TMZ Sports - Page 50

MLB journeyman Adeiny Hechavarría and his stunning swimsuit model fiancée, Alison Bowles, have decided to call off their engagement after 5 years together ... TMZ Sports has learned.

33-year-old Hechavarría -- who played for 7 different MLB teams from 2012-2020 -- first started dating Bowles in 2017 ... and decided to pop the question with a five-carat engagement ring in 2019.

Bowles tells TMZ Sports their current career paths require them to be apart for long periods of time -- Adeiny is currently playing for the Chiba Lotte Marines in Japan, while Bowles travels all over the world for modeling and her side gig as an influencer.

Because of that, the two barely saw each other ... which ultimately led to the split.

Bowles tells us ... "We have nothing but love and respect for each other and I wish him future success in his career."

It's been a tough road for the two -- back in December 2021, Bowles revealed to the NY Post they had to spend 9 months away from each other during the COVID-19 pandemic.

KSI is taking on not one, but TWO challengers when he steps in the ring on Aug. 27 ... and his rival Jake Paul is crapping all over the idea -- saying the whole thing sounds like a setup.

The English YouTuber is slated to fight both rapper Swarmz AND Bulgarian pro middleweight Ivan Nikolov (3-16-2) at the O2 in London ... which is not the first time a boxer has had more than one opponent in a night.

In fact, George Foreman took FIVE fights in one day back in 1975 ... but as Jake points out, it wasn't necessarily a great experience for the fans.

"George Foreman fought 4 people in 1 night and it was an awful showing," Paul said on Twitter minutes ago.

"At first it seemed like a good idea but eventually it actually pissed the fans off because they realized all the opponents were put in to lose. It was was basically a stunt, not worth the price of admission."

Jake's assessment isn't wrong -- reports from the night claim fans were booing by the time Foreman showed up on the scene.

Even though he doesn't mention him by name, it's obvious Jake is talking about KSI's new announcement ... which promoters are hoping will keep fans interested after Alex Wassabi had to pull out due to a concussion.

Everything wasn't always peaches and cream between Najee Harris and Nick Saban at Alabama ... the former Tide star just revealed he and his former coach used to fight each other all the time during his four years at the school.

The Pittsburgh Steelers star broke it all down on "The Pivot" podcast Tuesday ... saying Saban belittled him often -- and he would push back every time he felt the head coach went too far.

"I'm not the type of dude to sit back and just let somebody talk to me in a way and expect me not to say something," Harris said during the interview with Ryan Clark, Channing Crowder, and Fred Taylor.

"I can take coaching, but, like, it's just a certain type of line when you cross, like all right, bro, I'm a man, you ain't gon' f***ing talk to me like that."

"Don't think you're more than just a coach to me. Don't try to belittle. I felt like I was belittled."

Najee -- who played for Saban from 2017 through 2020 -- said things between the two got so bad, he ended up leaving the school for a few weeks during his last year on campus.

"Last incident happened and I left school," Najee said. "I left school for like two weeks -- people didn't know that. I left school for like two weeks and then Saban sat me in his office."

Harris says they were able to clear the air for good during that 1-on-1 sesh, and "ever since that day, we was rock solid."

Pittsburgh Pirates infielder Rodolfo Castro has just been hit with a suspension by Major League Baseball ... after his phone made an accidental appearance during a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Jeff Passan of ESPN says the league handed down the one-game ban because Castro "played while having a cell phone in his back pocket."

The 23-year-old -- who's in his second season with the Pirates -- was sliding into third base when the mishap occurred. As Castro slid head-first into the bag, his phone flew out of his left pocket.

Castro was unaware the phone came out ... and the ump had to tell him it was on the ground before he retrieved it.

Pittsburgh manager Derek Shelton was not pleased with Castro -- who was called up from the Minors for the game that night -- and said after the incident, "This was just a kid who made a mistake."

"It’s just one of those things we move forward from and tell him, 'You can’t do that,'" he said.

To his credit, the second-year player did take accountability for his mistake, which he contends was an honest mistake, expressing he felt "horrible" about the situation and never wanted to be the center of attention.

