Saints inform 2014 sack leader Galette (Stillman) of his release

METAIRIE, Louisiana -- The New Orleans Saints are getting rid of their best pass rusher.

NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reports that the Saints will release Junior Galette, according to a source informed of the situation Friday. Galette recorded 22 sacks over the last two seasons, and was handed a four-year extension worth $41.3 million in September of last year. He received $17.95 million in the last year alone.

Galette recently met with NFL officials, according to Rapoport. The league is looking into two off-the-field incidents by Galette and the Saints have grown increasingly frustrated with him. Galette was arrested on domestic violence and simple battery charges in January; the charges were eventually dropped. Galette was also dealing with a torn pectoral muscle this offseason. Doctors were split regarding whether Galette required surgery.

In a conversation with Evan Woodbery of The Times-Picayune, Galette cNalled the move "the worst call they've ever made. It was a terrible call to kick me when I'm down.

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“Meet the Jaguars” to draw Southern fans in Cenla

ALEXANDRIA, Louisiana -- Southern University’s pride is wide across Louisiana.

That statement can be said in Central Louisiana as the Rapides Chapter of the Southern University Alumni Federation will host an event where fans and alumni can meet with school officials prior to the season.

“Meet the Jaguars” will take place Saturday at Best Western Inn as Jaguars coach Dawson Odums will be in attendance.

“The Southern fan base is huge in Central Louisiana,” city councilman Roosevelt Johnson said. “Most of the fan base here are prominent in the community as lawyers, teachers and businessmen.”

One of the key points of the event is to help benefit a scholarship fund for future prospective students who may want to attend the university.

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Grambling, TSU could make Fobbs a winner

GRAMBLING STATE UNIVERSITY ATHLETICS

GRAMBLING, Louisiana -- Grambling’s Broderick Fobbs has come full circle to get where he’ll be at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 7.

As a youngster, Fobbs sat in the Independence Stadium stands with his parents and watched his favorite college team beat up on an opponent. Flash forward a few years and Fobbs was a Grambling Tiger participating in the game and beating up on yet another opponent.

“I’m undefeated in that stadium,” Fobbs said at a news conference on Friday morning announcing the Red River State Fair Classic, featuring the Fobbs-coached Tigers against Texas Southern. The game will be held during the run of the Louisiana State Fair and ticket holders to the game will be admitted to fair at no additional charge.

The game will in essence replace the Port City Classic, a three-year venture that ...

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FAMU's Jonathan Ferrell, the Randall Kerrick case and a college coach's remembrance

TALLAHASSEE, Florida -- On September 14, 2013, former Florida A&M football player Jonathan Ferrell lost his life on a Charlotte roadside. It's a script that now sounds too familiar. An unarmed black man. An armed police officer. And now, a contentious trial featuring two sides of the same story that always ends the same:

A life cut short. A life now recalled in twelve snapshots —one for every bullet fired toward Ferrell's body:

I. Ferrell fit the profile. Big and physical enough to play linebacker. Fast enough to play safety. Instinctive enough to grab a key interception in the Florida state championship game. A Florida A&M University High graduate with high-level D-I talent, but homebody tendencies, his heart Tallahassee-bound.

So naturally, Florida A&M’s college football program and then-defensive coordinator Earl Holmes saw Ferrell. And they took a shot.

II. September 14, 2013, in the dark hours past midnight:

Ferrell fit the profile from the panicked 911 call. A black man. Bleeding. Big enough to have filled the doorframe of Sarah McCartney’s Charlotte home.

According to Randall Kerrick’s attorneys, he ignored repeated police demands to hit the ground. He advanced.

So naturally, Officer Kerrick saw Ferrell. And he took a shot. Then he took eleven more. 12 bullets. Ten intercepted by Ferrell’s body. An 83.3 completion percentage. A body, touched down.

An officer shackled Ferrell's wrists as he died.

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XU Rush, Nuggets will compete for GCAC and Red River titles in 2015

NEW ORLEANS — Xavier University of Louisiana's men's and women's cross country teams will take shots at a pair of conference team championships this year.

Joseph Moses, beginning his 11th season as head coach, announced Thursday the 2015 schedules of the Gold Rush and Gold Nuggets.

