TMZ Sports - Page 9

Shaq Barrett's first career touchdown was an emotional one ... as the Tampa Bay Buccaneers linebacker dedicated the moment to his daughter who drowned earlier this year.

The two-time Pro Bowler helped secure the Bucs' victory over the Chicago Bears on Sunday ... when he intercepted Justin Fields' pass and reached the end zone en route to the 27-17 win.

After the win, Barrett said his 2-year-old daughter's passing has inspired him to push even harder this season ... and he paid tribute to her as he spoke with reporters.

"I always played for my family already, but then having, like, that extra incentive and making me want to go a little harder for her, it never stops," the 30-year-old said during the post-game press conference.

"It's always going to suck but at least I’m able to shine some spotlight on her a little bit."

Barrett added he believed the moment was "divine intervention" ... and that God has something in store for his family.

"He just setting us up for something. Can't say better because I don't know what can be better than having my baby girl here but he is setting us up for something that we need."

"I'm just ready for it. I'm waiting for it and I'ma believe in his plan for sure."

As we previously reported, Barrett's daughter, Arrayah, drowned in their backyard pool on April 30. Since the tragedy, the family has installed devices around the home to prevent another accident ... and launched a foundation in her name that will educate parents on water safety.

Patriots fans clearly left a bad taste in Tyreek Hill's mouth ... 'cause after the Dolphins torched the Patriots off the field, the Fins superstar receiver laid into them off the field, calling them out for some of the worst fans in the NFL!

29-year-old Hill ripped the New England fans to the media after the Dolphins' 24-17 win at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on Sunday night.

"Those fans are some of the worst in the NFL," the 7x Pro Bowler told reporters, "And I'm going to stand on that, they are real nasty."

Hill continued, accusing some of the Patriot faithful of having said some brutal stuff during the game.

"Some of the things they were saying wasn't, you know, I wouldn't say in church."

"So yeah, it felt great to wave goodbye to the fans, and I'll do it again. Bye."

Of course, the 0-2 Patriots are off to their worst start since 2001 ... and their fans are surely on edge. The Pats had a chance to win Sunday's game but came up a few inches short on the final drive.

It's not the first time Hill and Patriots fans had beef .... in 2018, a Pats fan flipped Cheetah the bird and threw beer at him after he scored a touchdown while a member of the Kansas City Chiefs.

Kim Kardashian knows how to carry herself in front of paps who are snapping away, but it seems one of her sons is still learning the ropes ... or, maybe, he just thinks he's #1.

7-year-old Saint was walking into an Islands burger joint in L.A. Friday after his basketball game, accompanied by a couple of pals, plus his mom ... not to mention a bunch of bodyguards. Naturally, paparazzi were all over the place too.

As the whole group was heading toward the front entrance, Saint let the photogs on hand know how he felt about their presence ... throwing up a middle finger.

The sight of a little kid throwing up the F-U signal is pretty funny in and of itself, but the way KK reacts to Saint's gesture is even more hilarious, TBH.

Let's just say she's very much in mom mode ... softly trying to muzzle her kid and get him to behave -- but she's not going very hard. Perhaps he's telegraphing how she really feels!

Now, in terms of who exactly he's channeling between his 2 parents ... Saint's leaning into his Kanye genes here. We've seen Ye flip his lid at paps over the years. It's definitely funnier when the kid does it, though.

Do you think Kim Kardashian was actually angry about Saint West flipping off paparazzi, or was it just for the cameras? Vote below.

The New York Jets appear to be experiencing some turbulence without Aaron Rodgers ... with two of the team's biggest stars voicing their frustrations online after losing to the Dallas Cowboys.

The Jets took their first L of the season in their first full game sans the 4-time MVP ... and Sauce Gardner and Breece Hall were clearly irked after the 30-10 defeat.

Gardner must've been searching his name on social media shortly after the contest ... 'cause when he noticed a tweet from a Cowboys fan account calling out his performance defending CeeDee Lamb, he clapped back with receipts.

"Damnn y'all really love sayin my name on this app lol," Sauce said on X. "He didn't catch a ball on me today. Source: Me."

Gardner -- who seemingly deactivated his account after the post -- also backed himself up on Instagram while on the team plane ... posting his stats to debunk the notion he's fallen off in his second pro season.

As for Hall, he appeared to be upset about his lack of carries ... posting four football emojis to represent the same number of rushing attempts he had in the outing.

Hall -- who's still limited after recovering from an ACL injury he suffered last season -- finished the game with nine rushing yards, after earning more than 120 in Week 1.

