TMZ Sports - Page 6

Minkah Fitzpatrick says he was not trying to end Nick Chubb's season when his goal line tackle resulted in a devastating injury ... defending himself and claiming the controversial hit wasn't a dirty play.

The three-time Pro Bowler broke his silence on the incident with reporters on Thursday ... clapping back at critics who say the result could have been prevented.

"You can tell me how to tackle him low, but it's a fast game," Fitzpatrick said. "It's a game where you make decisions in milliseconds."

"Can't really control what happens after you choose to make your decision. I already chose to go low. Somebody got on his back when I was going low, and what happened happened. There's nothing I really would do differently."

Chubb will be sidelined for the rest of the season ... and his football career remains up in the air as a long road to recovery awaits him.

Fitzpatrick said it's still unfortunate what happened and he hopes Chubb gets well soon.

"Nick Chubb's a great player," Fitzpatrick said. "He makes the game a lot better when he's playing."

"I’ve been doing horrible and I realize that now and I’m doing everything I can to change it."

That's "Mayhem" Miller getting real with his thousands of followers ... sharing he's been seriously struggling after years of bad behavior that often left him in handcuffs and behind bars.

But, the 42-year-old retired MMA fighter is vowing to change his life for the better.

"I went away for a couple of years to pay my debt to society, and when I got out, I realized that I have much more paying to do," Mayhem wrote on social media.

He continued ... "I thought I could smoothly transition from prison to the regular world, but things have been more difficult than I imagined, especially interpersonal relationships and the burden of being free."

Of course, Jason has been in an almost constant state of legal trouble over the years ... getting arrested for everything from fighting in bars to allegedly choking a fan in August 2023. He's been in and out of jail.

Mayhem isn't looking to go back, though ... and is now opening up about asking for help, something he wasn't willing to do in the past.

"Until recently I viewed asking for help as something for the weak, but a very special person has shown me that the actual opposite is true; asking for help shows strength. Strength of character and strength of mind."

Miller also offered a heartfelt apology to his family ... for what they've been through.

"My family has bore the brunt of my frustration and self destructive behavior, so to them I offer a sincere apology and if I have directly affected you in a negative manner, I am sorry."

Mayhem, who beat beasts like Tim Kennedy and Robbie Lawler during his fighting career, says he now plans to step away from social media and his everyday routine and work on himself.

"I’ve been doing horrible and I realize that now and I’m doing everything I can to change it. Thank you for your support, but I’m not reading comments. I’m going to work on me now for the good of my family."

Shannon Sharpe is a Hall of Famer, Super Bowl champion, and on TV every day, but the NFL legend is learning a lesson in Hollywood hierarchy ... 'cause his convo with cameras outside an L.A. hotspot got derailed by Selena Gomez.

The former Broncos tight end was choppin' it up with photogs after his dinner Monday night at Giorgio Baldi ... when out of nowhere, the singer and actress showed up behind him to make her way to her car.

The camera guy quickly shifted his focus to Selena ... asking Shannon to hold his thought on Team USA's performance at the FIBA World Cup so he could get his shot of the former Disney star.

After securing his footage of Selena, the photog made his way back to Shannon and apologized for the interruption .... but the ESPN host took it like a champ, saying, "Nah, bro. You good."

The two finished their chat about sports ... with Shannon praising Deion Sanders' successful season with the Colorado Buffaloes and how he handled the death threats surrounding Colorado State player Henry Blackburn.

The clip is the perfect example of the levels of Hollywood fame -- Shannon's massive in the sports world, but Selena is undoubtedly the bigger fish overall. No one's immune to it ... except for maybe Beyoncé, Taylor Swift or Barack Obama.

A golfer absolutely lost it during an altercation on the course this week ... ripping off his shirt and challenging at least one man to a fight on a tee box -- and the unreal scene was all caught on video.

It's unclear where and when exactly the dispute happened ... but it appeared it went down after a man in a green polo and khaki shorts nabbed someone else's ball.

You can hear in the video, several golfers seem to approach the guy and ask for the ball back ... but the man is clearly in no mood to return it.

"You'll leave after I don't give you a goddamn thing," the guy says.

He and the others trade words for a few more minutes ... until the man blows a gasket -- and challenges someone to a fight.

"I'll plant you, bitch boy," he says. "Now get the f*** off the cart!"

He then rips off his shirt, flexes ... and screams, "You see that! That's a dude that's been to heaven, bitch. And you want to test God? You f***ing come get it, s*** stack!"

After calling the man mentally ill, the group of golfers disperses ... and the video ends.

