TMZ Sports - Page 50

A NASCAR driver has just taken a deep dive into politics, branding his car with an anti-Biden slogan.

Brandon Brown, a NASCAR driver whose name inspired the slogan, "Let's Go Brandon" -- code for f*** Joe Biden, is sponsoring a cryptocurrency company, LGBcoin.io, whose first 3 letters are emblazoned on Brown's car. The company was coined LGB as a direct reference to the phrase, "Let's Go Brandon."

Brown posted a video of him walking into the garage and seeing the car, showing his approval.

In case you don't know, the way this whole thing started was back in October in Alabama, when Brandon was being interviewed and the crowd was chanting, "F*** Joe Biden." An NBC reporter either tried covering the obscenity or simply misheard the crowd, and said "You can hear the chants from the crowd, 'Let's Go Brandon.'"

Brown initially was upset over the phrase that connected him to the chant, grousing he couldn't get a sponsorship for his car. Enter LGBcoin.io, and Brown now seems to have had a change of heart.

It pays to have your very own full-sized basketball court at home ... just ask Drake, who shared a cute video of his son draining a bucket at only 4 years old!!!

The Toronto rapper posted a video Wednesday showing Adonis take 10 dribbles -- while showing off his counting skills -- before firing up a shot ... and making it. It's hard to tell who is more excited, Adonis or his friend, but there's plenty of excitement to go around.

Another interesting part, it sounds like Adonis' mom, Sophie, is the one recording the clip ... so you gotta imagine she was able to spend the holiday at Drake's mansion as they all celebrated Christmas together.

It's not the first time Drake's shown off Adonis' basketball skills, we've seen him playing on smaller hoops before ... but to score on a 10 foot basket at 4 is pretty impressive.

The beef between Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and Vin Diesel is far from squelched ... because "The Rock" just blasted his former 'Fast & Furious' co-star, calling him manipulative.

TMZ reported back in 2016, when they were filming the 8th installment of the franchise -- "The Fate of the Furious" -- the 2 men were at each other's throats. "The Rock" made it clear he was done with the franchise, but Vin wasn't done himself, posting this last month ...

"My little brother Dwayne... the time has come. The world awaits the finale of Fast 10. As you know, my children refer to you as Uncle Dwayne in my house. There is not a holiday that goes by that they and you don't send well wishes... but the time has come. Legacy awaits. I told you years ago that I was going to fulfill my promise to Pablo. I swore that we would reach and manifest the best Fast in the finale that is 10! I say this out of love... but you must show up, do not leave the franchise idle you have a very important role to play. Hobbs can't be played by no other. I hope that you rise to the occasion and fulfill your destiny.",

Well, Dwayne just called out Vin on CNN, saying his post was "an example of manipulation," adding, "This past June, when Vin and I actually connected not over social media, I told him directly — and privately — that I would not be returning to the franchise. I was firm yet cordial with my words and said that I would always be supportive of the cast and always root for the franchise to be successful, but that there was no chance I would return."

He went on  ... "I didn't like that he brought up his children in the post, as well as Paul Walker's death. Leave them out of it. We had spoken months ago about this and came to a clear understanding. My goal all along was to end my amazing journey with this incredible 'Fast & Furious' franchise with gratitude and grace."

The 2 actors had a rotten time together in F&F8, with The Rock making it clear by process of elimination ... "There's no other franchise that gets my blood boiling more than this one. My female costars are always amazing and I love 'em. My male costars, however, are a different story," he wrote, adding, "Some conduct themselves as stand up men and true professionals, while others don't."

Renee Gracie is rakin' in the cash from OnlyFans and porn ... but that wasn't always the case for the adult film star -- telling TMZ Sports her former career as a race car driver was so toxic it forced her to quit the sport altogether.

We talked to the 26-year-old Australian about her time as a driver down under ... and why she transitioned to porn.

