TMZ Sports - Page 3

Sylvester Stallone met one of his biggest fans during a family trip to the Vatican ... the Pope!!!

The 'Rocky' star spent his Friday touring Vatican City, and was actually granted an audience with Pope Francis, who went full fanboy ... telling Sly it's an honor to meet him because he grew up watching the actor's movies.

The video of their interaction is awesome -- Sly was bold enough to shadowbox the Pope, who even threw a few left hooks himself. Seriously, it's almost like the Pope is more thrilled about the meeting than Stallone.

The whole thing was a family affair ... Sly also introduced the Pope to his wife, Jennifer Flavin, and their three daughters, Sophia, Scarlet and Sistine. You'd think the pontiff might have been impressed by Sistine's name, but was more focused on the movie star of his younger years.

Sly went to the Vatican last September too, when he got to hold the keys that open every door in Vatican City, including the Sistine Chapel, and this time he got to meet His Holiness.

Kadarius Toney is going ghost after his abysmal Thursday Night Football outing ... 'cause the Kansas City Chiefs receiver just deactivated his X account.

There's no sugar-coating it -- Toney had a bad game in the Chiefs' loss to the Detroit Lions in the opening game of the 2023 season ... missing three targets and deflecting a pass that was intercepted for a pick-six, which ended up being the game-changing play of the matchup.

Toney finished the game with one catch for one yard and one rush for a loss.

Fans were quick to share critical posts throughout the game ... mentioning Toney's account as they expressed their frustrations with his performance.

They can complain all they want, but Toney's tuning out the haters ... 'cause a visit to his "0fficialC2N" profile now reads "This account doesn't exist."

While Chiefs Kingdom and trolls are spewing hate, the guy's still getting support from his team ... as Patrick Mahomes said despite the drops, he has faith in Toney.

"Obviously he would've wanted to catch a few of those in the game, but I've trusted he's going to be that guy that I go to in those crucial moments, and he's going to make the catch and win us some games like he did last year," Mahomes told reporters after the 20-21 loss.

Zach Bryan is speaking out about his dramatic arrest in Oklahoma ... and he's putting all the blame squarely on himself.

In a video statement posted to X, the Country singer gave a detailed account of what happened with law enforcement in Craig County.

Bryan says it all started three days ago when he was driving through the small town of Vinita and got pulled over for going just over the speed limit.

He says the officer came up to his window and asked for his license, registration and home address. But he refused to give out his address, explaining he didn't feel comfortable since he's a musician.

The cop threatened to take Bryan to jail if he didn't comply. Bryan wouldn't budge, prompting the officer to put him in handcuffs.

Bryan asked why the officer was doing this. The two bantered back and forth until Bryan turned over his address.

At that point, the officer uncuffed and released Bryan with a warning.

Then, on Thursday, Bryan and his security guard were driving in separate vehicles on their way to Boston, Massachusetts.

Bryan spotted a cop pulling over his bodyguard in Vinita. He circled back and parked behind them.

After waiting 15 minutes, Bryan became impatient and got out of his car to see what was taking so long.

The officer demanded Bryan get back into his vehicle, but he ignored the order, leading to his arrest. Bryan was booked into the county jail for obstruction of investigation and later released.

In his video statement, Bryan accepted full responsibility for his actions, calling them ridiculous, childish and immature.

The United States won't be going for gold at the FIBA World Cup ... the squad full of NBA talent just lost to Germany in the semifinals of the international tournament.

Team USA was the betting favorite to win it all this year ... with guys like Anthony Edwards, Austin Reaves, Jalen Brunson and Mikal Bridges suiting up for the Red, White and Blue.

But their plans were spoiled on Friday ... as Germany's Andreas Obst, Franz Wagner and Daniel Theis had huge games to help their team move on to the finals.

While it was a close contest through the first half, Germany was able to pull ahead in the third quarter ... and USA found themselves down 10 late in the final minutes of the game. Despite a late push, USA couldn't eliminate the deficit, falling 113-111.

Edwards had 23 points and eight rebounds for the U.S. ... with Reaves adding 21 of his own.

America will now face off against Canada in hopes of winning bronze ... and Germany will play Serbia in the finals.

Jared Goff was gettin' all types of Ws on Thursday night ... 'cause after upsetting the Chiefs in the NFL's kickoff game, he got a celebratory kiss from his swimsuit model fiancée!

