to take the next step.

Darius Mitchell, the Tigers barrel-chested 6-foot-3, 320-pound offensive lineman out of Atlanta, Ga., didn't have it so tough. He simply walked the rubber track that encircles the Tigers' practice field.

But in Mitchell's case, it isn't really as simple as it seems.

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Intensity, pace increase at Grambling practices

GRAMBLING, Louisiana -- Mother nature forced Grambling to cancel practice Wednesday night, but she hasn't stopped coach Doug Williams from getting a better look at his team already this week.

The Tigers donned pads for the first time Monday, rested Tuesday and returned to practice Wednesday morning before having to call off their evening plans.

More contact and an increasing schedule, which includes sessions Thursday night and Friday morning and night, has quickly raised the intensity level, Williams said.

"There's no doubt when the pads come on you see ...

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Orlando Magic sign Queens product Kyle O'Quinn of Norfolk State, their second round pick

NEW YORK, New York -- It is one of the great rags-to-riches New York stories. Four years ago Kyle O’Quinn was graduating from Campus Magnet High in Queens with only one scholarship offer.

On Wednesday night he signed a three-year, $2.5 million contract to play for the Orlando Magic of the NBA. “He couldn’t be more excited,” said Alberto Ebanks, his agent. “This is him fulfilling his dream, a dream a lot of people probably never envisioned.”

O’Quinn’s scholarship offer was from Norfolk State and he made the most out of it.



As a senior this season he was the MEAC’s Player of the Year and carried his team to a conference title and an NCAA Tournament berth. The Spartans were the talk of the tournament’s first weekend after, as a No. 15 seed, they stunned No. 2 Missouri.

O’Quinn had 26 points and 14 rebounds in the game and made news when he left the court screaming “we even messed up my bracket!”


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