TMZ Sports - Page 50

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.

It's safe to say Alex Rodriguez is fitting in as part-owner of the Minnesota Timberwolves ... 'cause rookie guard McKinley Wright IV tells TMZ Sports it's a huge advantage!!!

We spoke with Wright out in NYC this week ... and asked the 23-year-old how it is to have the Yankees legend on board.

"Big blessings," Wright said. "One of the G.O.A.T.'s on the baseball field. It's a blessing."

Wright -- who's in his first season with the team after 4 years at Colorado -- mentioned that he and Alex have spoken ... and the 2-time MVP gave him some sound advice.

"Just continue to be yourself," Wright says A-Rod told him, "And be who you are. Don't change for nobody. Do what you gotta do to win games."

Of course, A-Rod's tenure as an NBA owner got off to a pricey start -- back in November, Minnesota was slapped with a $250,000 fine after he hosted a team gathering at his Miami mansion during the offseason.

Unfortunately, for Alex and Co., the NBA had a rule in place that prohibited teams from organizing or paying for offseason practices -- in addition to restricting teams from conducting workout sessions outside of their market.

Jon Hamm doesn't like to be left out, especially if Hollywood's boarding the Apple train without him ... which he made perfectly clear in an ad that would make Don Draper blush.

The smooth-talking actor is featured in a new campaign from Apple TV+ that made its debut this weekend during primetime NFL playoff coverage -- and the consensus seems to be ... damn, that was a good spot. Even more illuminating ... JH is pretty freaking funny!!!

Check it out ... the commercial shows Jon hanging out at home on the couch and surfing through Apple TV+'s many offerings -- with Jon scoffing at the fact that there's all these celebs plastered on the screen, but no sign of him anywhere.

He then asks the camera ... "Hey, Apple -- did I do something to offend you?" He goes on to pitch himself as someone worthy of a show or movie, like all his famous pals seem to have these days, and even makes a fake phone call to Tom Hanks ... which is hilarious.

Apple hits the point home ... they've got all the stars on their roster -- except one, that is. Of course, by hiring him for the ad, they nabbed their man in the end after all. Clever, clever.

Like we said, the commercial's a big hit and even went viral Saturday ... with many saying it was Super Bowl worthy, even though the game is still weeks away. And as for Jon's comedic chops -- well, that sorta took people aback as well ... since he's a big drama (genre) guy.

Arnold Schwarzenegger was just involved in a bad car accident  ... so bad his monster SUV rolled over on top of another car, and that driver was badly injured.

Arnold was driving a Yukon SUV when it collided with a red Prius at around 5:00 PM PT.  His SUV started to roll and ended up on top of the Prius, then continued rolling to the left into a Porsche Taycan.

One eyewitness says it was crazy ... it looked like a stunt in a movie. The collision was intense enough that the airbags deployed on the Yukon.

The woman who was driving the Prius was injured -- bleeding heavily from her head. We're told an ambulance took her to the hospital.

Arnold, we're told, is OK and is deeply concerned about the injured woman. An Arnold source tells TMZ he wants to personally check up on her.

Jake Steinfeld of "Body By Jake" fame was apparently at the scene at the time of the crash and that's him in the photo (above) with Arnold. The two are close friends. In fact, when Arnold was Governor of California, Jake was the Chairman of the Governor's Council on Physical Fitness.

One of the witnesses says it appeared the Prius was on Sunset Blvd and Arnold was on Sunset turning left in the opposite direction when the collision occurred.

At the time of this post, Arnold is still at the accident scene, which is about a mile from his home.

Dana White isn't sweating the contract drama with UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou ... telling TMZ Sports he's been dealing with similar issues for the last 2 decades!

We talked to the UFC honcho before 35-year-old Ngannou faces interim heavyweight champ Ciryl Gane at UFC 270 on Saturday ... a fight which The Predator says could be his last with the fight promotion.

Why? Ngannou wants more cash.

We asked Dana where his organization stood with respect to Francis' future.

"I've been in contract drama for 20 years with people. It's part of the business. I honestly don't know where we'll end up after Saturday," White says, adding, "We'll see how the fight goes, we'll see what happens and I'm sure we'll figure it out one way or another."

And, White says personally, everything is cool with him and his champion fighter.

"Francis and I have had our moments over the last several years. I bumped into him at dinner a few weeks ago and we had a good conversation. It was funny because we needed to talk. We needed to see each other and the universe made it happen."