The PDA happened after the quarterback and his Detroit Lions shocked the defending Super Bowl champions, 21-20, at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City.

Goff's partner, Christen Harper -- who just got engaged to the signal-caller back in June -- shared footage of the postgame smooch on her Instagram page ... showing her getting some lip-on-lip action with the QB after the game from the stands.

"Biiiiig fan of 16," Harper captioned the clip.

Of course, Goff deserved every bit of the love from Harper ... he threw for 253 yards and a touchdown in the victory, taking care of the ball throughout all four quarters of the close game.

Seems the quarterback should be getting used to the PDA from Harper going forward ... because the Lions appear to be the real deal, playing well in all three phases of the game.

A protester glued his bare feet to the concrete in the stands of the US Open on Thursday night ... and it caused such a commotion, it delayed Coco Gauff's huge semifinal match for nearly an hour.

The bizarre scene unfolded just minutes into Gauff's tilt with Karolina Muchova at Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York ... when a quartet of environmental activists created a massive ruckus in the crowd.

The four, wearing tees with the words "End Fossil Fuels" printed on them, began chanting, leading authorities to quickly spring into action.

Three of the four were taken into custody after just a few moments without issue ... but the fourth required about 49 minutes of attention to remove due to the glue at the bottom of his feet.

Fortunately, officials were able to eventually extricate the man ... and play resumed.

Gauff ended up shaking off the delay no problem ... beating Muchova to advance to the tournament's final. She'll meet Aryna Sabalenka on Saturday to play for the championship.

The protest, of course, was hardly the first one major tennis has seen this year ... back in July, several people rushed the court at Wimbledon, hurling confetti all over the place.

Zach Bryan got arrested in Oklahoma ... TMZ has learned.

The country music star was arrested Thursday in Vinita, OK and booked on an obstruction of investigation charge ... according to online jail records.

TMZ obtained Zach's mug shot, which he took at Craig County Jail, and he's mostly without an expression.

It's unclear what led to his arrest.

On the same day he was arrested, Zach's Instagram account posted a photo of farmland from a car window, with the caption ... "On the road again, gonna go see the birds win."

Zach's an avid Philadelphia Eagles fan and the NFL team plays its season-opening game Sunday against the New England Patriots in Massachusetts ... so it's possible Zach was driving to the game when he got busted.

A ball boy broke the first rule of being a ball boy at the Marlins game Thursday ... grabbing a live baseball in fair play and chucking it into the stands -- costing his team a run.

The epic blunder went down in the sixth inning of Miami's tilt with the Los Angeles Dodgers in Florida ... after Freddie Freeman roped a liner down the right-field line.

The ball flew over first base and skidded into the outfield ... but for some reason, the ball boy in the area thought it had landed in foul territory.

The guy nonchalantly jogged over to the ball, scooped it up, and then hurled it to some fans in the crowd.

Of course, there were big ramifications for the act ... umps allowed Mookie Betts to score -- not knowing if the play would have been made by Miami's right fielder had the ball boy not interrupted.

It ultimately didn't matter too much in the end ... the Marlins got rocked, 10-0 -- and even Miami outfielder Jesús Sánchez came over to let him know it was OK.

As sure as "one plus one equals two," Israel Adesanya says he's going to knock out Sean Strickland ... and if he runs his mouth during the fight, the UFC middleweight champion tells us he's going to straight up break his jaw!

"I do wanna shut him up and I'm gonna shut him up. I'm gonna break his jaw if he keeps talkin' to me while he's in there, trust. When you're talkin', you never know when a shot's coming, the jab can hit you while your mouth open and send your jaw to the back of your head," Izzy told TMZ Sports.

Of course, 34-year-old Adesanya and 32-year-old Strickland are headlining UFC 293 in Australia on September 9 ... and Izzy says Sean should just be thankful for the opportunity, and accept his ass-kicking.

"[Sean] should just thank me. He got his passport, he got the fight, he gets to travel out of the country for the first time, actually see the world instead of being a f***ing hillbilly and yeah, he should thank me. Should really appreciate the fact that I got him the opportunity and he's gonna get paid, he can buy his boat and then he can f*** off and make other opportunities."

Adesanya is coming off a massive win against his rival, Alex Pereira, at UFC 287 ... where he won his belt back in epic fashion with a 2nd round KO.

Strickland has won two fights in a row ... beating Nassourdine Imavov and Abusupiyan Magomedov in 2023.