Stunning revelation in the courtroom during the Kobe Bryant photo trial case Tuesday ... a deputy testified that he sent another cop graphic pics from the crash site while the two were in the middle of a "Call Of Duty" gaming sesh.

Michael Russell -- an L.A. County Sheriff's Dept. deputy -- says the exchange of the photos happened shortly after the Lakers legend and his daughter, Gianna, perished in the tragic, Jan. 2020 helicopter crash.

Russell, who claimed he had initially received the photos from fellow deputy Joey Cruz hours after the wreck, said he joined a video game party with Santa Clarita deputy Ben Sanchez the following day.

While the two were playing the first-person shooter game, Russell testified he told Sanchez he had the photos, and then asked if he wanted to see them. When the cop said yes, Russell said he sent them over.

Russell admitted in court that he had no business doing that. He also testified that he received nothing more than a minor write-up as punishment.

Cruz, meanwhile, also testified in court on Tuesday ... and did admit to showing the photos to a bartender as well.

Cruz said he did it to relieve the stress he had been dealing with due to the situation -- and testified that he did feel remorseful over it all.

Vanessa Bryant, who is suing for, among other things, emotional distress, was present in court -- though she did leave the room for at least part of Cruz's testimony.

Aaron Rodgers is going all-in on his Nicolas Cage obsession -- the superstar quarterback now has a bust of the actor's head in his locker ... and he showed it off to reporters on Tuesday.

38-year-old Rodgers was all smiles as he brought the Cage head down from the top shelf of his changing space to give a closer look ... chatting it up as folks in the crowd got their jokes off.

Some said the bust doesn't really resemble Cage ... but we gotta admit -- it looks pretty spot-on. Another joked there was a camera inside it ... and uh, yeah. Let's hope not??

The 4-time MVP's been really leaning into his inner Nicky C recently -- as we previously reported, he even showed up to Packers training camp fully dressed as the Cameron Poe character from "Con Air."

It's clear Rodgers is having a lot more fun at the start of this season -- something he says was a result of his use of the psychedelic ayahuasca two years ago.

Brittney Griner's plan to appeal her 9-year Russian prison sentence over a weed pen is underway ... but Onyx rapper Fredro Starr feels there are bigger political forces in play.

In a new interview clip from VladTV, Fredro actually admitted to smoking plenty of weed on Russian soil on several occasions!!!

According to Fredro's travels, Russia not only has better weed than top dog California, but they grow it too ... and from the picture he paints, recreational use sounds pretty common in the region.

He also suggests the country's hip hop scene is very liberal, alluding to the notion a 9-year punishment for a simple weed pen doesn't add up.

Griner officially filed her appeal on Monday, in conjunction with the United States government actively working for her release, calling her detainment unjust.

The last time we talked to Fredro, he was talking about a different kind of smoking ... as in torching Cypress Hill during their somewhat underpromoted Verzuz.

Jonathan Papelbon went scorched Earth on Fernando Tatis Jr. -- suspended 80 games by MLB for a positive PED test -- saying if he was still pitching in the Majors, he'd drill the Padres star every chance he got!

The former Red Sox star closer shared his feelings on Tatis' blockbuster suspension on the "The Bradfo Sho podcast" ... and he didn't mince his words.

"I'll tell you right now, if I was pitching, every single time I face that dude, I’m drilling him," Papelbon said, adding ... "I don’t care if I'm bringing in a run and losing the game."

"This whole Tatis stuff, man, it almost enrages me. "I worked my ass off so long and so hard and did it the right way. For me, to see something like that, it hurts me so bad."

Papelbon -- who played 12 seasons in the big leagues -- said the problem with Major League Baseball now is players aren't allowed to "police" the game the way they used to when he toed the mound.

"That's the problem with the game today now, is it's changed," Papelbon said. "You throw [at] people now, and you get suspended and all the other BS, and it's like just let the players police the game."

"That's what I miss about the game now is, you look in the past, and the players were the ones who policed the game. Not the damn umpires or the coaches, or any of them. It was the players."

"[And] that's what the game lost," he added.

