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SPORTS/S^e Charlotte $o«t
Thursday, March 16, 2006
Panthers addressing
defense in free agency
By Herbert L. White
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The Carolina Panthers didn’t waste time
replenishing their defense.
The Panthers signed unrestricted free agent
defensive tackles Maake Kemoeatu from
Baltimore and Damione Lewis from St. Louis
to beef up the line thinned by the release of
Brenston Buckner. Then they signed strong
safety Shaun WHliams from the New York
Giants to add depth after losing starter
Marlon McCree to San Diego.
Kemoeatu and Lewis are likely starters
next season, especially if Kris Jenkins’recov
ery from knee surgery takes longer than
expected. The Panthers still are expected to
address filling spots at linebacker. Brandon
Short was cut to save money against the
salary cap, and unrestricted free agent
Witherspoon left for St. Louis.
Kemoeatu (6-2, 301 pounds) has played in
61 games with 21 starts and became a full
time starter last season. The 27-year-old
started all 16 games and produced 40 tackles
and a sack.
“Maake was one of the players we said was
a priority for us in free agency and gives us a
force inside,” Panthers General Manager
Marty Humey said in a statement. “Prom
what we gather, he was a highly sought-after
player and we feel very fortunate to have
signed him.”
Undrafted out of Utah in 2002 by the
Ravens, Kemoeatu was a college teammate of
current Panthers Jordan Gross and Steve
Smith. A Tbriga native, his name is pro-
noimced ma-AH-kay key-moy-AH-too.
In five years with St. Louis, Lewis (6-2, 301
pounds) totaled 204 tackles and 10.5 sacks.
He recorded 40 tackles and one sack in 16
games with seven 'starts in 2005. His best sea
son in 2004 with career highs in tackles (61)
and sacks (5) while starting a career-best 10
“We are thrilled to add Damione to our
defensive line,” Humey said. “He is a very tal
ented player who we liked coming out of
Miami five years ago, and we think he is an
excell^t fit for us on the field and in the lock
er room.”
Williams (6-2, 218 pounds) started 58
straight games finm 2000-2003 and finished
second on the team with a career-best 108
tackles in 2002. During the Giants’ Super
Bowl season in 2000, Williams started aU 19
games and was named to Sports IHustrated’s
AU-Pro team after registering 85 tackles and
three inteTieptions.
Williams, 29, played in eight games last sea
son before being placed on
injured reserve (hamstring) He finished the
season with 16 tackles and two interceptions.
Former Tigers star hopes to
bridge racial and social gaps
By Harry Atkins
niE ASSOCIATED PRESS
LAKELAND, Fla. - Willie
Horton grew up in a loving
family in Detroit, watched
over by a wise father. Maybe
that’s why he had to travel to
the Deep South to learn the
hard facts of racial prejudice.
Horton, the hometown hero
who signed with the Tigers
right out of Northwestern
School in 1961, recalls
his first trip to Florida for
spring training. Lakeland,
like the rest of the South,
was a different place in those
days.
The town was segregated.
Horton said the club’s
Tigertown training complex
was, too.
“I could not stay at
Tlgertown,” Horton recalled
before a recent workout of
Detroit’s pitchers and catch
ers. “I had to stay across
town, about eight miles
,away”
That situation was made
more complicated by the fact
that taxis in Lakeland
wouldn’t carry bim to the
ballpark.
“At first, I thought the cab- •
bies were playing a joke on
me,” Horton said 'Tt was my
first experience with that
kind of thing. I finally took
my duffel bag and walked.”
A few years ago, he relayed
this story to the late civil
rights icon Rosa Parks.
“She tanderstood,” Horton
said
Horton, of course, went on
to become one of Detroit’s
most celebrated baseball
players. He played 14 of his
18 seasons in the major
leagues for the Tigers. HeU
always be remembered for
his throw finm left field to
nail St. Lotus’ Lou Brock at
the plate in Game 5 of the
1968 World Series, a pivotal
5-3 win over the Cardinals.
Less well remembered is
the fact that he left Tiger
Stadium in full uniform one
awful day in 1967 in a des
perate attempt to quell riot
ing in northwest Detroit.
‘T’m fike a bridge, I guess,”
Horton said. ‘T’m always try
ing to bring peace to society”
He’s been at it for a long
time. And he shows no sign of
letting up.
Last year, Horton and his
wife, Gloria, “adopted” two
families that fled Hurricane
Katrina. One of the families
probably will return, he said,
but the other family wants to
remain in the Detroit area.
Close to Horton.
Now, the Hortons already
had seven children, 19
grandchildren and four
great-grandchildren. Why
would they take on
sfrangers?
“Well, you know, we’re all
one family anyway,” Horton
said.
Yet it doesn’t stop there.
Horton’s autobiography,
“The People’s Champion,”
written with Kevin Alien and
a forward by A1 KalLne, is in
its second printing. Horton
said the book soon will be
used in Detroit public
schools. He said he hopes
other schools might also elect
to i^e it as a tool to help
some students read.
Horton, who, along with
Kaline, is a special assistant
to Tigers president
Christopher Hitch, has
recently begun to reap a few
honors for his good works.
• In 2000, hisjm^ey No. 23
was retired and a Comerica
Park statue of his likeness
was unveiled.
• In 2003, he was named
by Corp Magazine as one of
Michigan’s most influential
African-American business
• In 2004, his birthday Oct.
18, was permanently desig
nated as "Willie Horton
Day” in the state of Michigan
on an order signed by Gov
Jennifer Granhobn.
• And last year, new base
ball and soflbaH fields at his
abna mater, Northwestern
High, were named in
Horton’s honor.
Horton also haa a project,
inspired by the guidance
fiom his own mother and
father, aimed at getting par
ents to spend more time with
their children. And he’s not
asking for much. In fact, he’s
only asking for five minutes
a day.
‘T call it my Tive-minute
Program,’” he said. “Spend
five minutes with your kids.
You’d be surprised how many
people don’t even do that.
‘T’m concerned. I’m con
cerned about what’s out
there for my grandkids.”
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