TMZ Sports - Page 9

Eminem had a helluva day in Santa Clara on Sunday cheering on his beloved Lions ... getting into squabbles with 49ers fans -- before sweating out a heartbreaking loss.

The rap legend had suite seats for the NFC Championship Game at Levi's Stadium ... and the day was filled with a roller coaster full of emotions for the Detroit native.

Throughout the afternoon, he was seen chirpin' at San Francisco faithful in his Lions T-shirt -- even flipping off a man who was decked out in a Brock Purdy jersey.

Later in the evening, after Detroit went up on the Niners, 21-7, he was spotted going crazy in his luxury box.

However, when the Lions began to blow their lead, Em could be seen looking super stressed.

Ultimately, Detroit fell, 34-31 ... but Marshall wasn't too sour about it all, he took to X to thank his favorite team for the great year, before promising they'd make a return trip to the NFCCG.

Love is in the air for Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce -- and now their fans can be too ... 'cause airlines are cashing in on the celeb romance for the Super Bowl!

Ahead of the big game two Sundays from now, American Airlines has announced direct flights between Kansas City, Missouri, and Sin City with the number "1989" -- which Swifties will immediately recognize as the 2014/2023 re-recorded album of hers.

Following the game, flight AA 87 will be your ticket home to TK's hometown, an obvious nod to his jersey number. Yes, AA went all out with this gimmick-y flight path ... creative, indeed.

They're not the only airline hopping on the T-Swift bandwagon, BTW ... United's doing it too.

UA has added similar flight numbers as well -- including UA 2287 referring to Tay Tay's song "22" and Travis' jersey number. Plus another flight UA 1587 merges Kelce and fellow Chiefs' quarterback Patrick Mahomes' jersey numbers. The airline's schedule also includes special flights from San Francisco to Vegas.

Tickets are now available from the airlines' website and their apps -- and you better believe these airlines are banking on people hopping aboard. On its face, this seems to be one mile high club everyone will be scrambling to be a part of!

It's only fitting that these companies are trying to capitalize on the whole frenzy that's blown up among the football couple's super fandom, which kickstarted back in September when Taylor first came out to cheer on Travis, sitting alongside his mamma, Donna Kelce at the time.

Months later, it feels like the gridiron is now a second home for her -- and she's truly become a big NFL consumer/advocate through her romance. In fact, she was seen hugging TK to celebrate the Chiefs bagging a coveted spot at Super Bowl LVIII after they defeated the Baltimore Ravens 17-10 Sunday ... and he appeared to say the "L" word. We think.

Of course, if the Chiefs win the Super Bowl, there's no way he can't say those three coveted words to his lucky charm: Taylor. Fasten your seatbelts ... the declaration of love may soon be coming!!

Anyway, go ahead and book those plane tickets if you're inclined -- AA and UA are ready to take your cash and send you on your way.

We covered it all on the latest episode of The TMZ Podcast, available on all podcast platforms.

Taylor Swift and Tony Romo were gassin' each other up when they crossed paths at the AFC Championship Game ... with both sides showering each other with compliments -- and the cute interaction was caught on video.

Swift made her way to the field to celebrate her boyfriend, Travis Kelce, following the Kansas City Chiefs' 17-10 win over the Baltimore Ravens on Sunday ... and as the players accepted the Lamar Hunt Trophy, the pop superstar made her way over to the former quarterback-turned-CBS commentator to give him his flowers.

Reporters on the scene claim Swift initiated the praise-off ... telling Romo he does a good job, to which he appeared to reply that she's "even better."

In a clip of the exchange, it appears Swift downplayed the comparison ... saying, "We’re doing very different things, aren’t we? It’s a different skill set" before the two shared a fist bump.

The two also shared a hug as Travis did his thing on the stage ... and Taylor was over the moon as Chiefs Kingdom soaked in the dub.

The meetup is quite interesting ... considering Romo has notoriously referred to Swift as Kelce's "wife" on numerous occasions throughout the season.

Safe to say the "Lover" crooner ain't sweating the flub ... but here's hoping he gets it right when the Super Bowl comes around in a few weeks.

Christmas Abbott's baby daddy was arrested in North Carolina ... for allegedly sharing explicit images of Christmas without her permission.

According to legal documents obtained by TMZ ... Benjamin Bunn, who shares five-year-old son Loyal with Abbott, was arrested back in October and charged with three counts of disclosure of private images. He was later released on a $30,000 bond.

Sources close to the investigation tell us ... Abbot was being harassed by a fake account pretending to be her. Christmas believed Bunn was behind the account and was using it to post photos taken from an account where she publishes adult content from behind a paywall.