Xavier recently announced its affiliation with the Red River Athletic Conference for cross country only in 2015. The Red River men's and women's champions will qualify automatically for the NAIA National Championships. But Xavier's longtime conference home, the Gulf Coast Athletic, still will offer a league meet, even though it is not an NAIA automatic-qualifying conference this season.

The GCAC meet — which will be scored as part of the Choctaw Open in Clinton, Miss. — will be Oct. 17. The RRAC meet will be Nov. 6 in San Antonio, Texas.

Xavier is the nine-time defending GCAC men's and women's team champion.

For the second straight year, Xavier will begin the season at home in its Big Easy Opener Aug. 28 at nearby City Park. Xavier's other metro New Orleans competition will be Sept. 12 in the Louisiana Army National Guard / ROTC Wolf Pack Invitational in Metairie, La.

Xavier will compete in two meets hosted by NCAA Division I schools: Sept. 4 in the Southern Miss Invitational and Sept. 19 in the LSU Invitational.

Charlotte, N.C., will be the site of this year's NAIA national meet. Lawrence, Kan., was the site the previous two years.

Xavier returns 2014 All-GCAC runners Christopher August and Brent Kitto from the men's team and Hannah Finnegan and Briana Simms from the women's. August and Finnegan were GCAC second-place finishers a year ago.

Xavier University of Louisiana 2015 Men's and Women's Cross Country Schedule Friday, Aug. 28 XAVIER BIG EASY OPENER, City Park, 5:30 p.m. women, 6 p.m. men Friday, Sept. 4 Southern Miss Invitational, Hattiesburg, Miss., 5:30 p.m. men, 6 p.m. women Saturday, Sept. 12 Louisiana Army National Guard / ROTC Wolf Pack Invitational, Metairie, La., 7:50 a.m. women, 8:25 a.m. men Saturday, Sept. 19 LSU Invitational, Baton Rouge, La., times to be announced Friday, Oct. 9 Mississippi College / Watson Ford Invitational, Clinton, Miss., 4:30 p.m. women, 5:15 p.m. men Saturday, Oct. 17 Choctaw Open / Gulf Coast Athletic Conference Championships, Clinton, Miss., 8:30 a.m. women, 9:15 a.m. men Friday, Nov. 6 Red River Athletic Conference Championships, San Antonio, Texas, times to be announced Saturday, Nov. 21 NAIA National Championships, Charlotte, N.C., 10:30 a.m. EST men, 11:45 a.m. EST women Home meets in BOLD CAPITAL LETTERS      All times are Central except where noted      Schedules are subject to change

Ed Cassiere, Sports Information Director
XULAgold.com
XAVIER UNIVERSITY OF LOUISIANA 
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Commentary: Accident changes perspective of ASU's Jenkins

MONTGOMERY, Alabama -- Brian Jenkins now walks with a noticeable limp.

It's not a result from pacing up and down the football sidelines for several years. Something else happened and in a split second did more than just change the manner in which he gets around.

For Jenkins, it changed his life.

Earlier this month, Jenkins said he was hit by an RV while sitting on his motorcycle on the side of the road on I-95 outside of Fayetteville, North Carolina. Jenkins said he was in the hospital for two days.

"As I laid there in the road, I thought I was dead," Jenkins said. "The grace of God kept me alive."

That's how Jenkins responded to a question at SWAC Media Day about his job security as it relates to allegations about ASU football and his time at Bethune-Cookman. This isn't to say he hasn't or isn't concerned or shouldn't be concerned about his future because there are reasons for him to be.

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Mack likes NCCU Eagles' depth and experience

CARY, North Carolina — N.C. Central football coach Jerry Mack displayed the confidence on Thursday at the the 13th annual Pigskin Preview luncheon he expects from his team when they open their season in about six weeks against St. Augustine's.

Mack's confidence has been built by years of playing and coaching, while the second edition of his Eagles will have the confidence that grew immensely during the last half of last season. After a rough 1-4 start, N.C. Central rebounded to win six of its last eight games and grab a share of the MEAC football championship.

Oh yeah, there was that season-ending victory over North Carolina A&T that capped it all off for a 7-5 overall mark and a 4-2 MEAC record.

On Thursday with Mack on the stage with the area's other Division I coaches David Cutcliffe, Larry Fedora, Dave Doeren and Ruffin McNeill, he said he will have plenty of experience players back to count on.



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