An Antonio Gates hasn't been in the NFL since the 2018 season ... but another could be on the way soon -- and, according to the Chargers legend himself, the next one could be better than the first!!

Gates tells TMZ Sports ... his boy -- Michigan State Univ. redshirt freshman receiver Antonio Gates Jr. -- has the goods to one day make it to the NFL, and be an even bigger star than he was once he arrives.

"I think so," Gates said out in Beverly Hills this week. "I really believe that."

So far, the younger Gates is still learning how to be effective on the collegiate level ... after not playing the entirety of the 2022 season, he's played sparingly in 2023.

But, the elder Gates said with all the resources at his disposal -- a transformation into a beast on the gridiron isn't far off.

"I can kind of give him the information that's important for him to be successful," Gates Sr. said. "So, he's got a great future ahead of him."

But, either way, Gates Sr. said he's a very proud Papa nonetheless.

Adele may be a married woman again -- at least that's what the Internet thinks, yet again, after she gave her boyfriend, Rich Paul, a very significant promotion in the title department.

The singer was doing her Vegas residency show Saturday, and per usual ... she was going around chopping it up with her audience, weaving in and out of rows of seats and interviewing folks on the spot Oprah-style. What else is new, right?

However, this time around -- a slip of the tongue appears to have befallen Adele ... 'cause when a female fan asked if she could marry her, Adele said she was already hitched.

Check it out -- Adele turns this woman's marriage proposal down in hilarious fashion ... saying she's straight, and not just that, but that her "husband" was in the crowd and probably wouldn't appreciate it. She didn't say Rich's name -- but he's the only dude she's seeing.

It's unclear if Adele simply misspoke here, or if she did actually say "I do" the famous basketball agent -- who reps the likes of LeBron James and tons of other NBA stars.

We do know that Adele has spoken glowingly of Rich Paul since they first got together a couple years ago. She's even gone so far as to say she's the happiest she's ever been in a relationship with him ... so, it's easy to see her walking down the aisle with him.

This is far from the first time people have speculated on where things are between Rich and Adele. There's already been a first wave of marriage rumors dating back to last September ... when eagle-eyed fans noticed a book at her house that a title of "The Pauls."

Teyana Taylor just confirmed what folks have long suspected about her and her husband, Iman Shumpert ... their relationship is over.

The singer officially broke the news Sunday, taking to IG with a lengthy statement. She writes, "Not too much on my bestie! In all fairness, Iman and I are separated and have been for a while. To be 1000% clear, 'infidelity' ain’t one of the reasons for our departure."

She adds, "We are still the best of friends, great business partners and are one hell of a team when it comes to co-parenting our 2 beautiful children. Most importantly we are FAMILY & in the 10yrs together, 7yrs married we ain’t ever played with or about THAT."

Teyana goes on to explain that the reason she's kept this under wraps is because she's private ... and didn't feel like it was anyone's business -- a decision she's happy with as she and Iman have been able to navigate this on their terms without so much noise.

She finishes by saying ... "The only reason I’m even sharing THIS part of the chat is because the narratives are getting a little out of hand & it’s unfair to all parties involved. I hope this provided some clarity for y’all. Okay AunTey taking y’all back out the chat bye!"

Travis Kelce is said to be "hanging out" with Taylor Swift -- something the NFL world just can't get enough of ... and which bled into Sunday's broadcast of his big game.

NFL announcer Ian Eagle -- who called the Chiefs game Sunday -- snuck in a Swift reference after TK scored his first touchdown of the season against the Jags. It was a simple toss from Mahomes into the end zone ... but a big deal since Trav missed last week's opener.

As Travis and his teammates were celebrating ... Eagle said, "Kelce finds a blank space for the score!" His broadcasting partner didn't say anything, but everyone picked up on it.

Even right after this, Eagle kept it going ... saying Kelce was able to shake it off considering he didn't play last week following an injury. So, yeah, everyone's still giddy about the news.

ICYMI ... word of Travis and Taylor possibly dating first started to percolate earlier this week after The Messenger reported they've been seeing each other lately. Other outlets confirmed they're spending time together ... but stopped short of saying they're full-blown dating.

Based on what Travis's bro had to say about it on TNF ... sounds like they're just banging.

Remember, back in July ... Travis revealed he tried shooting his shot with Taylor during one of her concerts -- but apparently got denied at the time. Since sharing this story, however, it sounds like TS got in touch and then some -- which just goes to show, manifesting is real!

If Taylor and Trav are, in fact, keeping it casual ... that lines up with how she handled the Matty Healy fling earlier this year. TayTay's obviously doing her thing post-Joe Alwyn.

