TMZ Sports - Page 18

Pelicans center Jaxson Hayes has been hit with 12 misdemeanor charges in Los Angeles -- including domestic violence and using violence against a police officer -- all stemming from an incident involving Jaxson, his GF, and police.

TMZ Sports has learned 21-year-old Hayes was charged by the city attorney in L.A. County ... 6 months after he tussled with police.

Hayes has been charged with 12 counts ... including inflicting corporal injury (domestic violence charge), destroying property, use of force, resisting a police officer, using force and violence against an LAPD member, amongst other charges.

Remember, back in July 2021, Hayes' girlfriend alerted her cousin that Jaxson was acting erratically, and the GF was worried for her safety.

LAPD responded to the L.A. home where Hayes was staying. However, Hayes wouldn't allow them inside ... and a struggle ensued. Jaxson appears to push an officer into a wall -- sustaining an injury to his arm.

One officer used his Taser ... and Hayes -- the 8th overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft -- was finally taken into custody.

During the arrest, Hayes claimed he couldn't breathe. The claim sparked a use of force investigation within the LAPD.

The results of that investigation are not yet known.

Pro hockey player Jacob Panetta is apologizing for making a seemingly racist gesture towards Jordan Subban -- the brother of NHL star P.K. Subban -- during a hockey game ... but is adamant he did not have any racial intent behind his actions.

The incident took place on Saturday ... when Panetta of the ECHL's Jacksonville Icemen and Subban of the South Carolina Stingrays were involved in a verbal altercation.

Subban alleges that after he and Panetta exchanged words, Jacob started making monkey gestures towards him once he turned his back. Subban then threw punches at Jacob ... before both men were ultimately separated.

Panetta was suspended indefinitely for the gesture ... and the Icemen released him hours later.

After facing a storm of backlash, Panetta took to social media to release a video explaining his side of the situation.

"I want to reiterate that no racial slurs, noises or anything of the like were said by me during the incident," Panetta said ... explaining he was attempting a bodybuilding motion -- not a racist monkey gesture.

"I did not contemplate at the time that it would be perceived as a racial gesture and I attempted to convey this to Jordan as we were heading to the dressing room during the game."

He continued ... "I see now from Jordan's reaction that he, and others, certainly viewed it as a racial gesture. My actions have caused a great deal of anger and upset to Jordan, his family, and countless others."

Once Jordan's older brother, P.K., got word of the incident ... he quickly condemned Panetta publicly ... and even took a dig at the ECHL league calling it "the jungle."

Of course, this isn't the first time we've seen controversy like this in minor league hockey -- Krystof Hrabik was recently suspended 30 games by the AHL for allegedly directing a racist gesture towards Boko Imama ... a Black player on the Tucson Roadrunners.

Panetta apologized for his role in Saturday's incident, saying, "I sincerely apologize for the pain and suffering and anger my actions have caused him, his family, and everyone that was hurt by this."

A bobcat used an Arizona golf course's bunker to hunt down a duck (or goose) last week ... and video of the scene is WILD!!!

Several golfers caught the cat in action at Silverleaf Country Club in Scottsdale on Friday ... showing the bobcat stalking a flock of birds on the 15th hole at the course.

You can see in the footage ... the cat used the hole's layout perfectly to get his lunch, hiding in the sand before springing into action.

The animal ended up catching one of the birds with its teeth -- and eventually hauled his meal off into the desert.

The golfers on the course were stunned by it all, laughing in shock ... while a person behind the camera yelled, "That's amazing!"

Garrett Hedlund is accused of some pretty troubling behavior before being arrested for public intoxication, and some -- including police -- believe he's a danger to himself and others.

According to new legal docs, obtained by TMZ, the man who called police on Garrett leading up to his Saturday night arrest also told cops the actor tried jumping out of a car earlier in the day.

In the docs, police say the man also told them Garrett had kicked him and swung on him ... although cops note the man did not want to press criminal charges.

TMZ broke the story ... Garrett was arrested for public intoxication late Saturday in Tennessee and eventually released from custody on a $2,100 bond.