As we previously reported, 23-year-old Tatis was hit with an 80-game suspension Friday after testing positive for Clostebol, a performance-enhancing substance.

Former NY Yankees slugger Alex Rodriguez expressed disappointment with Tatis ... saying the PED suspension may cost him a shot at the Hall of Fame down the road, something A-Rod, unfortunately, is experiencing.

"I'm not going to go to the Hall of Fame probably because of my own mistake," A-Rod said. "And, that's heartbreaking for me. It's heartbreaking to explain that to my daughters. But, that's on me."

"I wish that a lot of these young players who I admire so much would learn from my stupidity and my debacle."

Fernando Tatis Sr. came to his son's defense yesterday ... claiming Tatis Jr. developed a fungus on his skin after receiving a bad haircut and used the banned medication to fix the issue.

Ultimately, JP understands why ex-MLBers, and potentially Tatis' fellow Padres teammates, are upset with his alleged actions ... and Jonathan thinks the distraction could prevent the team from reaching their full potential come playoff time.

Manti Te'o -- the college football superstar who fell for one of the most famous catfishing scams to date -- is opening up on his decision to go public with his side of the hoax ... saying attending a Jay-Z concert helped him come forward.

Remember, the former Notre Dame linebacker reportedly lost his grandma and girlfriend within hours of each other in 2012 ... except the entire romance was based on a lie.

As it turns out, Te'o didn't know his GF -- Lennay Kekua, a student at Stanford -- didn't actually exist ... despite previously stating he had met her in person (Te'o adamantly denies being involved in the hoax).

Manti -- who was eventually drafted by the San Diego Chargers in the second round of the 2013 NFL Draft -- is now speaking about the whole thing ... and says he was first inspired to go public with his story after attending a Jay-Z concert as a member of the New Orleans Saints in 2017.

"Cam Jordan with the Saints took a bunch of us teammates to a Jay-Z concert," Te'o said on "CBS Mornings."

"And at that concert, Jay-Z opens up with saying these words -- 'you cannot heal what you don't reveal.' And it may have been just some random words to everybody, but for me, at that time, it hit me like a ton of bricks."

"In order for me to kind of heal from this, I needed to reveal it."

Te'o said he vowed to share his side when the next opportunity came -- and in 2020, documentary director Tony Vainuku approached him.

What resulted was the "Untold: The Girlfriend Who Didn't Exist" project, which just hit Netflix on Tuesday.

Eli Manning and Brady Quinn never duked it out on the football field -- but the two are squaring off in a different arena -- debating the best football movies of all time ... and let's just say their picks ain't exactly shocking!

The two former NFL QB's caught up on the second episode of season 2 of "Eli's Places" (premieres Wednesday on ESPN+) ... and went back and forth about football movies they hold near and dear to their hearts.

Quinn said "Any Given Sunday" (starring Al Pacino, Jamie Foxx, and Cameron Diaz) is high on his list, but the 1999 classic "Rudy" (featuring Sean Astin and Ned Beatty) would be "way up there" ... as Brady gestured way above his head.

Of course, "Rudy" was based on the true story of the University of Notre Dame walk-on Rudy Ruettiger, an undersized player who wasn't exactly the best athlete, but had incredible heart and work ethic.

Brady starred at Notre Dame ... albeit long after Ruettiger was on the team.

BQ also rattled off two Adam Sandler movies ... "The Waterboy" and "The Longest Yard."

It's hard to argue with any of Quinn's selections ... Rudy is considered by many one of the best few sports films ever made. His other picks, particularly "The Longest Yard," had a bunch of big stars like Chris Rock, Burt Reynolds, Nelly, Terry Crews, Michael Irvin, Bill Goldberg, Tracy Morgan, and Sandler.

But Eli, the two-time Super Bowl champ for the NY Giants, pushed back against Quinn's list ... saying the 1994 movie "Little Giants," starring Rick Moranis, was his fave.

Quinn didn't seem too impressed with Eli's pick ... saying Moranis gave a better performance in the iconic film, "Honey, I Shrunk the Kids."