The best play in Wednesday's Braves game wasn't made by Ronald Acuna Jr. or Matt Olson ... no, a fan in the stands nabbed that honor when he impressively caught a home run ball -- while holding a baby!!

The wild scene played out in the second inning of Atlanta's tilt with Philadelphia at Truist Park ... when Phillies star Nick Castellanos smashed a ball 432 feet to dead center field.

As the ball cleared the wall, a Braves fan holding his child in one arm decided to make an attempt at pulling the souvenir in. And, as it turns out, the guy had some great hands ... 'cause he caught it -- without even remotely bothering his kid!!

Then, he showed off his arm too ... chucking the ball back onto the field in support of his hometown team.

The play was so impressive ... even the game's broadcasters had to highlight it while live on-air.

The afternoon at the park, though, didn't come with the happiest of endings for the Braves fan or his team ... the Phils won, 6-5.

Pippen and Jordan are teaming up to win it all again ... but it ain't MJ and Scottie -- it's Larsa and Marcus on a reality TV show.

Larsa Pippen and her boyfriend, Marcus Jordan, have signed on for season 2 of the Peacock series, "The Traitors" ... a competition where 20 contestants try to smoke out the backstabbers of the group in hopes of securing a $250,000 prize.

The couple is already on location in Scotland for filming ... and they're basically treating the business trip like a vacation as well, posting several selfies together on social media during their downtime.

The addition of Larcus to the competition will be interesting -- they're the first public couple to be on the show together, which could cause some problems with fellow contestants who may not like their established alliance.

The entire cast has not been announced yet, but it will consist of other famous faces in reality TV and other industries, according to People, who first broke the news.

"Survivor" star Cirie Fields won it all the first time around ... securing the quarter milli after outlasting names like Brandi Glanville, Rachel Reilly and Cody Calafiore.

Larsa and Marcus -- who started dating last year -- are used to having cameras in their faces ... as they've documented parts of their relationship for "Real Housewives of Miami."

James Harrison says it's the NFL's fault Nick Chubb is done for the season -- not Minkah Fitzpatrick's -- telling TMZ Sports he believes the league's rules forced the Steelers safety to go low on Monday night.

The former Pittsburgh superstar didn't mince words when talking about the hit that ended Chubb's season ... explaining he thinks Fitzpatrick had no other choice than to aim for the Browns tailback's knees on the controversial play.

"You've made it to where if a guy goes in there and comes in high and hits him in the head, now he's getting fined," Harrison said. "So what do you have to do? You've got guys shooting low now. That's just what you've done made the game into."

In fact, Harrison says if he were still playing today ... he fears he would have caused similar injuries in an effort to avoid penalties and fines from NFL officials.

"To be honest with you, there would probably be a whole lot more people getting hurt," he said. "Because I'm going to shoot at your legs."

Not all have agreed with Harrison ... former NFL wideout-turned-broadcaster Nate Burleson said on Tuesday he thought Fitzpatrick could have done a whole lot more to avoid hurting Chubb.

A poker player who lied about having terminal cancer in order to raise funds to get into the World Series of Poker Main Event is now apologizing for his fib ... saying this week, "What I did was wrong."

Rob Mercer -- a 37-year-old Vallejo, Calif. native -- came up with the tale back in June, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, in an effort to gather the $10,000 he needed to buy in to the world's most prestigious poker event in July in Las Vegas.

Mercer created a GoFundMe with the hopes of gathering the cash -- and it touched so many, it reportedly led to him earning between $30,000 and $50,000 ... allowing him entry into the tournament.

But, the Review-Journal reports several in the poker community became suspicious of Mercer over the way he had acted at the event. Mercer had reportedly provided vague responses to questions about his illness and failed to share concrete proof of his alleged terminal colon cancer diagnosis as well.

The outlet also reports several people saw him gambling in a casino, and when he was approached about the poor optics of that ... he was said to have been defensive.

Eventually, Mercer fessed up about everything, telling the Review-Journal on Tuesday, "I shouldn't have told people I have colon cancer. I did that just as a spur-of-the-moment thing when someone asked me what kind of cancer I had."

Mercer, however, said his story wasn't without at least some merit. He told the outlet he believes he does have undiagnosed breast cancer -- and he made up the colon cancer story because he was embarrassed to say he was dealing with a disease not as commonly found in men.

"I did lie about having colon cancer," said Mercer, who ended up getting eliminated from the Main Event early on. "I don't have colon cancer. I used that to cover my situation."

Mercer said due to his belief that he does have breast cancer, he has no intentions of returning the money he obtained through his GoFundMe.