In the docs, police say they got a call around 10:30 PM for a disturbance ... with a man claiming Garrett was banging on the rear door of a building.

Cops say Garrett appeared to be intoxicated and reeked of booze, slurred his speech and didn't follow the officers' commands.

Police say Garrett told them he was trying to get some stuff back that he left inside the building. In the docs, cops say their investigation led them to believe Garrett was in fact intoxicated and a danger to himself and others, placing him under arrest for public intoxication and even stating in the report that he had caused "unreasonable annoyance."

Things are looking down for Garrett ... he recently broke up with Emma Roberts, with whom he has one child, and he's also being sued for a car crash he allegedly caused before his January 2020 DUI arrest.

Scary moment for Olympic gold medalist Sofia Goggia ... the alpine skier banged her head and busted her leg during a violent crash at the World Cup on Sunday -- just weeks before she's supposed to defend her title at the winter games in Beijing.

Luckily for Goggia, the injuries aren't catastrophic.

The frightening incident was caught on video ... showing the 29-year-old going full speed downhill at the Cortina d'Ampezzo Super-G event.

Everything appeared normal until the Italian skier lost control on a turn ... sending Goggia flying through the air.

Goggia -- who was wearing a helmet -- eventually landed and slid headfirst down the mountain before finally coming to a complete stop.

It looked very bad ... but thankfully, the Italian Ski Federation announced she suffered a left knee strain, a partial tear in her cruciate ligament and a small fibula fracture.

Goggia's rehabilitation will start on Monday as she's determined to defend her downhill gold medal title at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing ... which happens on Feb. 15.

"It's a shame that this injury comes in a very important moment of the season," Goggia said, "but in the next few hours I'll start the physio treatment so I can try to defend my title in the discipline I love the most."

A Chiefs fan who stormed the field during Sunday night's playoff game at Arrowhead Stadium was absolutely rocked by Bills star Stefon Diggs -- and the wild scene was all captured on video.

The man in a Travis Kelce jersey sprinted onto the turf in the 4th quarter of the heated Buffalo vs. K.C. game ... when, suddenly, Diggs went after him.

In footage shot by a fan in the stands ... you can see the Bills wideout was so pissed over the interruption, he smashed the guy square in the back.

The hit was so hard -- even Tony Romo, who was broadcasting the game for CBS, said on-air, "Diggs took out some frustration on him."

What's crazy -- the fan actually got up after the hard hit ... but he was immediately taken down by stadium security. Authorities then rushed him off the field.

It's unclear if the fan was arrested ... we reached out to cops, but so far, no word back yet.

As for the game -- the guy probably should have stayed in his seat, 'cause he missed an all-time classic. The Chiefs went on to take down the Bills in a wild overtime finish, 42-36.

Odell Beckham Jr. hit up an L.A. hot spot late Sunday night to celebrate the Rams' playoff win ... and he brought his own wine glass for the occasion!

Just hours after OBJ and L.A. beat Tom Brady and the Buccaneers in Tampa Bay ... Beckham touched down in California and almost immediately headed to Delilah in West Hollywood.

Beckham arrived at the nightclub in style ... sportin' a knit cap and a green jacket, all while carrying his own beverage.

Beckham rubbed elbows with some big stars at the venue -- Tyga, Josie Canseco and Freddie Gibbs were all there to for an event for producer Adam Faze.

Of course, Beckham had every reason to be out on the town celebrating ... his Rams looked great in their win over the Bucs, and he played well, logging six catches for 69 yards.

Brittany Matthews doused fans in champagne to celebrate the Chiefs' insane win over the Bills ... shaking up a bottle and spraying it all over the crowd from her suite.

Patrick Mahomes' fiancée was fired up like it was the Super Bowl ... celebrating after her man's 8-yard touchdown pass to Travis Kelce in overtime, which sealed a 42-36 victory and a spot in the AFC Championship Game.

Mahomes' little brother, Jackson, caught it all on camera -- showing Matthews unloading the entire bottle on fans in the lower bowl.

No word on how the crowd handled the wet celebration -- after all, it was close to freezing in Kansas City -- but we take it folks were too pumped up to care.