"I left for many reasons. It was a toxic environment. Difficult for a female obviously. I got treated differently than everybody else," Gracie says ... "It was just an extremely taxing environment and industry to be in unfortunately for my mental health."

Gracie's story is amazing. She used to be a driver for Paul Morris Motorsport racing team ... where she raced for several years. In 2017, she jumped to another team, Dragon Motor Sport.

Renee eventually left the sport but admits she was down on her luck for a while before turning to OnlyFans.

"I had a bad year in between where I wasn’t racing. I wasn’t racing. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was lucky enough when I left racing my fan base actually grew. I had more people following me. I wasn’t controlled by managers and sponsors and stuff."

Despite the stressful experience as a racer, Gracie tells us there are certain aspects she misses, saying "I really miss that exhilarating pressure and the push to always be better. That’s why I started racing."

But, despite sometimes pining for the speed and competition ... the adult film star says she's absolutely confident she made the right career decision.

Orange County kid Ryan Sheckler brought the world to a grinding halt when he shredded his way to the tops of the podium at an early age as a child skateboard prodigy ... who was flipping his way to gold medals in the Summer X Games at only 13 years of age in 2003.

Sheckler catapulted his career from tech tricks on the coping to some gnarly shows in front of the camera with three seasons of the shredding MTV television shows "Life Of Ryan" in 2007 and a long list of cameos as himself in some rad films.

The 27-year-old brother of Washington Football Team star Montez Sweat was shot and killed on Tuesday in Virginia ... cops said Wednesday.

According to Henrico Police, officers responded to a call of a shooting in Henrico at around 4:09 p.m.

Cops say when they arrived on the scene, they found Anthony Sweat suffering from apparent gunshot wounds... and pronounced him dead at the scene.

Further details surrounding the shooting have not yet been released ... cops did note, however, that no one else was injured. They added no arrests have been made.

Police said an investigation into it all is underway ... and they're urging anyone with more information on the incident to call 804-928-0279.

Montez, meanwhile, missed Wednesday's practice mourning the death of Anthony ... and head coach Ron Rivera called the situation "rough" after the team's workout.

"It is rough," Rivera said, "and our thoughts and prayers are with the families."

25-year-old Montez has been a star for the WFT since being picked in the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft ... logging 21 sacks in 42 games.

Warren Moon says of all the non-athletes in the sports world ... John Madden was by far the most legendary.

"I think he's probably the biggest sports icon of a non-athlete that there is," the Hall of Famer told TMZ Sports just one day after the famed football coach and broadcaster passed away.

"He's probably the biggest icon sports has had of a non-athlete."

Moon spent a lot of time with Madden over the years -- the two were inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame together back in 2006 -- and he said the coach's passing devastated him.

Moon tells us he knew John was "in bad health" -- but he was shocked to hear the news of his death on Tuesday.

Moon, though, says John will never be forgotten ... telling us that while athletes like Michael Jordan, Jim Brown and Babe Ruth might be more iconic, no non-athlete was more memorable than Madden.

Joe Rogan is sticking to his guns, canceling an upcoming show in Canada ... and it's all over the country's vaccine mandates.

Joe was scheduled to perform in Vancouver on April 20th -- yes, April 20th -- but British Columbia requires proof of vaccination in various situations and venues. The show, which is sold out, was supposed to go down at the Rogers Arena, and that's one of the venues requiring proof of vaccination.

Joe said on his podcast, "I should probably say this because I haven't yet. My 4/20 show that's sold out in Vancouver, I don't think that's happening." He went on ... "I don't think I can even get into the country. I'm not vaccinated. I'm not gonna get vaccinated. I have antibodies. It doesn't make any sense."

Joe plans on rescheduling the show, though it's unclear when.  It's unlikely the show will go on as long as the mandates are in place.

Great news ... legendary wrestling announcer Jim Ross says he's now cancer-free!

The 69-year-old revealed the prognosis on his social media page Wednesday ... just two months after he was diagnosed with skin cancer.