As for his future on poker tables, Mercer told the Review-Journal he has quit playing due to "his deteriorating health." He told the news organization that he now spends around 18 hours a day in bed.

Tristan Thompson has been granted temporary guardianship over his little brother after he was left unable to care for himself following the sudden death of his mother.

A court hearing Wednesday determined the NBA player will now act as guardian to 17-year-old Amari. In the end, Tristan's petition for temporary guardianship was granted ... and a hearing on permanent guardianship was scheduled for November.

Tristan wasn't present in court during the hearing, but his attorney spoke on his behalf via Zoom.

TMZ broke the story ... Tristan filed for this a couple weeks ago, and the result today was expected. Nobody was contesting it, including Amari's father -- who Tristan says has been absent from his life.

Amari's dad, Trevor Douglas Thompson, did not receive notice of Wednesday's proceeding because his whereabouts are apparently unknown. Tristan's side claims Trevor has no involvement in Amari's life.

Now that Tristan has been given the green light to take responsibility for Amari, the issue of conservatorship is also on the table as he approaches 18. Amari cannot take care of himself, as he faces mental and physical disabilities, so Tristan is stepping in.

TMZ broke the story -- Tristan's mother, Andrea, died suddenly earlier this year -- which is why Tristan is making the moves to protect his brother. Amari has already been introduced to the KarJenners -- and Tristan will presumably continue to have their support through this.

The last thing that was touched on was money left behind in Andrea's probate estate -- which amounts to about $103k. It's not available for disbursement yet, but Tristan is going to oversee that cash for Amari as well.

Nina Agdal's restraining order against Dillon Danis is now in full effect ... after Logan Paul's boxing opponent failed to show up to a hearing on Tuesday.

A temporary restraining order was originally granted on September 7 ... forbidding Danis and anyone associated with him from posting any sexually explicit images of Agdal.

Danis was given nearly two weeks to file his opposition papers ... but after failing to do so, a New Jersey judge granted the restraining order on Wednesday, court docs obtained by TMZ Sports show.

The restraining order will remain active until further order from the judge. You'll recall, Agdal sued Danis over his incessant trolling posts about her on social media since his fight against Paul was announced last month.

The judge found Danis posting any explicit images of Agdal could result in her experiencing "irreparable emotional distress and reputational harm if Defendant continues to post such photographs on the internet."

The docs also lay out Agdal's repeated attempts to serve Danis the papers.

Video we obtained appears to show Danis telling the process server on Monday they had the wrong guy ... but his identifiable features look like a dead giveaway.

Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams is no longer with the team -- the coach resigned from his position on Wednesday.

Confirmed details surrounding Williams' status remain unclear at the time of this post.

Williams -- who did not travel with the Bears for their matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers over the weekend -- released a statement regarding his resignation ... saying, "It is with great regret that I tender my resignation as the Defensive Coordinator of the Chicago Bears Football Club effective immediately."

"I am taking a step back to take care of my health and my family. I appreciate the opportunity to work with the Chicago Bears, a storied NFL franchise with a rich history. The McCaskey family is first-class and second to none. I would also like to thank Coach Matt Eberflus and General Manager Ryan Poles for giving me the opportunity to come to Chicago. I would also like to thank President Kevin Warren, the coaches and players of which I value the relationships and camaraderie."

Williams continued ... "I value the NFL shield and all that it stands for and after taking some time to address my health, I plan to come back and coach again."

Lindsey Vonn went from shredding the gnar to icing down her backside real quick on Tuesday ... 'cause she was attacked by a jellyfish several minutes into a wakesurfing sesh.

The former Olympic skier said the incident happened as she was trying to get up on her board while out somewhere on a large body of water.

"I literally rode over it," she said on her social media page.

The 38-year-old told her followers that the jellyfish bit and stung her so badly ... it caused her left hamstring to swell up and turn red. Eventually, it morphed into more of a road-rash-like wound.

Thankfully, after asking her fans for remedies, she seems to be doing better now ... even getting in a joke about it all on Wednesday.

"Think it’s gonna leave a mark for a while … 🤕," she said, "at least I caught some waves before!"

Of course, Vonn is no stranger to dealing with pain ... she just had yet another surgery on her knee back in July -- and has rehabbed from that just fine.

Dillon Danis doesn't seem fazed over the lawsuit Nina Agdal filed against him for incessantly trolling her ... the 30-year-old fighter continued the onslaught online, despite being served earlier this week.

Danis is fighting Agdal's fiancé, Logan Paul, on October 14 in Manchester, and has not relented with the attacks on social media.