Mahomes finished the game with 378 yards and 3 touchdowns through the air and 69 yards and a TD on the ground.

Britt shared the celebration on her IG ... saying, "Chiefs Kingdom, YALL ROCK🔥💯 #nextround"

The party might continue at Arrowhead Stadium if the Chiefs beat Joe Burrow and the Bengals on Jan. 30.

Tom Brady was non-committal about his future following the Bucs' playoff exit Sunday ... with the QB not ruling out retirement in a postgame meeting with reporters.

"Truthfully guys, I'm thinking about this game," said Brady, whose Tampa team lost 30-27 at Raymond James Stadium. "I'm not thinking about anything past five minutes from now."

"I haven't put a lot of thought into it, so you know, we will just take it day by day and kind of see where we are at."

There had been a lot of discussion leading up to Sunday's divisional game regarding the status of Brady's future ... with his former Patriots teammate, Rob Ninkovich, saying last week he wouldn't be surprised to see the QB retire if the Bucs lost.

So, naturally, Tom was peppered with questions about his future when Tampa fell ... but he wouldn't give a definitive answer either way.

Bucs head coach Bruce Arians, meanwhile, said he wasn't sure if the QB was coming back either ... saying of TB12's future, "That’s up to Tom, just like all veteran players."

Brady, who will turn 45 in August, is under contract for one more season.

Brady's future as an NFL quarterback wasn't the only thing worth discussing from Sunday's game ... 'cause for the first time in the QB's career, he got hit with an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty.

The flag came after the signal-caller was complaining to referee Shawn Hochuli that he sustained a bloody lip after taking a shot from Rams' pass rusher Von Miller.

Hochuli later said he flagged Brady because "he got in my face in an aggressive manner and used abusive language."

It's been three weeks since Antonio Brown's breakup with the Bucs, but he's still clearly not over it -- 'cause he trolled the hell out of his old team after its playoff loss Sunday.

Just minutes after the Rams took down Tom Brady with a last-second field goal at Raymond James Stadium ... AB took to Twitter to rub salt in the wound.

Brown posted an edited picture from his shirtless temper tantrum at MetLife Stadium earlier this month ... showing him holding a sign that said: "Bucs eliminated."

He captioned the pic with a crying emoji, and the words, "ICant."

Brown has had big beef with the Bucs ever since the meltdown during the Jets game ... accusing Bruce Arians and the team of trying to force him to play on a badly injured ankle.

Brown's departure got so messy, he actually shaded Brady following the whole ordeal.

But, it seemed Brown had been moving on -- he told TMZ Sports last week he and Brady had hashed out their issues ... and he also admitted to photogs recently that his shirtless rant was not very professional.

Conor McGregor's return to the Octagon likely isn't that far away ... according to UFC President Dana White, who tells TMZ Sports he expects the Irish superstar to fight this summer.

We recently asked White ... do you believe Conor will fight this year after healing up from the devastating injury.

"I think so, yeah," Dana told us. "He's doing all the right things with his leg. I'm hoping he can come back this summer."

Of course, 33-year-old McGregor hasn't stepped foot competitively in the cage since snapping his leg against Dustin Poirier in July 2021.

Injury aside, The Notorious -- a former UFC double champion -- has lost 3 of his last 4 fights ... including the last 2 to The Diamond.

Conor is currently ranked 9th in the UFC's Lightweight division ... behind fighters like champ Charles Oliveira, Justin Gaethje, Poirier, Michael Chandler, and Tony Ferguson, to name a few.

We also talked to the UFC honcho about the barn-burner of a scrap between Calvin Kattar and Giga Chikadze ... a fight the #5 ranked striker from Boston won by unanimous decision.

So, what's next for Kattar? Dana doesn't know just yet, but makes it clear Calvin is in a prime position.

O.J. Simpson's post-parole life is starting out in the Sunshine State, it seems, because there's been a Juice sighting in Florida ... and wouldn't you know it, the guy's at a bar!

The disgraced NFL-er caught the Bucs-Rams matchup Sunday at a place called Bo's Pub in Ft. Lauderdale ... where he was taking in the game, and apparently some drinks too. In photos obtained by TMZ, you see O.J. chillin' near a group of folks and having a good time.