FYI, it's not just Eli with his own show ... there's a diverse group of stars including Vince Carter, Abby Wambach, Ronda Rousey and David Ortiz who have their own "Places" show.

A 12-year-old baseball player gearing up to compete in this week's Little League World Series in Pennsylvania is now fighting for his life -- after he fell from a bunk bed at the Williamsport venue's dormitory complex over the weekend.

Easton Oliverson -- who pitches and plays outfield for the Snow Canyon Little League team that's making its first-ever LLWS appearance this month -- sustained a fractured skull in the incident Sunday night, according to his uncle, Spencer Beck.

Beck tells TMZ Sports ... Oliverson was sleeping on the top bunk, when he suddenly fell out of the bed and hit his head. He was immediately rushed to the hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery.

Beck tells us Oliverson, who's earned the nickname "Tank," is currently in a medically induced coma -- though he and the rest of the family are optimistic the boy will make a recovery.

"He's a really good kid, very loving," Beck said. "Full of smiles. Just a fun, fun kid -- so we're all praying for him."

Little League officials released a statement Monday regarding Oliverson's condition ... saying, "At the request of his family, Little League International encourages all to join us in keeping the Snow Canyon Little League player and his family in our thoughts and prayers, as we wish for a full and complete recovery."

"Little League International will continue to use all available resources, including those provided by UPMC in North Central Pa., through the Player Wellness Center, to support the player, his family, and his coaches and teammates, as we navigate this unfortunate situation."

Oliverson's team, meanwhile, said it will still compete in its first game of the World Series in Williamsport on Friday -- writing in a statement that Oliverson's father, who's a coach on the squad, wanted them to continue onward in the tournament.

"While our hearts are heavy," the team said in the statement, "we are committed as a team to have an opportunity to take part in something that is only dreamt about by others."

Beck tells us the family has set up a Venmo account for Oliverson -- @MiraclesForTank -- to help with medical expenses.

Deion Sanders is feeling "complete" on his 55th birthday ... 'cause the NFL legend hilariously got hooked up with some new fake toes to replace the appendages he had amputated this year!!

The Jackson State football HC got the gag gift from his pal, Sam, on Monday ... and shared the whole gift-giving on his Instagram story.

The Hall of Famer was chilling in the JSU facility when Sam handed over some massive rubber feet ... which featured veins to make 'em look real.

Sanders -- who had two toes cut off earlier this year -- didn't get pissed about the personal jab ... instead, he laughed it off and said, "I like that!!

"Y'all got jokes!! Thank you. I really feel complete now."

But, Sam better watch his back ... Sanders clapped back, "I'mma kick some butt today, starting off with you Sam."

As for the color of the feet -- Sam says Deion had previously joked he wanted two white prosthetic toes ... so he figured he'd do his part.

As we previously reported, Sanders had to get surgery on his left foot due to a longtime injury he suffered during his 14-year NFL career.

He got the procedure done last fall, but suffered complications and had to go under the knife eight more times ... including removing two toes in March.

Sanders has been in good spirits since -- from dancing to working out and celebrating his 55th birthday on Aug. 9.

Ryan Garcia is coming to the defense of Adrien Broner -- who pulled out of his scheduled bout with Omar Figueroa Jr. citing mental health issues -- applauding the former champ for the decision, despite how fans may react.

"Love you AB, i know it’s not easy to step back and take time from the ring, but no doubt taking this time you will come back healthier and stronger," Garcia wrote on Twitter.

"Focusing on your mental health is not weakness it’s strength. You got my support #MentalHealthAwareness" he added.

Of course, Garcia has publicly dealt with mental health issues himself. In February, Garcia revealed he was battling depression, even admitting things got so bad, "I wanted to kill myself at one point."

Like Broner this week, Ryan withdrew from his fight with Javier Fortuna in April (they eventually fought in July -- Ryan won via KO in 6th Rd.).

As we reported yesterday, 33-year-old Broner called off his bout against Figueroa on Aug. 20 in Hollywood, FL. ... saying he's not in the right frame of mind to compete.

"Man, I'm going thru a lot at this moment in my life but I ain't go give up I set some more goals and UI ain't stopping until I finish what I started but sorry to say this but I'm not fighting #August20th," Broner wrote.