"I'm CANCER FREE!" Ross said, showing off an image of his healed leg. "We did it!"

Ross added that he'd be working his normal gig at AEW Dynamite on Wednesday night following the amazing update.

Of course, back in October, Ross faced a steep fight to get to this point ... he shared on his social media page back then that he had been battling a gnarly sore on his ankle for "over a year."

Ross said doctors told him it was skin cancer ... and prescribed several rounds of radiation to eradicate it all. Ross said they finally finished the treatments this week.

Move over, Santa ... Robby Anderson is now the king of Christmas -- at least this year -- 'cause the Carolina Panthers star surprised his fiancée with a custom, 2021 G-Wagon for the holiday!

The NFL player had the awesome Dreamworks Motorsports ride delivered over the weekend -- and it arrived in style, coming inside of a glass box.

And, check out video of the surprise, Anderson's fiancée, Sade, was so blown away by the present ... she fell to the ground!!!

"Oh my God!" she screamed over and over again.

Anderson eventually got her up and took her to the Mercedes -- which came with a bow and completely tricked out.

TMZ Sports has learned ... Anderson had the vehicle covered in custom satin black with custom pink accents.

"THANK YOU HUSBAAAAND OMFG 😭😭😭," Sade said on her social media page after getting the car. "………….THIS CAN’T BE REAL, THIS IS MY ULTIMATE DREAAAAM CAR YALL!! 🥺 wow I love you!!!!!"

No word on how much the car cost -- but don't worry, Anderson can afford it ... he just signed a two-year, $29.5 million contract with Carolina this offseason.

As for his relationship with Sade, it's unclear how long they've been dating ... but Anderson just proposed to her a few days before gifting the car.

Dave Chappelle did what he does best Tuesday night ... packed the house with fans, including a bunch of celebs, who showed up on a cold L.A. night to watch Dave's stand-up.

Chappelle was in great spirits as he arrived at the Peppermint Club in WeHo -- drink and cigarette in hand.

Among those who showed up ... Jeff Ross, Mario, Talib Kweli, Andrew Garfield, Casey Affleck, and Odell Beckham Jr. and GF Lauren Wood.

Dave's been doing a bunch of shows since his final Netflix installment dropped. He's been showing his documentary, "Dave Chappelle: Live in Real Life," at some of the venues. From what we can tell, however, his Peppermint Club gig was strictly stand-up.

Aaron Rodgers -- who famously took Ivermectin and a concoction of other drugs to fight COVID -- says he's "100 percent" sure NFL teams are recommending his same med regimen to players to get over the virus.

The Packers superstar made the claim Tuesday on "The Pat McAfee Show" ... insisting that he knows for a fact teams believe his method of staving off coronavirus can work.

"I do know, behind the scenes," Rodgers said, "this is 100 percent true; there are many teams who are using -- who are recommending a lot of the same treatments that I got for their players."

As we reported, Rodgers said after he contracted coronavirus in November that he used a combination of drugs similar to Joe Rogan to recover from the virus quickly.

Rodgers said the meds included monoclonal antibodies, zinc, vitamin C and D, HCQ -- and the polarizing Ivermectin.

Rodgers reiterated Tuesday he believes it all truly helped him mitigate symptoms ... telling McAfee he thinks there are NFL teams that believe it too.

"If you have Delta like I did," Rodgers said. "There's treatment options that actually help."

Rodgers told McAfee he doesn't understand why the combo of drugs isn't being used more in the general public -- and then he went on to slam virus experts.

"If science can't be questioned, it's not science anymore," Rodgers said. "It's propaganda. That's the truth."

John Madden's death rocked the entire sports world ... and athletes like LeBron James, Tom Brady and Alex Rodriguez all mourned the football icon's passing Tuesday.

LeBron said on his social media page following the sad news, "Rest in Paradise To the [GOAT] John Madden!!!! Your legacy will continue to live on!!!!!"

