TMZ Sports - Page 22

Deion Sanders deserves more money than Nick Saban, Kirby Smart and every other coach in college football ... at least, that's what Jeremy Bloom is saying -- telling TMZ Sports Prime should get a new contract worth around $16 million per year!!!

Bloom said the deal should be in place for at least the next 10 years too ... explaining it's paramount the Buffs get the updated contract in front of their head coach ASAP to avoid him leaving for more cash elsewhere.

"You've got to put that in front of him," the former Colorado superstar receiver said. "Because right now, the buyout is just too small. Any team can come together, get a bunch of boosters, buy him out and give him some long-term deal."

Bloom is so nervous about losing the Buffs leader ... he actually said he'd be willing to contribute $100,000 of his own cash to kick off the fundraising for CU's new pact with Prime.

For now, though, Deion will be working for roughly $6 million a year ... after he inked a 5-year, $29.5 million contract to coach the Buffs this offseason.

Sanders, though, has been adamant that he's planning to stay at CU for the long haul new deal or not ... saying he really likes it in Boulder, and it's quickly becoming his home.

But, Bloom ain't ready to buy all that just yet ... telling us, "That's what coaches say. They feel it in the moment, until someone new comes to them and says, 'We're going to bet the whole farm on you.'"

Stipe Miocic fights Jon Jones at Madison Square Garden in less than 50 days, but not even the biggest fight of his career could stop the heavyweight G.O.A.T. from working his less glamorous, but more important day job.

Of course, Stipe is a firefighter in his home state of Ohio ... a job he's dedicated himself to for over a decade. But, Jon recently suggested Miocic “take time off from being a firefighter right now” as he prepares for the biggest fight of his career.

It's advice Stipe did not take ... because when TMZ Sports talked to him this week, we asked if he'd stepped away from the department until after the title fight at MSG.

"No, I'm working tomorrow but I have days off, vacation days, and stuff so. I'm pretty lucky the fight's in November 'cause a lot of guys don't take off so it's easy for me to take time off that time of year."

We asked Stipe what it said about him ... remaining on the job while preparing to fight the man many believe is the most dangerous MMA fighter ever.

"My mom raised me right," Miocic said. "I think just hard work pays off and nothing's ever given until it's earned."

Miocic hasn't fought in 2.5 years ... when he dropped the rematch to Francis Ngannou at UFC 260.

Before the scrap with Ngannou, Stipe beat Daniel Cormier twice.

Speaking of DC ... the UFC great fought Jones on two occasions, so we asked Miocic if he's reached out to Daniel for advice on how to fight Jon.

"We're friends but I haven't really asked. That man's a busy man. DC, I give him credit, he's so busy but I get it, he's doing stuff. I'm never gonna bother him. If he ever called me, yeah, for sure I'd talk to him but that's it."

There's much more with Stipe ... including how he believes he'll beat Jon, to who hit hardest out of all the beasts he's fought -- Ngannou, DC, Mark Hunt, Alistair Overeem, Junior dos Santos, and more.

Napoleon McCallum -- the ex-Raiders running back who nearly lost his leg after suffering a devastating knee injury during a game in 1994 -- is advising Nick Chubb to consider all of his options before coming back to the football field full-time.

The former Oakland tailback tells TMZ Sports ... if he had the chance to sit and talk with the Cleveland star following the 27-year-old's injury last Monday night -- he'd be sure to get that message across to him.

"I understand it's hard to leave," McCallum said of what he'd say to Chubb. "You just gotta weigh your future life and all the great things that you can do with family and friends."

McCallum's injury was far more serious than Chubb's -- he ruptured an artery and severed a nerve in addition to tearing his ligaments on a run play against the San Francisco 49ers -- but he nonetheless knows at least part of the road Chubb will have to go down in order to feel normal again.

For McCallum, the end of that journey meant never playing football again ... an outcome he seems to think Chubb should at the very least consider.

"I just wish him the best," he said.

Kevin Gates is pumped for his upcoming "Only the Generals" Tour, and he's crediting his new hoops skills ... and the advice of a future Hall of Famer for getting him stage-ready!!!