We’re told Christmas took this info to the cops ... who investigated, got a warrant, and eventually took Bunn into custody. His next court date is in February.

"Big Brother" fans will remember Christmas from seasons 19 and 22 of the show ... where she finished third and fourth respectively. She's also a CrossFit trainer and former Nascar pit crew member.

Abbott's had well-documented trouble with Bunn in the past. As we reported ... just a couple months before her son was born, Christmas suspected Benjamin was cheating on her -- and went to a Tampa gym to confront his alleged mistress.

The confrontation got out of hand ... with Christmas ramming into the woman's car. Cops showed up at the scene, but they declined to process her at the time, because she was almost 8 months pregnant. She turned herself in a few months later after she'd given birth.

Taylor Swift had Travis Kelce on her mind and on her wrist, neck and finger on Sunday ... supporting her man in Baltimore not only from a box suite, but with Chiefs-themed jewelry all over her body!!

The pop star was seen decked out with three separate pieces to pay homage to her boyfriend as he and the Chiefs took on the Ravens in the AFC Championship at M&T Bank Stadium.

On her finger, she had a ring shaped like Kelce's No. 87 Kansas City jersey ... and around her neck, she sported a pendant with the Chiefs' logo.

She also rocked a diamond bracelet that featured the letters "TNT" -- which Swifties have widely assumed stands for "Taylor and Travis."

It seems it all ended up being good luck charms for the "Bad Blood" crooner and her man ... as Kelce and the Chiefs were able to upset the Ravens, 17-10.

Afterward, she shared a sweet embrace with Kelce on the field while proudly displaying all of the jewelry ... and she appeared to even drop an L-bomb on him as he celebrated the fourth AFC Championship of his career.

One of the stars of the original "Road House" is giving his review of the first look at the Jake Gyllenhaal and Conor McGregor-led remake ... telling TMZ Sports there's one glaring difference that caught his attention -- the way it sounds when dudes are duking it out.

Marshall Teague -- who played Patrick Swayze's arch nemesis, Jimmy, in the '80s cult classic -- was one of the millions of movie buffs who tuned into the trailer for the Prime Video project this week ... and while he's really pulling for the new take to do well, he found the audio effects in the fight scenes "humorous."

Teague -- who's experienced in martial arts and kickboxing -- said he and Swayze actually hit each other HARD during their on-screen scraps ... so naturally, it sounded like the real deal.

But, considering Conor is one of the greatest fighters on the planet and Gyllenhaal, despite training like a madman for his Elwood Dalton role, is not nearly as experienced in combat ... it's safe to say the two couldn't go toe-to-toe like Swayze and Teague did back in the day -- but Marshall hopes they were still able to build a similar bond on set.

"I love [Patrick] to death and I miss him every day," Teague said. "He's a great guy. I feel very honored to have had the opportunity to do that film with him and I hope the two of them have the same relationship. I really do."

Teague praises both Jake and Conor for being amazing in their respective fields ... and he wants nothing but the best for the upcoming flick.

No matter how great the reimagined version turns out, Teague said it will be tough to top the OG ... but he's truthfully got his fingers crossed that it can live up to the expectations.

As for whether he's got a cameo in the 2024 edition, Teague revealed he's received thousands of messages from fans asking if he makes an appearance ... but he pointed out it would be kinda hard to do, as his character died in the original.

Taylor Swift's a very happy pop star right now ... 'cause her boyfriend Travis Kelce just booked a place in Super Bowl LVIII -- and she gave him a huge hug on the field to celebrate.

The Kansas City Chiefs just defeated the Baltimore Ravens 17-10 at M&T Bank Stadium and booked their ticket to the NFL's final showdown where they'll play either the San Francisco 49ers or the Detroit Lions. Tay and Travis hugged it out on the field -- a sweet moment between the power couple.

Taylor was super into the entire game ... cheering loudly after Travis caught a TD in the first quarter -- and wringing her hands down the stretch when Baltimore looked like they might mount a late comeback. Happy ending for a team that's dominated the league in recent years.

It's K.C.'s fourth Super Bowl appearance in the last five years, but their first since Taylor and Travis took over as the world's most famous couple.

While she won't be on the field in Vegas Feb. 11 -- this feels like a big moment for Tay too ... a culmination of a full season of football super fandom that started way back in September.

Remember ... we first saw Taylor at the Chiefs' week 3 matchup against the Bears. She sat next to Donna Kelce -- the first time but most certainly not the last -- while she watched her BF beat down on Chicago for a 41-10 Chiefs W.