Lamar Odom is likely to see his car insurance bill go way up ... he crashed his Mercedes into two parked cars in an early morning accident.

A rep for Lamar tells TMZ ... Lamar was behind the wheel when he got into a car crash around 3 AM Monday in a residential area near his home.

We're told Lamar was driving home from a friend's place in Northridge when he dropped his phone inside his Mercedes, reached down to retrieve it, lost control and smashed into a pair of cars parked on the street.

Lamar's rep says his white Mercedes hit another white car, which bumped into another car parked in front of it.

Lamar's airbags deployed, and he wasn't injured and didn't need medical assistance ... though he was a little shaken up and his Mercedes is now mangled.

Cops were called but LAPD did not take a police report after responding to the scene. We're told officers spoke with Lamar, asking him if he had been drinking, to which Lamar said no and told cops about being sober and owning rehab facilities.

Cops did not perform a field sobriety test.

Lamar, we're told, then explained to LAPD how the accident happened ... and the owners of the impacted cars came out of their homes and Lamar gave them his insurance information.

Fortunately, we're told no one was inside the parked cars at the time of the crash ... though Lamar's Mercedes was towed and his security drove him home.

The best QB of the 2020 NFL Draft class might not end being Joe Burrow, Justin Herbert, Jalen Hurts OR Tua Tagovailoa ... at least, that's according to LeRoy Butler -- who tells TMZ Sports it could actually be Jordan Love!!

The Packers legend made the eyebrow-raising claim following Green Bay's win in Week 1 ... explaining he thinks that after sitting behind Aaron Rodgers the past three years, Love could now be best set up for success out of all the '20 signal-callers.

"I think he may be better than those guys," the Packers legend said, "because he's going to have that opportunity because he had to sit and wait."

Sunday's victory over the Bears marked just the second time ever that Love has started an NFL game ... but Butler was clearly impressed.

The Hall of Fame defensive back loved the way the 24-year-old -- who the Packers took with the 26th overall selection in 2020 behind Burrow, Herbert and Tagovailoa -- played within himself ... and he liked it so much, he now believes there's a chance Love finishes his career as 2020's best pick.

Butler actually compared the situation to his own career ... saying that while 47 guys were drafted ahead of him -- and played way more than him as a rookie -- he's now got a bust in Canton.

"There's a lot of guys who went before me," the 1990 second-round pick said. "But I'm in the Hall of Fame -- and they're not."

Junior dos Santos dropped his last 5 fights prior to his Gamebred Bareknuckle MMA scrap against Fabricio Werdum ... but the MMA legend tells TMZ Sports the win over the former UFC champ has reinvigorated his career!

"Just the fact that [the fans] were willing, they were excited to see me fighting again," dos Santos told us days after his fight.

"It's the main factor for me that makes me motivated because I know I still have a lot of good performances left on me. We're always ready to put on a good show."

Of course, 39-year-old dos Santos beat 46-year-old Werdum by split decision during the main event of Jorge Masvidal's promotion, Gamebred Fighting Championship 5, which featured two former UFC champs battling it out sans gloves.

As for how much longer he'll fight ... here's what "Cigano" had to say.

"Right now I go to the gym and I see my performance, I see the love, everything is there. I want to keep going."

"As soon as I go to the gym or I'm fighting or something like that and I'm not delivering anymore, I'll tell myself, I'll see that, I cannot do this anymore. This is kind of dangerous for me ... but right now I feel great!"

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

We also talked to Junior about two of his former opponents ... Stipe Miocic and Francis Ngannou. Both men have big-time bouts coming up ... Stipe vs. Jon Jones and "The Predator" vs. heavyweight boxing king Tyson Fury.

Nicki Minaj's husband and some goons were apparently waiting to see Offset outside somewhere on the streets of New York this week -- but the man himself was up in air.

A pal of Kenneth Petty went live on IG Friday night -- which, of course, was captured and reposted by the general public. In the lengthy clips, you can see him, KP and another man all standing on a sidewalk across the street from some building ... calling out Offset.

Seems they thought he'd be leaving this place and planned on confronting him -- evidenced in their ominous remarks in the videos. Kenneth, especially, looks ready for smoke.

Unclear exactly what this is all about -- but some have speculated it might pertain to the VMAs, where Nicki and Cardi both performed ... and where they may have even crossed paths. As we all know -- they have an ugly, violent history between them

Unfortunately for Ken and co. ... Offset never showed, and the reason for that is because he's had a busy past 24 hours. On Friday, he was noticeably live streaming with a famous YouTuber out in Atlanta -- and come Saturday morning, homeboy was in Colorado meeting HC Deion Sanders and raging with all the college kids ahead of the big game.