"We'll see how these things play out. I don't blame Francis as much as I blame the not so very smart people that surround him."

Dana is (likely) referring to Ngannou's rep, Marquel Martin ... whom he's feuded with in the past.

As for the actual fight ... Dana tells us they're going to smash the previous gate record (money spent on tickets) at the Honda Center in SoCal.

Charles Oakley says Devin Booker was right to get pissed off about the Toronto Raptors mascot's free throw antics ... telling TMZ Sports the dino was crossing the line.

We spoke with Oak about the Phoenix Suns star's ongoing feud with mascots across the league ... and he says the 25-year-old should be left alone -- especially when fans aren't in the stands.

Of course, Oakley is referring to when Booker called on officials to move the Raptor from underneath the basket while at the charity stripe last week ... during a game that was played in Toronto's empty arena due to COVID-19 protocols.

Oak says if fans aren't in the stands, there's no need for the dino to be hanging out around the court ... and it definitely shouldn't be trying to impact the game.

The Knicks legend says if things get worse between Booker and mascots across the league, he thinks the NBA will intervene and tell the furry creatures to cut it out.

We also spoke with Oak about his book, "The Last Enforcer," which drops next month ... and he says he's dishing on what went down with some of the biggest names in his era.

"Tyrone Hill, Dennis Rodman, Charles Barkley Pat Riley. Everybody in the book. Bringing 'em out."

And, what'll happen if those guys get upset over what's in the book?

"Cool Runnings" actor Rawle D. Lewis says it's time for a reboot of the classic 1993 film -- telling TMZ Sports it should represent the Jamaican women's bobsled team this time around ... and Lupita Nyong'o should have the starring role.

Of course, the OG flick was a Disney adaptation of the story of the Jamaican bobsled team's appearance in the 1988 Winter Olympics.

Lewis tells us he wants to see the story hit the silver screen again -- with the focus on the women's team.

"People don't realize that women [bobsledders] also did well," the Cool Runnings actor told us this week. "I think the reboot might be like the whole women doing their thing."

And, Lewis is shooting for the stars with his idea ... saying he'd love to pass the "Cool Runnings" torch to Nyong'o.

"She can play anything," RDL says.

The whole movie convo came up after we spoke to Lewis about the four-man Jamaican bobsled team that made it to the 2022 Winter Olympics for the first time in 24 years.

RDL played Junior Bevil in the OG flick ... and he's ecstatic about the real team making it back to the Games.

"I was watching it and I was like, 'God, that is so f**king amazing,'" RDL said.

"There's no snow in Jamaica. Like, none! Like, I don't know if people understand the concept of what they're able to accomplish here, but that's amazing."

The MLB season is in jeopardy due to a lockout, but Aaron Boone clearly ain't ready to sweat about it all just yet ...

TMZ Sports got the New York Yankees manager out at LAX this week ... and he didn't seem to be too concerned about the contentious negotiations that are currently going down between team owners and the players association.

Boone was in great spirits ... and when we asked if he had any advice for the players going through the lockout, he said calmly, "Nah. They'll figure it out."

Of course, there are others around the league that are far more concerned than Boone ... given that baseball's been in a work stoppage for nearly two months.

Owners and players are trying to come to a common ground on a new collective bargaining agreement ... but significant strides toward a final deal have yet to be seen.

And, with spring training set for next month -- and the start of the season scheduled for March -- there's a lot of hand wringing going down.

Chargers owner and chairman Dean Spanos is being sued by his own family ... who accuse Uncle Dean of secretly diverting money meant for them after the team moved from San Diego.

The allegations are spelled out in a lawsuit filed Friday in San Joaquin County, California.

Dean's nephews, Dimitri and Lex Economou -- beneficiaries of the trust that owns a portion of the NFL team -- have accused Spanos of secretly changing the trust, screwing them out of boatloads of money in the process, according to the lawsuit.

According to the suit, here's the deal ... the trust owns 36% of the Chargers. In addition, the trust is also partially funded by revenue from the stadium -- and therein lies the problem.

The Economous' claim Dean convinced the family the move from San Diego to Los Angeles would be lucrative with the building of SoFi Stadium ... the $5+ billion state-of-the-art facilities where the Chargers play.

However, Dimitri and Lex say Dean -- with aid from brother Michael Spanos -- surreptitiously diverted money from the trust ... cutting them off from the stadium-related revenue (ticket sales, etc.).