T-Swift headed on the road for the next game -- traveling to East Rutherford, New Jersey to watch K.C. pull out a narrow 23-20 win over the New York Jets. She brought some friends with her BTW ... close friend Blake Lively, her husband Ryan Reynolds and freakin' Wolverine himself, Hugh Jackman.

On top of that, Swift was spotted hanging the night before with Sophie Turner and one new friend in NYC ... Brittany Mahomes -- who has remained a constant football companion for the 34-year-old.

The Swift era in K.C. kept going strong  ... with a 19-8 win over the Broncos on a chilly Thursday night in Missouri back in October. Taylor gave Donna a friendship bracelet ... and the Chiefs moved to 3-0 with Swift in attendance.

Four appearances, four wins for the Chiefs. Taylor and new BFF Brittany hit the suite for the Chiefs' win over the Chargers on Oct. 22. They even revealed a new secret handshake to the world ... reviews were mixed.

It took more than a month for Swift to hit up another NFL game ... with Travis traveling to Europe to play a game and Swift going on tour in South America. We didn't worry about the couple though -- 'cause Travis went down to Argentina to visit for a couple days.

Swift cropped up again in early December ... but the long-term separation seemed to spoil the T-Swift magic. The Chiefs dropped their first game with Swift in attendance to the Green Bay Packers -- and some fans started to question if there was a curse attached to the star.

Bills vs Chiefs ... a game marred by controversy -- and T-Swift was on hand to see all of it. A competitive game throughout, Taylor could be seen blasting those amazing pipes of hers ... before a controversial offsides call late resulted in a 20-17 Buffalo victory and a Patrick Mahomes freakout.

On the road once again ... Taylor traveled to New England to watch the Chiefs play the Patriots with her pops, Scott. The Chiefs got back to their winning ways in a 27-17 victory win over Bill Belichick's boys.

Merry Christmas, Taylor!!! Instead of roasting chestnuts on an open fire, Swift -- joined by one of the few people more popular than her, Santa Claus -- cheered on her man from the suite on Christmas Day against the Raiders. Another L for the red and gold.

Another holiday, another Swift appearance. On New Year's Eve, Taylor watched as K.C. beat Cincinnati -- taking home the AFC West title after coming back from 10 points down to win 25-17.

A week off for Tay ... Travis skipped the last regular season game against the L.A. Chargers to get some much-needed rest before the playoffs and a showdown against the Miami Dolphins.

Taylor braved blistering cold temps to watch the Chiefs take home the win in the Wild Card Round of the playoffs -- and she looked absolutely enthralled with TK postgame.

The dreaded Bills once again ... but this time, no late offsides call changed the game. Instead, the Chiefs won 27-24 after a field goal miss by Bills kicker Tyler Bass ... though most people are gonna remember a shirtless Jason Kelce.

2:04 PM PT -- Tons of memorable moments in the first half ... including one where the Ravens offense seemed to mock a T-Swift celebration from past games.

1:54 PM PT -- We've got eyes on Jason ... who's going with a two-layer approach, Hawaiian shirt over Chiefs T. Gonna be a little harder to free the nipple now, JK!

It's that time of the week again folks ... Taylor Swift's ready to cheer on Travis Kelce and the Chiefs -- in what could be her last game of the season.

The pop star pulled up to M&T Bank Stadium in Baltimore to take on the Ravens Sunday ... going with a more toned-down look than we've seen her sport in past weekends. She's got a bright red shirt on, but she's covered it with a long black coat.

Why exactly she's doing that ... looks like T-Swift's twinning with her better half -- who looked downright vicious in a matching coat and black beanie. In fact, his whole ensemble's black -- giving him the look of a real bad dude.

The Chiefs' X account's playing into the joke BTW ... captioning the vid "Knew he was a Killa first time that we saw him" -- tossing Trav's "Killa" nickname into a paraphrased version of Taylor's first line in "...Ready For It?"

At Swift's side ... her best gameday gal pal Brittany Mahomes who stuck with the toned-down colors theme in a black and white leather-looking coat with her hubby Patrick's number stitched into the lapel.

BTW ... Travis' big bro Jason -- whose shirtless celebration after TK's TD last weekend sparked national headlines -- and his wife Kylie are also reportedly going to the game. No sign of them yet though.

It's the biggest game of the season for K.C. The Chiefs are one win away from the Super Bowl -- with the best team in the AFC standing in the way ... worst of all, this may be the last time the team benefits from the "Taylor Magic."