We linked with Kevin out in Hollywood this week and he gushed about how incorporating basketball into his workout routine has boosted his fitness.

He's been participating in the TCL Crew League and admittedly is more Jason Kidd than Jason Tatum when he's on the court. Even though his shot might not be NBA-ready, Kev says he's loving his time on the hardwood

He counts Kevin Durant, DeMar DeRozan and Chris "Lethal Shooter" Matthews as his favorite pros to shoot around with during his training.

KG says KD told him to always focus on the shot he's taking above everything else, and you gotta see how he's applying that advice to his everyday life.

The additional inspo and energy will come in handy come October 6 when the tour kicks off ... 31 cities in 4 months is quite the cross-country trek!!!

Last time Kevin was on the road, he went viral for jumping high like he could duplicate a KD dunk.

Several Giants and 49ers fans got into such a wild fistfight in the stands following their game Thursday night ... at least two people were left bloodied.

The brawl went down just minutes after San Francisco beat New York at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. ... after a witness said fans had been trash-talking so much, one of them threw a beer that landed on a woman.

According to the bystander, as soon as the liquid fell on the lady ... a melee immediately broke out -- and in footage from the scene, obtained by TMZ Sports, you can see things got violent in a hurry.

One fan wearing a Joe Montana jersey was punched in the face so many times, his nose gushed blood.

Just feet away, two Giants fans were seen throwing haymakers at a guy in Niners gear ... hitting him so flush in the face, a cut opened above his right eye.

To the SF supporter's credit, he fought off the men ... landing several punches of his own -- before bolting from the area.

One witness tells us authorities did ultimately come to the stands to address the fracas ... though by the time they arrived, nearly all of the combatants had left.

A spokesperson for the Santa Clara Police Dept., however, tells us they are investigating the incident further.

Shannon Sharpe believes he was a pawn in Selena Gomez's game of hide and seek with the paparazzi ... laughing off his viral moment and playfully accusing the singer of using his celeb status to her advantage.

The Hall of Famer shared his side of Wednesday's infamous interaction outside Giorgio Baldi with former Cincinnati Bengals star Chad Johnson ... and he seems to think Selena's team concocted a master plan to make a mad dash to her car without getting captured by the cameras -- using Shannon as a distraction.

Sharpe reckons Selena's party realized he was famous at some point in the night ... so when he got up to leave, they followed right behind -- hoping the photogs would be too focused on the Broncos legend.

Of course, it only half-worked -- the guy interviewing Shannon bolted from their conversation mid-sentence to get a shot of Selena ... before eventually getting back to the ESPN host.

Shannon admits he doesn't know much about the former Disney actress ... but said had he known it was her at the time, he probably would've asked for a selfie anyway.

Gisele Bündchen says she wasn't living while married to NFL legend Tom Brady ... she was only surviving.

The supermodel gets candid with "CBS News Sunday Morning"s Lee Cowan in a brand new interview -- looking back at her relationship with Tom -- about a year after pulling the plug.

She believes she was doing more surviving than living while attached to him, and admits she's now able to "choose more of what I want" ... something that obviously feels right to her.

Gisele goes on to say she wouldn't change a thing about her past if she had the chance, which appears to apply to her divorce, too -- although she admits a breakup like this was something she never thought would happen to her.

As we reported, Gisele and Tom announced their separation together last October, with Gisele claiming at the time, "The decision to end a marriage is never easy, but we have grown apart."

The viral golfer who ripped his shirt off and threatened to fight others is no longer welcome at the scene of his bizarre outburst ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The golfer has reportedly been identified as John Reeb, a middle-aged man from Ohio with an extensive criminal history.

We spoke with Heather Ryan, the general manager of Crooked Creek Golf Course in Ottawa Lake, MI, who tells us Reeb is permanently banned from the course due to the behavior he showed in the viral video.

We're told the people Reeb threatened reported him to Crooked Creek staff shortly after the incident ... Reeb was then asked to leave the course and told he couldn't ever come back.

Heather tells us Reeb has also been banned from Cherrywood Golf Club ... another course they own in Ottawa Lake.

The Oakland Athletics didn't pull out many stops when it came to Miguel Cabrera's retirement gift -- they simply handed the future Hall of Famer an $80 bottle of wine ... and MLB fans everywhere have been clowning the org. over it ever since.