Israel was originally going to fight number 1 contender, Dricus Du Plessis ... but he suffered an injury. Due to the circumstances, Sean, who is ranked 5th (behind Du Plessis, Robert Whittaker, Jared Cannonier, and Marvin Vettori), got the fight.

We asked Adesanya if Strickland deserved the fight.

"Do I think he deserves it? I think he's been in there long enough to earn it. To step in there with me, my ego says no. My ego says we're levels above. He knows it. I know but he knows he still has a chance of winning this fight. I just have to make sure it's the minimalist chance ever. That's my job," Adesanya told us.

Nina Agdal won't have to worry about Dillon Danis posting any more sexually explicit images of her online without facing serious consequences.

According to legal docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, a New Jersey Court has granted Logan Paul's fiancée a temporary restraining order against Paul's upcoming fight opponent.

The docs prohibit Danis from, "posting content in any way depicting or portraying Plaintiff that Defendant knows or has reason to believe was never meant to be shared publicly or was obtained without consent, through the hacking of any of Plaintiff’s accounts or devices, or through any other illegal or unauthorized means."

The documents also place the same rules on people associated with Danis.

TMZ Sports broke the story, Agdal sued Danis and requested the restraining order Wednesday after weeks of social media harassment from Dillon on Twitter and elsewhere.

She specifically highlighted a sexually explicit image Danis posted on Twitter of Nina and another person from "a romantic encounter" taken more than 10 years ago.

The lawsuit stated, "Danis posted the photograph -- entirely uncensored -- from his X (Twitter) account, without Plaintiff's consent" The docs continued, "Later that day, Danis reposted the explicit photograph in order to maximize the number of views it would receive."

New York stars Sterling Shepard and Julius Randle strutted down the runway during fashion week on Wednesday ... but they weren't the only highlight of the show -- their kids put their modeling skills on display, too!!

The Giants receiver and his two baby girls -- who he shares with ex-wife and model Chanel Iman -- took the stage at IRON23 in the Flatiron District for the 13th Annual Rookie USA Fashion Show ... and it's safe to say they had a blast.

You can see Shepard, his 5-year-old and 3-year-old do their thing in black and red Jordan gear ... and the receiver said his kiddos knew exactly what to do because they've been watching mommy's previous work.

"The girls love it," Shepard said. "Their mom was modeling since she was a young woman."

"They love doin' it. They watch videos of her all the time so they just love coming and I just love bringing them. It's been good!"

Shepard also talked Giants -- he's ready to get back on the field after going down with an ACL injury last season ... and said he can't wait for their first game against the Cowboys Sunday night.

"I got a lot of team goals," Shepard said. "I'm just looking forward to taking it week by week and trying to make a good run with the guys."

He wasn't the only NY star athlete to walk the stage ... Knicks hooper Julius Randle showed out with his wife, Kendra, and their two kids. They modeled down the runway in Nike sweatsuit outfits.

FYI, the event -- which was hosted by Kidfluencer Haileigh Vasquez -- will benefit Moms for Moms NYC on behalf of Randle ... and it provides postpartum and newborn essentials for single mothers living in poverty.

David Beckham and Marc Anthony's bromance just got a whole lot tighter ... the former soccer superstar surprised his good pal at his Hollywood Walk of Fame ceremony Thursday -- and gave a super emotional speech.

The Inter Miami owner hid in the wings as Anthony was about to be introduced at the event ... and just before the singer's star was unveiled on the famous strip of sidewalk in Los Angeles, Beckham appeared.

Anthony was fired up to see his close friend -- and shared not one, but two long embraces with the ex-footballer.

Then, Beckham got up to the podium ... and gushed about Anthony.

Beckham revealed he used to listen to Anthony's music before every one of his Real Madrid games. He also told the crowd in attendance he learned how to salsa dance because of Anthony.

"Today, Marc," Beckham said into the microphone, "we celebrate you and everything you mean to all of us and to all of your fans around the world."

At one point, after telling Anthony he loved him, Beckham paused his speech and said, "I'm getting emotional."

The guys then shared another hug after Beckham wrapped ... before Anthony -- the godfather of Beckham's son, Cruz -- received his star.

The two are no strangers to putting their affection for each other on public display ... ever since they became friends a couple decades ago, they've shared big moments together -- including back in July, when Beckham met Anthony's newborn child.

