Early entrants close to record

Ohio State junior quarterback Justin Fields was among 98 players granted special eligibility by the NFL into the league’s 2021 draft, while national championship QBs Mac Jones from Alabama and Trevor Lawrence

from Clemson are among another 30 players eligible after completing their degrees and deciding not to play more in college. Those 128 players, plus three more who inquired about their draft status but didn’t need special eligibility, were on the NFL’s official list released Friday as available to be drafted after giving up their remaining college eligibility. The 131 total players is 11 more than last year, but still below the record 132 two years ago. Fields, Jones and Lawrence, three of the starting quarterbacks from the four-team College Football Playoff earlier this month, had previously said publicly they were moving on from college. The NFL draft is April 29-May 1 in Cleveland, and national champion Alabama has five players leaving early after beating Ohio State in the CFP title game on Jan. 11, with Jones and linebacker Dylan Moses

both early graduates. Defensive tackle Christian Barmore, cornerback Patrick Surtain II and receiver Jaylen Waddle were among the 98 players who met the NFL’s three-year eligibility rule. The 30 players with college eligibility remaining after completing their degree requirements had to notify the NFL of their intentions for the draft. That was up from 16 such players last year. As for those 98 players granted special eligibility without yet finishing their degrees, that was one fewer than last year and the lowest total since 95 in 2017. Players less than four years removed from high school who have not completed a degree need to be granted special entry to the draft by the NFL.

› ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — The NFL announced Friday that 7,500 health care workers vaccinated for the coronavirus will be given free tickets to next month’s Super Bowl to be played in Tampa, Florida. Commissioner Roger Goodell also said in a news release that attendance at the Feb. 7 game would be limited to those workers and about 14,500 other fans. Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, has a capacity of just less than 66,000, according to its website. Most of the health care workers who will get free game tickets will come from the Tampa Bay area and central Florida, Goodell said, but he added that all 32 NFL teams will choose some workers from their cities to attend the game. The NFL had about 1.2 million fans attend 116 games so far during the regular season and playoffs, Goodell said.

GOLF

› LA QUINTA, Calif. — Sungjae Im shot a 7-under-par 65 on Friday at The American Express to take a one-stroke lead over first-round leader Brandon Hagy and four others. Im, the 22-year-old South Korean who was the PGA Tour’s rookie of the year in 2019, had seven birdies — highlighted by three in four holes around the turn — in a bogey-free round on the Stadium Course at PGA West. Hagy was in position to join Im at 11 under, but he bogeyed his final hole with a tee shot into the fairway bunker to finish his 70 and was joined at 10 under by Abraham Ancer (65), Tony Finau (66), Si Woo Kim (68) and Nick Taylor (66). Doug Ghim (68), Emiliano Grillo (66) and Francesco Molinari (66) were another shot back, with the leaderboard crowded with low scores as usual at the Palm Springs-area tournament that also used PGA West’s par-72 Nicklaus Tournament Course for the first two rounds. There were 12 bogey-free cards Friday, when the cut was at 4 under. Baylor School graduate Luke List (68) was tied for 18th at 7 under.