The Bulletin. (Bend, OR) 1963-current, May 05, 2021, Page 5, Image 5

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    FOUR-PAGE PULLOUT
A5
S PORTS
THE BULLETIN • WEdNEsday, May 5, 2021
bendbulletin.com/sports
TRACK & FIELD
Seahawks’ Metcalf
to run the 100
NBA
DK Metcalf’s incredible
display of speed during
his length-of-the field,
chase-down tackle of
Budda Baker was the talk
of the 2020 NFL season.
The Seattle Seahawks’
wide receiver now plans
to test his speed against
elite sprinters on the track.
Metcalf will take his
speed to the track after
entering to compete in
the 100-meter dash at the
USATF Golden Games at
Mt. SAC in Walnut, Califor-
nia on Sunday, according
to USA Track and Field.
Metcalf accepted an
invitation from USA Track
and Field (USATF), which
said in part that NFL play-
ers “are welcome to test
their speed against real
speed.”
The 6-foot-4 Metcalf
reached a top speed of
22.64 miles per hour
while running a total of
114 yards to tackle Baker
before the Arizona Car-
dinals’ safety was able to
score a pick-six touch-
down after intercepting
a pass from quarterback
Russell Wilson.
Video of Metcalf’s play
during the Seahawks’ 37-
34 overtime loss in Week
7 went viral.
The debate regarding
Metcalf’s speed prompted
USATF to issue the invi-
tation for him to try and
qualify for the U.S. Olym-
pic Trials at Hayward Field
in Eugene next month. To
qualify for the Olympics
Trials, Metcalf would likely
need to post a time of at
least 10.2 seconds while
10.05 automatically would
qualify him. Sprinters who
ran a 10.16 earned a place
at the Trials in 2016.
Does Metcalf possess
that type of speed? He did
not compete in track and
field while in college at the
University of Mississippi,
but he was a sprinter and
hurdler in high school.
Metcalf did post a time
of 4.33 seconds in the 40-
yard dash at the 2019 NFL
scouting combine.
Welcome to Top 10, Melo
Portland Trail Blazers’
Carmelo Anthony joins
an exclusive scoring club
BY PAUL NEWBERRY • Associated Press
ATLANTA —
C
armelo Anthony looked
like he was all done just
a couple of seasons ago.
Now, he’s part of a truly
exclusive club in the NBA.
Welcome to the Top 10, Melo.
Anthony scored 14 points
Monday night in Portland’s 123-
114 loss to the Atlanta Hawks,
moving him past Elvin Hayes for
10th place on the career scoring
Mary Altaffer/AP
list with 27,318.
Brooklyn Nets’ Jeff Green (8) defends Portland Trail Blazers’ Carmelo Anthony during Friday’s game in New York.
“If you’re in the top 10 of anything
of all time, it’s a special moment,” said
Anthony, who is in his 18th NBA sea-
son and turns 37 before the month is
out.
Anthony cruised past Hayes early in
the second quarter, hitting a 3-pointer
while getting fouled by Danilo Galli-
nari and knocking down the free
throw to complete a 4-point play.
Anthony was fully aware of how
many points he needed to surpass
Hayes.
“I knew this moment,” he said. “I
didn’t know those other moments
— 15, 13, 11. But 10 is something I
knew.”
“Being in the top 10 is a really special accomplishment. For (Anthony), it’s
probably a little more special. A lot of people counted him out and tried
to finish him.”
— Damian Lillard, Portland Trail Blazers guard
It appeared Anthony was headed
for a forced retirement after he played
just 10 games during the 2018-19 sea-
son.
He parted ways with Houston, was
waived by Chicago and didn’t hook
up with Portland until the next season
was several weeks old.
Even though he went more than a
year without playing a game, Anthony
found new life and a new role with the
Trail Blazers.
A starter his entire career, he is
coming off the bench now, playing a
supporting role to younger stars, play-
ers who still look up to him, such as
Damian Lillard.
“Being in the top 10 is a really spe-
cial accomplishment,” Lillard said.
“For him, it’s probably a little more
special. A lot of people counted him
out and tried to finish him.”
During his time with the Trail Blaz-
ers, Anthony has passed nine players
on the career scoring list.
He knocked off Alex English, Kevin
Garnett, John Havlicek and Paul
Pierce last season. He has taken down
Tim Duncan, Dominique Wilkins,
Oscar Robertson, Hakeem Olajuwon
and now Hayes this season.
Next up for Anthony: Moses
Malone at 27,409 points.
Melo’s got a good chance at catch-
ing him, too, by the end of the regular
season.
See Melo / A7
— The Oregonian
BOXING
Chad Johnson to
fight on June 6
Former NFL and Ore-
gon State star Chad John-
son has decided to lace
up the boxing gloves.
The former wide re-
ceiver will fight in an exhi-
bition bout on the under-
card of Floyd Mayweather
Jr. vs. Logan Paul on June
6 at Hard Rock Stadium in
Miami Gardens, Florida.