IShowSpeed might never live down his infamous wardrobe malfunction ... 'cause even KSI got in on the jokes when they met up on Thursday -- calling him "IShowMeat" right to his face.

The popular internet personality made headlines after accidentally exposing himself while playing Five Nights at Freddy's last month ... and despite his constant pleas, thousands of people -- including his followers, haters and even his own family -- have called him the cruel nickname ever since.

The trolling didn't stop when the two YouTube stars linked up for a training sesh earlier in the day ... 'cause when Speed started talking to his stream audience after the workout, KSI dropped a savage line.

"All right, chat ... he always calls me IShowSlow," Speed said ... before KSI interrupted.

"IShowSlow, IShowMeat, what else you showing?" Logan Paul's Prime business partner joked.

"What did you just call me, bro?" Speed responded ... staring into the camera in disbelief.

When KSI doubled down -- even taking it a step further with a super NSFW iteration -- Speed did his signature dog bark right in his face before dissing his beard.

It's been a difficult few weeks for Speed ... after taking a few days off from streaming, he opened up on the mental challenges he faced as a result of the viral malfunction.

As for the workout, KSI showed he's been training hard for his October fight against Tommy Fury ... but it was Speed who lived up to his name when it came to sprints.

The NFL is officially back ... and Kansas City Chiefs heiress Gracie Hunt threw on a sexy team outfit to celebrate the momentous occasion!!!

The daughter of Chiefs CEO Clark Hunt put on some K.C. bikini bottoms and a crop-top jersey to show her support for her team as Patrick Mahomes and the guys get set to take on the Detroit Lions at Arrowhead Stadium on Thursday night.

Along with two photos of the 'fit, the 24-year-old model wrote in a caption ... "Today’s the day!🙌🏼"

"It’s felt like a drought without football.🌵," she added. "Who’s ready for the regular season?!🙋🏼‍♀️🏈"

Of course, showing some skin along with support for her squad is nothing new for Gracie ... just a few months ago, she posted a couple of steamy photos of herself rockin' a K.C. bikini in the snow to gear up for the Chiefs' playoff game against the Jaguars.

NFL tight end Jimmy Graham can enter the 2023 season breathing a sigh of relief -- TMZ Sports has learned the New Orleans Saints star will NOT face criminal charges following his training camp arrest.

We're told the Orange County District Attorney's Office decided not to move forward with the case due to insufficient evidence ... meaning Graham will not have any potential legal trouble hanging over his head stemming from the Aug. 18 incident leading up to Week 1.

We broke the story -- 36-year-old Graham was arrested near a Newport Beach resort after cops say they observed him walking in traffic. When they tried to take him into custody, he resisted.

We obtained video of Graham prior to the arrest ... showing staffers chasing him as he ran through the resort grounds.

According to the arrest report, officers believed he was under the influence of a stimulant ... but the team said Graham may have experienced a medical episode, as he was taken to a nearby hospital later that night.

Graham was booked on suspicion of being under the influence of a controlled substance and resisting, delaying and obstructing a police officer -- both misdemeanors -- but as of now, he's in the clear.

Graham -- who is making his return to the field after sitting out the 2022 season -- has since rejoined the team and made the 53-man roster.

It sounds like a plot for the new 'Ocean's' movie ... a group of alleged thieves hit a Nike store in Tennessee Thursday morning, allegedly stealing nearly a quarter million worth of kicks and merchandise, before fleeing the scene in 5 different vehicles, police in Memphis told TMZ Sports.

The incident -- which occurred about 12 miles south of downtown -- happened around 4 AM at the Nike Employee store. Police were called to the scene, and an MPD officer "observed 5 vehicles fleeing the scene with their lights off."

It's unclear if the cop attempted to stop the vehicles.

On the scene, investigators found a chain cut, and the back gate open to the Nike store property, and boxes from a nearby semi scattered throughout the parking lot,

"The tractor-trailer had its contents rummaged through and opened," MPD said.

Police spoke with Nike security ... and the woman told them she heard a "loud boom" and saw a guy open the trailer while on her break.

"I watched them and I called my supervisor," security told MPD.

The Nike manager told police that "approximately $200,000 dollars worth of merchandise" was stolen by the suspects.

It's not the first time a Nike store in Memphis has been robbed of hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of merchandise this year.

Just last month, $400k in Nike sneakers were stolen from a boxcar in North Memphis. Two people have been arrested for that robbery.