We're told O.J. appeared to be with these people -- so he wasn't just randomly there lone-wolfing it. And, per usual, he was getting recognized and approached for photos and the like ... which eyewitnesses say he was happy to accommodate.

It actually looks like a young group of ladies might've been ooh-ing and ah-ing over O.J. as well -- as one pic shows them near his crew, and O.J. not too far with a big grin on his face.

No shock here that O.J.'s keeping up with football -- we know he likes to comment on the state of the game and standout moments during the season ... including Antonio Brown's ungraceful exit from the Buccaneers franchise.

So yea, the fact he's peeping a big game in public might not be too much of a news flash.

What is interesting, however, is the fact that this seems to be one of the first public outings O.J.'s had since being released early from his parole in Nevada -- where he's been confined for the better part of 5  years now ... following his release from prison in 2017.

Garrett Hedlund is in custody after being arrested for public intoxication, TMZ has learned, and it's the latest in a series of problems the actor is facing.

The arrest went down in Franklin County in Tennessee Saturday night. Bond has been set at $2,100 for the misdemeanor arrest, and at the time this story went up he had not posted it.

The "Friday Night Lights" and "Troy" star has been going through it. He broke up with Emma Roberts just a few weeks ago. They had a child together back in December 2020 ... a son named Rhodes. The 2 began dating in 2019.

Garrett has had other legal issues as well. He's being sued for allegedly driving so drunk back in January 2020. He passed out and slammed into a Nissan carrying a woman and her 3 kids. He was arrested that same night for DUI and pled no contest to a DUI charge the following month. Garrett was placed on 3 years probation.

Typically one of the conditions of probation is that no laws can be broken, so the latest arrest may be problematic for him.

Rams legend Isaac Bruce is predicting an early exit from the playoffs for Tom Brady ... saying his old team will beat the Buccaneers today -- by one point!

The former wideout -- who's admittedly pretty biased given the fact that he played for the org. for 14 seasons -- made the prognostication to TMZ Sports earlier this week.

"I say it's close," Bruce said. "28-27."

Bruce is confident in his former team given the tattered state of Brady's O-line. The Hall of Famer tells us he expects Aaron Donald and Von Miller to have a big role in the matchup due to the injuries in front of Brady.

Bruce, though, did acknowledge that beating TB12 won't be easy.

"It will be really tough to hold Tom Brady under 25 points," Bruce said, "but I think it will be 27-28 Rams in the end."

Kickoff for the game is slated for 12 PM PT.

The NFL playoff season has been whittled down to divisions and these famous fans are having a field day with one of the most important members of the football team ... the mascot!

Adriana Lima laughs it up with T.D. representing the Miami Dolphins, Rob Lowe proves he is number one with the Los Angeles Rams' Rampage, Nick Swardson celebrates a win with Minnesota Vikings icon Viktor the Viking, and Jesse Metcalfe & Cara Santana pose on the field with Rowdy from the Dallas Cowboys.

Kickoff your football Sunday with these famous fans cheering alongside their favorite mascots!

AEW Women's World Champion Britt Baker isn't afraid of Jake or Logan Paul ... telling TMZ Sports she's down to fight both brothers -- and she'll take Logan's $1,000,000 Charizard card in the process.

We spoke with the champ this week and asked if she'd ever entertain the thought of fighting either YouTuber-turned-boxer ... assuming they'd step inside the wrestling ring with her.

"Listen, if Logan Paul wants a taste of the DMV, tell him to come my way," Britt said. "Same with Jake Paul. I'll fight you for that million-dollar Charizard card."

BTW -- 30-year-old Baker was with her husband and fellow AEW wrestler Adam Cole when she laid the gauntlet down to the Paul brothers.

Despite Jake's most recent boxing success in KO'ing Tyron Woodley ... Baker wasn't buying into the hype that Jake or Logan could bring their talents to the wrestling world.

Britt even upped the stakes for a potential bout with Logan ... telling him she'll duke it out with him for his prized first edition "Shadowless" Charizard Pokémon card -- which comes with a pretty hefty price tag.