Offset hopped on social media upon touching down this AM, and he was kinda taunting the fellas who were curbside looking for trouble. Sounds like he finds the whole thing hilarious.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson knows how to make an entrance and he proved it in a big way with his surprise return to the WWE after nearly 4 years.

The Rock stunned the packed crowd watching WWE Smackdown at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado Friday night, when he stepped out from behind a backdrop to his signature song, "Electrifying," playing loudly over the sound system.

Everyone went berserk, cheering like crazy and shooting cell phone video to capture the epic moment. You may recall, the last time the WWE legend had suited up for a wrestling match was in October 2019.

After the initial shock, The Rock made his way to the ring, where former WWE U.S. Champion Austin Theory and ex-NFL punter Pat McAfee were giving each other some lip.

The Rock got in on the action, trading insults with Theory as the tension grew.

Finally, The Rock sent Theory over the edge after calling him an "a**hole" -- and even getting the audience to chant, "You are an a**hole."

Theory threw a flurry of punches that hit their mark, but The Rock quickly turned the tables and gave his opponent a spinebuster.

With Theory laid out on the canvas, The Rock delivered his famous “people’s elbow."

It was all over after that. Theory was down for the count.

If Brett Favre had things his way, Deion Sanders' coaching career would've looked a whole lot different to this point ... telling TMZ Sports he actually tried to get the Hall of Famer to take over at Southern Miss before he landed his Jackson State gig.

The Packers legend says his recruitment of Sanders to his alma mater happened a few years ago -- back when Deion's son, Shedeur, was a high schooler looking at potentially attending USM.

At the time, Golden Eagles head coach Jay Hopson had just resigned ... and Favre says he tried like hell to get Prime to fill the vacant role.

"I knew he would do a great job," said Favre, who played with Sanders in Atlanta in the 1991 season. "I knew the things that we needed at Southern Miss, he checked the boxes. Attention, enthusiasm, getting people in the seats. He would've done that."

"And, I knew players would follow him," Favre added. "Not to mention, we'd have gotten his son, who's probably going to be one of the Heisman finalists this year."

Of course, Deion never took over at USM ... and instead, he ended up at JSU, where he dominated for two years. He ultimately left Jackson for the Univ. of Colorado -- where he's currently got the Buffs ranked No. 18 in the country.

Coco Gauff isn't old enough to drink just yet, but her coach was able to down enough booze for the both of them after her huge US Open win last weekend ... with Brad Gilbert telling TMZ Sports he celebrated with "a little too much tequila."

The 19-year-old tennis superstar has a lot to celebrate after beating Aryna Sabalenka last Saturday ... becoming the youngest American woman to win the tournament since Serena Williams did at age 17 in 1999.

Gilbert -- who has coached big names like Andre Agassi and Andy Roddick -- raved about Coco's success at LAX earlier this week ... saying, "It was a great summer, an amazing summer."

"Coco is an incredible kid, she's humble, she's hard-working and her journey is just beginning."

Gilbert said Coco knows what it takes to continue going in the right direction ... adding, "She would tell you, it's just about getting better. Listen, everyone wants to do incredible things but she has a great opportunity in front of her to continue to do some great things."

"She's incredibly humble and she's poised, she speaks incredible for her age and her parents have done an amazing job. She's got a great team and just fun to let me be a part of it."

As for the post-match festivities, Gilbert said the law still applies for champions ... so Coco was downin' H2O while the adults let loose a bit.

Moments after Blueface got stabbed in a boxing gym, his trainer dialed 911 and the call got pretty intense ... with the operator trying to get details of the attack, as the trainer tried to get medics to save Blue.

TMZ Hip Hop obtained audio of the 911 call that launched paramedics to the bloody scene on August 23 at the Kaminsky Boxing Gym in L.A.'s San Fernando Valley.

On the call, the trainer -- who also owns the gym -- tells the operator a random guy came in and "stabbed my client" ... and then the miscommunication begins.

Seems the gym owner couldn't really hear the operator's questions about whether the assailant was still there -- and the gym owner quickly grew frustrated as he urged the operator to send help right away for Blueface ... who was bleeding from his leg wound.

As we previously reported, the alleged assailant didn't get very far, before eventually surrendered, and LAPD arrested Brandon Henry Snell. We're told the L.A. County D.A. is now reviewing the case to determine charges.