Johnson will likely fight
another celebrity or for-
mer athlete in a four- to
six-round exhibition bout.
Johnson, 43, first dis-
cussed the opportunity in
a clip he posted on Mon-
day from his podcast, “I
AM ATHLETE,” with former
NFL players Brandon Mar-
shall, Channing Crowder
and Fred Taylor.
Johnson, who lives in
Miami, would often train
at Mayweather’s boxing
club during the offseason
when he was still play-
ing in the NFL and has
kept a strong connection
with Mayweather and
his camp. He is also a big
mixed martial arts and
boxing fan and quickly
agreed to fight after be-
ing contacted by Leonard
Ellerbe, Mayweather’s
manager.
“Everything that I do in
life I’m good at — except
golf,” Johnson said on the
podcast.
Johnson played for the
Cincinnati Bengals during
his first 10 seasons in the
league. He also played for
the New England Patriots
and was on the Miami
Dolphins’ roster during his
11-year NFL career.
— The Oregonian
GOLF
FOOTBALL
‘Football City, USA’ killings
raise safety concerns for many
BY MICHELLE LIU
Associated Press
ROCK HILL, S.C. — Any
visitor to Rock Hill, South
Carolina, soon learns that
“Football City, USA” basks
in the glory of the dozens of
youth leaguers who have gone
on to win college champion-
ships and land coveted NFL
contracts.
Competitive football is so
essential to the city of 75,000
that a longtime high school
coach can’t even pause to
watch a nearby middle school
game, lest he be accused of
recruiting. But in the after-
math of a mass shooting by a
popular homegrown player
whose family blamed football
for his troubles, some parents
and coaches are facing tough
questions about the role the
sport plays in children’s lives.
Phillip Adams, whose NFL
career is still celebrated on
the county tourism website,
is accused of killing Dr. Rob-
ert Lesslie, his wife, their two
grandchildren and two air
conditioning technicians at
the doctor’s home before kill-
ing himself last month. In-
vestigators haven’t said what
might have prompted the
deadly attack.
His father, Alonzo Adams,
told WCNC-TV that “he was
a good kid, and I think the
football messed him up.” And
his sister, Lauren Adams, told
USA Today that her brother’s
“mental health degraded fast
Phelan M. Ebenhack/AP photo
Henrik Stenson lines up a putt on the sixth green during the final
round of the Valspar Championship on Sunday in Palm Harbor, Florida.
Elaine Thompson/AP file
Seattle Seahawks’ Phillip Adams runs during a training camp prac-
tice in Renton, Washington, in 2014. Adams was identified as the
gunman who killed multiple people, including a prominent doctor,
in April. The source said that Adams committed suicide shortly after
the shootings.
and terribly bad” in recent
years, leaving him with “ex-
tremely concerning” signs of
mental illness, including an
escalating temper.
People who knew the Rock
Hill High graduate as a kind
and mild-mannered young
man are wondering if head
injuries he suffered as a player
affected his mental health.
A probe of his brain was
ordered to see whether he had
chronic traumatic encepha-
lopathy, or CTE, a possibly
degenerative disease that has
been shown to cause violent
mood swings and other cog-
nitive disorders in some ath-
letes.
Adams, 32, played in 78
NFL games over six seasons
for six teams — San Fran-
cisco, New England, Seattle,
Oakland and the New York
Jets before retiring with At-
lanta in 2015. He suffered a
severe ankle injury as a rookie
with the 49ers, and was re-
corded as having two concus-
sions with the Raiders.
There may never be a de-
finitive link between his con-
cussions and the act of deadly
violence this month. But in
the aftermath, some leaders
in the city’s football commu-
nity are reflecting on how to
frame what happened to the
many young players still in
the game.
See Safety / A7
Another long road back for
slumping Henrik Stenson
BY DOUG FERGUSON
AP Golf Writer
PALM HARBOR, Fla. —
The tee markers at the Valspar
Championship were paint
cans, except they were filled
with sand.
This would have been use-
ful information for Henrik
Stenson, known to take out his
frustrations on inanimate ob-
jects.
That was never going to be
an issue at Innisbrook.
Sure, the frustration level is
high. Five years removed from
his summer of silver — a claret
jug at Royal Troon, an Olym-
pic medal in Rio de Janeiro
— the Swede has not finished
in the top 20 in the 23 individ-
ual tournaments he has played
worldwide since ending 2019
with a victory in the Bahamas.
He knows he’s not playing
well. His temper is more likely
to flare when he is.
Stenson had a wry smile
when he walked off the Cop-
perhead course on Saturday
after a 72 and said with his dry
humor, “You want to talk after
seeing signs of greatness?”
At least he was still play-
ing on the weekend. He had
missed six straight cuts until a
tie for 38th in the Masters, and
then he played all four rounds
at the Valspar Championship.
Any progress is welcome.
Stenson headed home to Or-
lando for two weeks of what he
referred to as “training camp.”
See Golf / A6