Added Brady on Instagram, "John called our first Super Bowl. He was always so good to me. RIP to a legend of our game."

A-Rod, meanwhile, said even though Madden was associated with the sport he did not play professionally, his passing still affected him greatly.

"An incredible coach, broadcaster and person," Rodriguez said of Madden. "A true hero and role model. He will be deeply missed."

Tons of other sports figures also wrote tribute messages to the former Oakland Raiders head coach -- with Vin Scully, Emmitt Smith, Troy Aikman, Robert Kraft and Julian Edelman also expressing their sadness over the loss.

NFL star Richard Sherman had one of the more memorable tributes to Madden following the news of his death ... calling it an honor to have been a cover athlete on his famous football game.

"Thank you for the years of joy and motivation!" Sherman said.

As we reported, Madden -- the face of the "Madden" video game franchise and a legendary NFL head coach and broadcaster -- passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday. He was 85 years old.

Former MMA fighter David Koenig's remains were found in a wooded area of Missouri last week, roughly two years after he went missing ... cops announced on Monday.

According to the Branson Police Department, a man searching for deer antlers on Dec. 22 discovered the skeletal remains ... and an ensuing investigation revealed they belonged to Koenig.

The ex-mixed martial artist had been reported missing back in early 2020 -- after his family and friends say he disappeared from a Peach Tree Inn in Branson and later sent disturbing messages asking for help.

Authorities say they searched for Koenig for "thousands of hours" following his disappearance.

Investigators said Monday Koenig's remains showed no signs of trauma ... adding that it appeared there was no "foul play" involved in his death.

"Nobody killed Dave. Nobody!" Koenig's mother, Tracy, wrote on social media on Monday. "He left the Peachtree on foot and never made it home."

She added, "Why he was in distress, and why he walked through the deep woods…..we most likely will never know. But he is GONE."

Koenig was 25 years old at the time of his disappearance.

"12 Gauge" ain't out of ammo yet ... Cardale Jones tells TMZ Sports he's not retired, and he still wants to play pro football.

The former Ohio State star quarterback -- who bounced around the NFL from 2016 to 2019 -- says he's working out and staying in shape, ready for any role in either the NFL or XFL.

"That's still the goal," Jones said.

Jones is still only 29 years old, and he did have some bright moments the last time he took the field for the DC Defenders in the most recent iteration of the XFL.

Jones tells us he's eager to prove he's still got more left in the tank, saying he's confident he can still lead a team to wins.

John Madden -- the NFL coaching and broadcasting legend who's also the namesake of the famed "Madden" video game franchise -- has died, the NFL announced.

He was 85 years old.

The league said he passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday morning.

"Nobody loved football more than Coach," NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said in a statement Tuesday evening. "He was football. He was an incredible sounding board to me and so many others."

"There will never be another John Madden, and we will forever be indebted to him for all he did to make football and the NFL what it is today."

Madden is one of the most iconic figures in NFL history -- he dominated as a head coach of the Oakland Raiders, winning Super Bowl XI and finishing his career with a 103-32-7 record.

After his time as a head man on the sidelines ended, he went on to become one of the greatest color commentators ever -- famously teaming up with Pat Summerall to break down key NFL games for decades.

He was eventually inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 2006 -- and his popular terms "Boom!" and "Turducken" are still used around NFL broadcast booths to this day.

"I am not aware of anyone who has made a more meaningful impact on the National Football League than John Madden," Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said in a statement Tuesday. "And I know of no one who loved the game more."

Madden, though, is perhaps most known for his association with the insanely popular "Madden" football video game.

Casual fans, NFL players, and even coaches around the league play it religiously ... and the franchise -- which comes out with a new iteration yearly -- is reportedly worth around $4 billion.

Madden also gained fame in his career for his role as a pitchman -- he hawked products like Miller Lite and Tinactin, and appeared in notable commercials regularly.

Madden is survived by his wife Virginia, and his two sons, Joseph and Michael.