The gesture was supposed to be a sweet one ... as Cabrera's been landing gifts from teams throughout his final season in the Big Leagues this year -- but many have been calling the A's cheap over the present that they doled out on Thursday night.

After all, the team is worth over $1 billion ... and there's been a loud roar from social media users claiming it should have sprung for far more than some Cabernet Sauvignon.

Granted, the bottle was signed by the team ... but supporters of the Tigers star have noted other teams have gone far more above and beyond for Cabrera during his last season.

For example ... the New York Yankees gave the slugger his own custom subway sign of 161st Street and a $10k check for his foundation that aims to help young athletes by improving communities through sports and education.

The Los Angeles Dodgers got him his own Hollywood star ... while the Angels gifted him a custom surfboard -- since Cabrera is known to hit the waves here and there.

Some other notable mentions came from the Guardians, who gave Miggy a custom guitar; the Texas Rangers, who got him a custom saddle; and the Marlins, who hooked him up with cigars, a custom cigar box and his favorite rum.

Dwyane Wade is opening up on one of the most challenging times of his life ... admitting he nearly ended things with his now-wife, Gabrielle Union, after finding out he was having a child with another woman.

The Miami Heat legend -- who fathered his 9-year-old son, Xavier, with Aja Metoyer during a pause in his relationship with Union in 2013 -- broke down his mental struggles with the circumstances during his appearance on Shannon Sharpe's "Club Shay Shay" podcast this week ... saying it's something the couple still deals with to this day.

"It hasn't been perfect," Wade said. "It will never be perfect. We go to therapy, been to therapy. We've had shouts about it, regular conversations about it. It's going to continue to be something that I have to work at and work on."

Wade said he considered cutting ties with Union to avoid facing the music ... but he's thankful she didn't give up on their love for each other.

"I tried to pussyfoot around it," Wade continued. "I tried to break up with her. 'Hey, things have been bad lately.' 'Hey, we've been having a little distance in our relationship anyway.' I tried all of that. She kept showing up."

Wade -- who married Union in 2014 -- explained there is no way he'd be able to navigate through the rough waters without his partner ... but made it clear he also feels for his son, who will always have to live with the narrative.

Aaron Gordon will never forget his iconic poster dunk over Landry Shamet now ... 'cause TMZ Sports has learned the NBA star just got the moment memorialized with a crazy iced-out pendant!!!

Gordon's jeweler and good pal Buckz The Jeweler gifted the piece to the Denver Nuggets forward this week ... and it's awesome.

It features a mini Gordon in his No. 50 jersey soaring over a mini Shamet ... with 6.54 carats of VS1 diamonds draped over both characters.

The coolest part of the piece, though, is instead of Gordon dunkin' a basketball, he's holding the Larry O'Brien Championship Trophy that he won just a couple months after the Christmas Day 2022 slam.

"This pendant took me and my team 504 hours to bring every last detail to life," Buckz told us. "I knew I had to capture that all-time great moment on a pendant."

Buckz says the piece would typically run his customers somewhere in the area of $20,000 ... but he handed it over to Gordon free of charge as a thank you for believing in him when he was an up-and-comer in the diamond biz.

Buckz tells us ... Gordon came to him for an 18K gold grill last year -- and he'll never forget how the hooper took the chance on him.

Joey Votto is taking his talents to Bikini Bottom -- the Cincinnati Reds star is lending his voice for a local kids' production of "The Spongebob Musical!!"

TMZ Sports has learned ... the 2010 MVP has teamed up with The Children's Theatre of Cincinnati for its rendition of the show based on the hit Nickelodeon series -- officially joining the cast as the iconic "French Narrator."

Of course, Votto is fluent in French after growing up in Toronto ... so the guy won't have to work too hard on nailing the accent.

The first baseman won't be present when the kiddos take the stage October 14-23, but the production company says the work he put into his role will be a treat for everyone involved ... including the folks in the seats.

"We are so thankful to Joey Votto and his team for being a part of the 23-24 TCT Season," TCT CEO Kim Kern said. "Our audiences will enjoy hearing a Cincinnati icon bring this character to life."

