experience after splitting last season between Arizona and Indianapolis. He spent his first three seasons with the New York Jets, where he played under current Bills defensive co-ordinator Mike Petti

RIO DE JANEIRO -- After Claressa Shields won her opening fight at the Olympics on Wednesday, she stood in the concession area of the arena speaking with Sue Jaye Johnson. The two hugged and Shields introduced Johnson as her aunt. While theres no actual familial relation, its understandable since the two have spent a considerable amount of time together during the past few years. Johnson profiled Shields life as a boxer in Flint, Michigan in a January 2012 photo essay for The New York Times Magazine and then produced radio features on her for NPR and WNYC. She followed those up as the executive producer for the award-winning documentary, T-Rex: Her Fight for Gold, along with directors Drea Cooper and Zackary Canepari, that showcased Shields highs and lows in her historic quest to become the first woman boxer to win Olympic gold in London. Now Shields, 21, returns to defend her title and become the first American boxer to win consecutive Olympic golds, and Johnson will once again be in the crowd to bear witness. What follows is a conversation with Johnson on the making of T-Rex and Shields journey. Connie Aitcheson: How did you become aware of Claressa? Sue Jaye Johnson: I had started boxing myself, and it transformed so many things for me. I had this idea that it was about the practice of dealing with fear and overcoming it, so I thought I would do a photo project about that. I began photographing all these women at the Golden Gloves gym, and it wasnt about fear for them. And then it occurred to me that 2012 was the first year that women were going to box [in the Olympics] and this personal history of mine was intersecting with history.So I started thinking about how to make a film specifically about Claressa, and the Olympics was coming up fast. I said to myself, Well you need about $30,000 to go to the Olympics. Youre going to have to go to Flint and do everything with her for the next five months. And crap, I have two kids. Thats not going to happen in time.And just about the same time Zack and Drea were doing this pilot for MTV about girl boxers and they called me up and said, Hey, we want to go interview Claressa. And they emailed me over the weekend after they shot with her, and said, We are ready to drop everything and make a feature film about her. Im like, Do you have children? [She laughs]. They said, We have enough capital to start shooting right now. We can get us to where we need to go. We can start a campaign to get to London. Its as if the universe was setting this one up in such a big way. Zack and Drea and I had never even worked together. We didnt meet until we were on the set shooting. But we felt we needed to do this together and make it work.CA: Claressa was open to this? SJJ: Mostly Jason [Jason Crutchfield, her former coach] said, Were going to do this. Jason knew how great they were and how it was going to go down. They were both really frustrated by the lack of attention they were getting and toiling away in obscurity. So Jason said, Yeah, I want everyone to know this whole thing. I think he also wanted people to know his contribution. He would go pick her up in the middle of the night when she needed it, or he would see her walking to school at six in the morning by herself and give her a ride. She was basically a feral child in the streets of Flint.CA: Was she the most gifted athlete that he had seen? SJJ: I wont necessarily say athlete, but hes like, Yeah, shes got some fire. He was not looking for a girl. He was actually disparaging of girls, but he quickly saw that she was catching on. I mean hes training kids all the time and has had years and years of kids passing through there, so he can tell when somebody fits.CA: I think in the film, she says something about staying at the gym later or longer for the attention, but it kind of morphed into something else. SJJ: It was her safe space. It was her only safe space. When I first met her, she was living in Flint with her aunt. She was in this bedroom with all this stuff -- boxes and boxes of stuff. There was this little bit of room for her that shes sharing with cousins. I thought, Oh my God, heres this phenomenal athlete and nobody here knows that. They dont know how much they need to be taking care of her. So the disconnect between her family life and her potential was so huge.CA: There are parts of the film where the camera is on her face for two seconds longer than normal. One example is at the table with her mother and stepmother talking about going to London, and it just stays on her. Was that deliberate to show us her thinking process? SJJ: Shes so quick. She processes stuff so fast -- except when it comes to family. Shes so loyal. That was such a bad idea to bring her mom and stepmom. Her mom hadnt even driven the 40 minutes to Detroit to ever see her fight. But its a beautiful intention to have her mom there.CA: How do you maintain distance? Or do you maintain distance when you see something going down? That is not over the edge per se, but is deliberately wrong. SJJ: Theres no right answer. We try to be out of the frame, but wed have these conversations that would go on for days about stuff -- including should her mom come to the Olympics or not. That would happen on camera, and then we would wrap shooting and would still be talking about it. But everybody was always themselves and said what was on their minds - especially Claressa and Jason.CA: I think one of the things that pulled me into the film was this young woman navigating her high school prom and her boyfriend and also the world of boxing. You see her growing up and maturing, but shes also just trying to be a girl. Did she ever say, No you cant show this side of me because Im this boxer? SJJ: Shes going to do whatever she wants to do, but shes a little more conscious of stuff like her hair and makeup now. There are some photos that we have in our press kit and she said, Nah, these photos have to go. I look way too rough in these. It doesnt look like how she really looks or what she wants to project because thats not who she is. Shell say, I look that way in the ring, but Im not that person. Its something that she fights against. You see that smile. Shes perfect with that million dollar smile. But she isnt a girly girl either. You saw her superman socks [referring to the socks Claressa wore after the fight.]CA: Where would you rank her in the history of female athletes? SJJ: Im not the person to ask, but Im not alone in saying that she is probably one of the best boxers to ever exist, and her goal is to convince everybody of that. Who knows whatll happen when she goes pro. Is there competition with women in her weight class? Will she get a chance to prove herself against others who will come out of the woodwork? Who knows, but shell have a long career.CA: What about you? What will you do? SJJ: Im writing this novel about South Africa, and Ive been working with this group called Rock Girl, taking high school girls on road trips to train them in radio and photography. These girls document their stories and just connect in this sacred safe space and amplify their voices. I keep looking for other Rock Girls. I mean, what are good examples in magazines for girls? 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If ever they start actually putting pictures beside words in the dictionary, the Blue Jays left-handers mug will appear beside “Consistency.PITTSFORD, N.Y. -- The Buffalo Bills have signed free agent linebacker Jamaal Westerman, and released injured tight end Mike Caussin. The moves were made before the start of practice Wednesday night. Westerman has four years of NFL experience after splitting last season between Arizona and Indianapolis. He spent his first three seasons with the New York Jets, where he played under current Bills defensive co-ordinator Mike Pettine.dddddddddddd Overall, Westerman has 53 tackles and 5-1/2 sacks in 45 career games. Caussin was designated as waived/injured. Hes not practiced since hurting his hip on Aug. 2. The second-year player has had little luck since appearing in six games with Buffalo in 2011. He missed all of last season because of a knee injury. The Bills (1-0) host Minnesota (0-1) in a preseason game Friday. ' ' '