Broner also said, "I need to make some changes for the better instead of worrying about other people feelings and pleasing them when In all reality I have nothing to prove to nobody" ... adding he needed to overcome this obstacle before he risked his life inside the squared circle.

32-year-old Figueroa, however, wasn't buying AB's reasoning for withdrawing at the last minute ... and ripped the 34-4-1 fighter, challenging him to prove he's seeking help, and not pulling out for other reasons (OF accuses AB of not being in shape).

"Not saying you DON'T suffer from mental health issues as WE CAN ALL tell you do, just don't use it as an excuse now after you've been undisciplined and not taking this fight/training camp seriously," Figueroa wrote on social media.

"If it really IS mental health, PLEASE SHOW US THE PROOF THAT YOU WENT AND SOUGHT PROFESSIONAL HELP," Omar added.

Sadly ... this isn't the first time Broner and Figueroa were set to clash. In 2018, it was Figueroa who pulled out of their scheduled fight ... due to an injury.

Kansas City Royals pitcher Amir Garrett is extending an olive branch -- and some free merch -- to the guy he threw a drink at during a game ... saying he reached out and hooked the fan and his son up with jerseys to apologize for the incident.

30-year-old Garrett was suspended three games on Monday for chucking a drink at a man who was allegedly heckling him during the Royals' 9-2 loss to the White Sox at Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago on Aug. 2 ... but is appealing the punishment.

Garrett is able to play while his fate is determined ... and after K.C.'s game against the Minnesota Twins, he shared his remorse over his actions.

"I'm pretty upset with myself, you know I let that get to me," Garrett told reporters. "But I think I've handled it pretty well."

"I reached out to the fan. We had dialogue and stuff like that. There was no hard feelings there. I sent him a jersey to him and his son. He was very grateful."

Garrett added the interaction "could've went south" ... but cooler heads prevailed and they were cordial to each other.

Garrett has made 41 appearances for the Royals this season ... earning a 2-1 record and allowing 16 hits in 32.1 innings pitched, with a 4.45 ERA.

Adrian Peterson's transition from the football field to the boxing ring is clearly going just fine -- the former Vikings star showed this week he has a NASTY right hand, flattening a guy with it during a recent sparring sesh.

The 37-year-old posted a video of the impressive KO on Monday ... showing him crushing his opponent with a right that caught the man square in the jaw.

In the clip, you can see the dude hit the canvas almost as soon as the punch landed -- and he was so dazed from the blow, he couldn't immediately take Peterson's offer for help up.

Peterson seemingly threw up the vid as a message to Le'Veon Bell -- 'cause he captioned it, "September 10," AKA the date he and the former Steelers star will square off in the Social Gloves boxing event at Banc of California Stadium.

Bell got wind of the footage late Monday night -- and posted a tongue-in-cheek response, appearing to joke about how he was scared to fight Peterson now.

Of course, Bell has looked more than ready for the challenge in the last few weeks -- posting impressive sparring footage of his own.

Byron Allen is callin' dibs on the next available NFL team -- telling TMZ Sports that after losing out on the Broncos this year, he's "highly confident" he'll "get the next one."

We got the TV mogul out in Beverly Hills just days after he officially lost his bid to buy Denver's NFL franchise to Rob Walton, and he told us he ain't sad about it at all.

In fact, Allen was in a playful mood about missing out on the $4.65 billion purchase ... saying, "When you lose to the richest family in the world, it's not a bad day in the office."

Allen says he's now already turned his sights onto the next available team -- explaining he's absolutely undeterred by how the Broncos sale ended up.

"Listen," the 61-year-old said. "Buying an NFL football team is a process and we had the pleasure of being a part of that process. We didn't get this one, but I'm highly confident we'll get the next one."

Allen said owning a team is very important to him -- telling us that becoming the first-ever Black controlling owner in the league is a huge goal of his.

Allen credited Robert Kraft and Roger Goodell for giving him the tools necessary to one day accomplish that feat ... and added that he's in no hurry whatsoever to give up on the dream.