The 49ers didn't have many issues on the field on Thursday night, but their fans in the stands sure as hell did ... getting so mad at each other, they brawled right in their seats!!

The fracas happened at some point during San Francisco's blowout win over the Giants at Levi's Stadium ... when about half a dozen Niner supporters decided to beat the hell out of each other.

It's unclear what started it all -- but both women and men were involved.

You can see in video from the scene, as two ladies decked out in SF gear took swipes at each other ... a man wearing a Richard Sherman jersey grabbed one of the combatants by her hair and threw her several feet down some stairs.

The fight, though, continued ... and when another man jumped into the action, the guy in the Sherman jersey started throwing punches.

Meanwhile, another 49er fan hopped into the fray to land some kicks as well.

GoFundMe is putting a permanent kibosh on Rob Mercer, the World Series of Poker player who lied on the platform about having cancer, took tens of thousands of dollars in donations and then blew it in Vegas.

A spokesperson for GoFundMe tells TMZ ... those who chipped in for Rob's fundraiser earlier this year have been fully refunded, and he's been axed from using the site in the future.

We're told the company has zero tolerance for those who "exploit the generosity of our community," adding GoFundMe often cooperates with law enforcement investigations into those "formally accused of wrongdoing."

As we reported, Rob came clean this week about his big lie ... in which he created a GoFundMe to get enough cash to attend July's WSOP event in Las Vegas.

He claimed he had colon cancer and reportedly received between $30,000 and $50,000 from people supporting him. However, he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal, he made it all up, and claimed it was a "spur-of-the-moment" decision.

Rob also told the outlet he thinks he actually has undiagnosed breast cancer but was embarrassed to say that, which is why he says he picked colon cancer instead.

The issue he's facing now ... if he really does have breast cancer, he won't be able to jump on GoFundMe and ask for help.

Byron Scott won't be shedding any tears over "Winning Time: The Rise of the Lakers Dynasty" getting shelved anytime soon ... 'cause the Lakers champ tells TMZ Sports he wasn't tuning into the series anyway.

We caught up with Byron just days after HBO announced the fate of the show based on the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers after just two seasons ... and asked him if he was bummed the storyline never got the chance to shine a light on his tenure with the purple and gold.

Safe to say he's not losing any sleep over it ... 'cause Scott told us straight up, "Nah, I'm good."

"I wasn't a big fan of the show because I know a lot of it was fabricated in certain ways just to make it more interesting for the fans which is cool, that's TV. That's Hollywood. That's what they do."

Scott -- who won 3 NBA championships with the Lakers -- said he, Magic Johnson and his former teammates don't even discuss the show ... and if it's ever brought up, it's their wives doing the talking.

Of course, it's no surprise the real Showtime Lakers are saying "good riddance" to the series -- Magic, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have all spoken out against it.

Byron -- who entered the picture (for real) in 1983 -- said he didn't feel as strongly about it as his teammates ... admitting he didn't care all that much.

USC head coach Lincoln Riley has lifted the controversial ban he placed on journalist Luca Evans this week ... after the two had a "long conversation" about the Trojans' beef with the beat writer.

Riley and his team initially suspended the Orange County Register reporter after they said he violated their media policies when he documented the pre-press-conference mannerisms of a Trojans player in a recent article.

The school said Evans shouldn't have written about the student-athlete's actions ... explaining they happened outside of the Trojans' allotted media availability period. Riley then suspended Evans for two weeks in response.

But, following days of backlash, Riley agreed to talk with Evans on Wednesday ... and on Thursday, he decided to remove the punishment.

"We had a very candid and productive conversation," Riley said. "We agreed that we both could have handled the situation differently. I appreciate Luca recognizing the policies we have in place to protect our student-athletes and acknowledging to adhere to those in the future."

"We welcome Luca back to practice and look forward to his continuing coverage of the Trojans."

Added Evans, "I respect and understand the program's outlined policies regarding media access, and any missteps came through the intent of doing my job and pursuing relationship-building and storytelling."

"I will continue the same reporting an writing with fairness, accuracy and depth, and we reached an agreement to lift the restriction on access."