Page 28 - Florida Sentinel 9-3-21

Sports
Tiger Woods' Backup
Buccaneers
QB Cam Newton Reacts
Putter From 2002 Sells
Quarterback
To Release From
For $393K At Auction
Among Key
Patriots On IG; 'I'm Good'
Tiger Woods with his 2002 putter.
Golf memorabilia contin- ues to rise in popularity, es- pecially anything related to Tiger Woods.
Golden Age Golf Auctions saw that trend on Sunday, when its auction closed and Woods' 2002 Scotty Cameron backup putter sold for a record $393,300.
Cameron produced backup putters for Woods to practice with and test out and produced only one or two backups each year they worked together.
The Tampa
Bay Bucca-
neers are plan-
ning to release
veteran quar-
terback Ryan
Griffin as the
team finalizes RYAN their 53-man GRIFFIN roster.
Tampa Bay will enter the regular season with Blaine Gabbert and rookie Kyle Trask behind Tom Brady. Trask is expected to be eased into his NFL career beginning the season as the Bucs third- string quarterback.
There had been some spec- ulation that Griffin’s days in Tampa were numbered after the team selected Trask in the second round of the 2021 NFL Draft.
Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians tried to down- play this idea throughout the offseason, but the roster num- bers were going to make it challenging for the team to keep Griffin.
CAM NEWTON
want to take the risk. Newton used Instagram
on Tuesday to share his initial thoughts about his release from the Patriots.
"I really appreciate all the love and support during this time but I must say... Please don't feel sorry for me!!" Newton wrote, adding an "#I'mGood" hashtag.
The Patriots will pay Newton $3.5 million of the $13 million for the release.
Ryan Carey, co-owner of Golden Age Golf Auctions, said it is believed that there are approximately only seven genuine red dot backup putters that exist today. This particular putter, a Newport II 2002 model, was never used in tourna- ment play but was owned and handled by Woods. It is believed to be the most ex- pensive golf club ever sold.
The auction house also sold a 2001 Newport II in September 2020 for $155,000.
Woods' backup putter wasn't the highest-priced piece of memorabilia from the auction, however.
Gary Player's 1974 Masters trophy was the most expensive lot, selling for $523,483.20 with the buyer's premium. That is be- lieved to be the second-high- est price paid for a piece of golf memorabilia overall, second to a Horton Smith Masters Tournament green jacket sold in 2013 for $682,000.
Roster Cuts
Cam Newton didn't just lose the New England Patri- ots' quarterback battle to Mac Jones. He also lost his job. It might be one of the biggest mistakes in Patriots history, beside the fact Coach Bill Be- lichick released Tom Brady.
In a surprising develop- ment, the Patriots released Newton on Tuesday while naming Jones the starting QB.
Belichick had stood by Newton as the incumbent starter this offseason, but Jones made significant strides during training camp and preseason to apparently make Newton expendable. Newton also missed five days last week while sidelined due to COVID protocols. Newton refuses to get vacci- nated and the Patriots didn't
Teddy Bridgewater:
Minnesota Vikings, S Harrison Smith Agree To 4-Year,
'This Entire Team
$64M Extension
Is Hungry'
The Min- nesota Vikings and All-Pro safety Harri- son Smith have agreed to
a contract ex- tension, the team an- nounced Sunday.
The deal is for four years and $64M, which makes Smith the second highest- paid safety in the league be- hind Seattle's Jamal Adams. Smith's extension also in- cludes $26.38M guaranteed.
While the Vikings' defense disappointed last season, Smith's high level of play did- n't. The 32-year-old led Min- nesota in both interceptions (five) and pass deflections (10) to go with 89 total tackles.
Drafted 29th overall in the 2012 draft, Smith is a five- time Pro Bowler and was named first-team All-Pro in 2017.
It’s three-day-old news that after a very publicized and anticipated competition between quarterbacks, Teddy Bridgewater has of- ficially been named the Bron- cos’ Week 1 starter. We could talk about Bridgewater’s past successes, but the deci- sion was based on this sea- son’s training camp and preseason performances.
In last week’s game vs Sea- hawks, Teddy completed 9 of 11 passes (105 yards) and led the team to two touchdowns, one of those TDs coming from a drive where they converted on fourth-and-five at Seattle’s 40-yard line.
He’s not taking any of it for granted, either. The QB sees this as an opportunity for the team to grow together, and he is looking forward to watching that unfold while taking on a leadership role.
“This entire team is hun- gry,” he assured the press in a conference on August 25, “We
HARRISON SMITH
TEDDY BRIDGEWATER
know the talent that we have here, and we know what’s in store for us...hopefully we’re putting together a solid foun- dation in training camp so when the season comes around, we can just get rolling.”
Bridgewater is, without a doubt, excited about this chance and taking the job se- riously. “I’m just happy that I get an opportunity,” he said, “I’m happy that I get to con- tinue to lead and be the same guy that I am today, and the same guy that I was yester- day.”
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