On Tuesday, Dillon posted a pic of Nina in a teeny bikini, part of a Sports Illustrated photoshoot from the past.

He also posted a meme featuring a photoshopped pic of Nina standing in a room with a bunch of phallic-shaped meat, with the caption ... "Do what you love and you'll never work a day in your life"

Danis didn't let up on Wednesday, posting a selfie of Nina in just her underwear. He also posted a Tweet from Donald Trump Jr.'s X account, which had been hacked, claiming he had a sexual relationship with Agdal.

We broke the story ... Agdal filed a lawsuit against Danis earlier this month, claiming he posted "despicable" things about her on over 250 occasions.

Nina claimed to have been humiliated by the posts which she says have caused "emotional distress and reputational harm."

Agdal even suggested "Danis had hacked [her] personal account or had obtained the private video from someone who had done so" ... as she said a video Dillon posted was only available in her private Snapchat archives, presumably only accessible to her.

Perhaps it shouldn't be a surprise Danis hasn't relented ... after the suit was filed, he said straight up said he wouldn't quit.

"Nina Adgel [sic] has filed a massive lawsuit against me. She filed a restraining order against me and is seeking prison time, so the fight is in jeopardy if I’m in jail," Danis wrote, adding, "This is actually wild but I won’t stop f*** the system come get me. Logan Paul is a dead man walking."

After dodging process servers for days, Danis was officially served with the lawsuit on Monday, and the tense incident was captured on video.

Here's further proof Nick Saban no longer has beef with Deion Sanders -- the Alabama legend has nothing but praise for Prime amid Colorado's stellar start to the season ... despite their previous feud over name, image and likeness deals.

The Pro Football Hall of Famer's Buffaloes have been the biggest story in the sport so far this season ... with Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter leading the squad to a 3-0 start.

The boss of the Crimson Tide sidelines was asked about what's going down in Boulder during media availability this week ... and he said he's not surprised one bit -- considering he believes Prime is great at what he does on and off the field.

"I haven't been able to see [Colorado play] a lot," Saban said. "I saw a little bit of the game last week against Colorado State, but I have a tremendous amount of respect for Deion Sanders."

"First, he's a great person and he's done a great job of marketing the program to create a lot of national interest, but I see their team playing well on the field."

He continued ... "They play with discipline, they do a good job of executing, they've been able to score points, playing decent on defense. So all those things, to me, are indicators that he's a really good coach and I've always thought that."

The two Aflac spokesmen certainly didn't see eye to eye a year ago ... with Prime calling Saban a liar for claiming he paid a million bucks to get Hunter (a 5-star recruit at the time) to commit to his former Jackson State squad.

They later made up at a commercial shoot ... where they laughed the whole thing off.

Adam "Pacman" Jones is trying to turn his most recent run-in with the law into some clicks for his new music ... using the police video of his arrest earlier this month to promote his latest rap song.

The 39-year-old posted some of the footage on his Instagram page on Wednesday ... showing him yelling at an officer after he was taken into custody at Northern Kentucky International Airport on Sept. 11.

In the clip, you can see the ex-NFL star in the back of a police cruiser ... loudly questioning a cop about why he was being arrested after he said all he did was complain to airline employees about a faulty charging port on his plane.

"Bro, I'm going to jail for being on the plane?!" Jones said. "Bro, I didn't even yell at nobody!"

Jones' video then transitioned into a snippet of his new rap song.

"Its always two sides of the story …….," Jones captioned the vid. "👂🏾👂🏾👂🏾new music. Ep coming."

Kim Kardashian and Odell Beckham Jr. have recently linked up on a more personal level, but the two have actually run in the same circles for years.

As we reported, Kim and OBJ have some mutual friends who have helped to bring them together, but our sources say there's nothing romantic between the pair.

Truth is, Kim and Odell have been at some of the same parties -- including his own birthday -- within the last year ... further proving they've got a lot in common when it comes to their social lives.

Both Kim and OBJ attended Michael Rubin's July 4th White Party to celebrate America's Independence earlier this year. While they didn't appear to pose in any pics together, the two were certainly in good company ... with the likes of Tom Brady, Jennifer Lopez, Ben Affleck, Jay-Z, Justin Bieber, Travis Scott, Kelly Rowland and a whole lot more.

Kim was also in attendance for Odell's 30th birthday party at Mother Wolf in Los Angeles back in November. Once again, they weren't photographed together ... but Kim was definitely there, leaving the bash solo later in the night.

Our sources say Kim's totally down to find love again if she finds the right match ... but she's having a ton of fun being a mom and continuing to grow her businesses.