FYI, Dean's dad, billionaire Alex Spanos, purchased the team in 1984. In 2017, the team moved from San Diego to L.A.

The suit claims Dean and Michael redirected the money while dad Alex and mom Faye -- who both passed in 2018 -- were in "failing health."

The lawsuit doesn't specify an amount ... but we're talking about a team worth nearly $3 BILLION, according to a Forbes report last summer.

While the team has improved on the field and is worth a lot of money, the lawsuit paints a grim financial picture for the Spanos family.

According to the docs, the trust is in major financial trouble ...  and that's been compounded by Dean's alleged misconduct.

Bottom line ... the suing family members want things to go back to the way it was before the changes were instituted. Dimitri and Lex have also asked a judge to remove Dean as the co-trustee of the trust ... and they want monetary damages awarded to them.

More trouble for Nate Hobbs -- the Raiders rookie was busted for reportedly driving well over the speed limit on Sunday ... just 2 weeks after he was arrested for DUI.

TMZ Sports has confirmed ... the 22-year-old cornerback was cited for reckless driving on Jan. 16. According to 8 News Now, Nevada State Police Highway Patrol clocked him driving 110 miles per hour in a 65.

Hobbs was issued a citation ... and his car was reportedly towed from the scene.

We broke the story -- Hobbs was arrested for DUI around 4 AM on Jan. 3 ... just hours after the Raiders' road win over the Indianapolis Colts.

Cops say they found Hobbs passed out in his car in the exit ramp of a parking garage ... and claim he smelled like booze and had "glassy watery eyes."

Hobbs was arrested after cops claim he did not do well on field sobriety tests, but his attorneys released a statement saying there were serious concerns it did not qualify as a DUI under Nevada law based on the facts relayed by Vegas police.

Hobbs' recent run-ins with the law are obviously not the first time someone from this Raiders team has allegedly acted recklessly in a vehicle -- Henry Ruggs is accused of getting drunk, speeding in his car and then killing a woman and her dog in a wreck in Las Vegas in November.

Krystof Hrabik -- a forward for the American Hockey League's San Jose Barracuda -- has been suspended 30 games by the AHL ... after he allegedly used a racist gesture toward a Black opponent.

The incident took place during a game on Jan. 12, when Hrabik, who is white, allegedly directed a racist gesture toward Boko Imama ... a Black player on the Tucson Roadrunners.

According to ESPN, 22-year-old Krystof imitated the movements of a monkey ... in an effort to taunt Imama during Tucson's 4-3 victory over San Jose.

The AHL said it became aware of the incident the following day ... and immediately launched an investigation, and removed Hrabik from all team activities while the probe moved forward.

The San Jose Barracuda and the San Jose Sharks' orgs released a joint statement Friday apologizing to Imama.

"The Barracuda and San Jose Sharks organization were appalled to learn of this incident," the teams said. "We offer our sincerest apologies to Boko, the Roadrunners organization, the AHL, our fans, and the entire hockey community."

"The AHL stands with Boko Imama," AHL president and CEO Scott Howson added in a statement. "It is unfair that any player should be subjected to comments or gestures based on their race."

"They should be judged only on their ability to perform as a player on the ice, as a teammate in the locker room and as a member of their community."

Imama has been the victim of a racist act by an opponent before -- during a game in Jan. 2020, Brandon Manning of the Bakersfield Condors used a racial slur toward Boko during a verbal altercation.

Manning -- who later apologized for his actions -- was suspended for five games.

As for Hrabik ... he's already served three games of his suspension. The AHL says he will have the opportunity to receive training on racism and inclusion from the NHL's Player Inclusion Committee during the ban.

San Francisco 49ers star Nick Bosa appeared to relieve himself right on the bleachers at a high school football stadium ... and TMZ Sports has the pic.

The Niners -- who are set to face off against the Green Bay Packers this weekend -- practiced at a local Bay Port H.S. on Friday in order to adjust to the anticipated weather conditions before the big matchup ... and at some point, 24-year-old Bosa seemingly had to go #1.

Bosa just recently cleared concussion protocol ... and will be set to line up against Aaron Rodgers and Co. on Saturday in the divisional round of the playoffs.

The game is set to go down at Lambeau Field at 5:15 PM PT ... with a shot at the NFC Championship Game on the line.