Drafted second overall by the Chicago Bears, former North Carolina quarterback Mitchell Trubisky will receive a lucrative starting salary in his first post-college job.
He's not letting that change him just yet.
Trubisky, 22, drove to the team's facilities this week in his 1997 Toyota Camry, a car he inherited from his grandmother. While he told ESPN The Magazine's Tim Keown in a pre-draft feature that he'd "be fine just keeping" the old vehicle, he acknowledged that everyone will expect him to upgrade.
"I'm going to have to step up my car game, I guess," Trubisky said.
Not just yet. The former North Carolina quarterback honored a pledge to Bears General Manager Ryan Pace, who asked him on draft night to take the sedan to Halas Hall for rookie minicamp.
"Hey, you gotta promise me one thing, you gotta promise me one thing, OK?" Pace told Trubisky, according to MMQB.com's Emily Kaplan. "You're going to drive your beat-up car here. Don't change a thing with it."
Setting the bar high
A golfer attempting to play his way to the 117th U.S. Open shot a 55-over 127 at his local qualifier at Robert Trent Jones Golf Trail at Silver Lakes in Glencoe, Ala., on Wednesday.
What made the score particularly interesting was the fact that the player had signed up as a professional. A 1.4 handicap is required of amateurs, but anyone can also sign up as a pro, which is what Clifton McDonald of Meridian, Miss., did.
He shot 68 on the front nine and finished with a 127 in a round that included 0 pars, 2 bogeys, 8 double bogeys and 8 triple bogeys or greater. McDonald, who started on the back nine, had a 14 on the par-5 16th and an 11 on the par-4 18th.
That's right. McDonald shot a number higher than an FM radio station in his pursuit to get into the U.S. Open which starts June 12 at Erin Hills in Wisconsin. One can surmise that just because you're a professional doesn't mean you're good at your profession.
Former Georgia All-American Lee McCoy advanced from the same local qualifier.
"The scorecard of the guy that played in front of me at US Open qualifying today. Shot 68 on his front 9 and decided to finish #NeverGiveUp," McCoy tweeted along with a picture of McDonald's performance.
U.S. Open local qualifying continues until Thursday. More than 9,000 golfers across the country are attempting to play their way to Erin Hills.
No need to stress
Noah Syndergaard is injured. Yoenis Cespedes is injured. David Wright is (still) injured. Matt Harvey is just coming off a team-issued suspension for a variety of reasons. New York Mets fans have a lot to be nervous about.
Luckily for them, the latest craze in America is a toy that bills itself as a stress-relief device. Fidget spinners have been the rage for about the past two weeks. And while their ability to relieve stress and increase focus may be overblown, they're still flying off the shelves.
If the team's faithful can't get their hands on one, they can wait until the game against the Cincinnati Reds on Sept. 10. That's when the team will give away Mets fidget spinners to the first 15,000 fans.
Sports on 05/13/2017