Obviously, if they lose, no more Chiefs games this season for Swift ... but even if they win it might be hard for Taylor to make it to the Super Bowl. The big game's scheduled for Sunday, February 11 -- the same weekend that TayTay heads back on tour.

Swift's got shows February 7-10 in Tokyo ... we had the TMZ Math Department crunch the numbers, and that should leave Swift about 36 hours from the end of her show to fly from Tokyo to Vegas to see the game.

We know she's got her own private jet ... but damn that's a lot on her. Plus, we've already seen what happens when Swift's working on her own career -- she missed a couple of Kelce's games back in November when she was down in South America.

So, this may be the end of another Taylor Era ... or maybe not! Travis just made an incredible touchdown catch -- so those Super Bowl hopes are alive and well.

We may just have to see if Swift can make the commute work.

The music industry, the NFL, the U.S. economy, and now ... The White House?!? According to a new poll, Taylor Swift could sway voters in the 2024 presidential election.

The poll, conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies, showed 18% of voters said they're "more likely" or "significantly likely" to vote for a candidate endorsed by Tay.

But the data also showed 17% said they would be less likely to vote for a candidate if they were backed by Swift.

The survey was taken earlier this month, and questioned 1,500 eligible voters.

45% of those questioned said they were fans of the singer. The poll also showed, unsurprisingly,  a Taylor endorsement would appeal significantly to young voters.

With all she's accomplished, the Time Person of the Year has more reach than ever before.

It should be noted, T-Swift has mostly steered clear of Politics throughout her career ... so it's still unknown if the singer will announce her vote this year.

However, she did endorse former Democratic Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen in a 2018 Senate race ... and publicly voiced her support for now-President Joe Biden in 2020.

Wrestling legend Kevin Von Erich is praising the way Zac Efron and Jeremy Allen White portray him and his famous brother in a new movie about their life ... but he says there is no way they would make it in a real ring.

Kevin, the subject of "The Iron Claw," tells TMZ ... Zac, Jeremy and Harris Dickinson did a great job bringing him and his brothers Kerry and David Von Erich to life ... though the actors are way too small to cut it as pro wrestlers.

Don't get it twisted, Kevin's not hating here ... he's just keeping it real.

In fact, Kevin has nothing but love for 'Iron Claw,' which tells the story of his famous wrestling family.

Kevin says the film does a pretty good job boiling down so many stories into a 2-hour movie ... and it's pretty much historically accurate, at least by Hollywood standards.

One thing Kevin says 'Iron Claw' took some liberties with is his relationship with his father ... pro wrestler Fritz Von Erich. Kevin says his pops never wanted him to get into wrestling, unlike the way it's portrayed in the flick.

Kevin also understands why the director left his brother Chris Von Erich out of the movie ... and he wants folks to know he never would have risen to such heights without Christianity ... something the movie omits.

But hey, it's Hollywood ... and Kevin knows the name of the game.

Good news, Niners fans ... former San Francisco DB Donte Whitner says he's expecting a walk in the park for his ex-team on Sunday -- telling TMZ Sports the 49ers will beat the Lions by more than three touchdowns!!

Whitner says he's anticipating the final score to be 37-14 ... and it's all, in part, due to his confidence in Brock Purdy -- who he says is a top three or four quarterback in the NFL right now.

"I'm not expecting it to be close," Whitner said of the NFC Championship Game.

Of course, Purdy and the Niners didn't look their best last weekend against the Green Bay Packers ... they needed a late score in the fourth quarter to pull out the win despite being a heavy favorite heading into the game.

But, Whitner tells us he thinks the rain played a huge role in that ... promising, "You won't see that same 49ers football team this week vs. the Detroit Lions."

Whitner -- who logged snaps for the Niners from 2011 to 2013 -- also praised the hell out of Purdy during our conversation ... saying he has no idea why the 24-year-old signal-caller gets so much criticism from national pundits.

"When I go back and I analyze the film on Brock Purdy, he does everything you want him to do as a quarterback," Whitner said.

"How can you continue to beat this kid down when he was the last pick in the draft and he's shown all the qualities and capabailities to be a top franchise quarterback."

Now that it's the weekend, it's worth a look back at what TMZ covered this week ... particularly on the tube -- where we had a lil' too much fun heading into Saturday/Sunday.

Starting with 'TMZ Live,' we just had to tackle this whole Alyssa Milano situation -- which was kicked off from her own doing. Basically, she tried fundraising on behalf of her son ... but got dragged for doing so, and you can imagine why.

The question is ... was she in the right, or in the wrong? Strong opinions from all on this one.

'TMZ on TV' was a riot to end the week ... and it's all thanks to the genius marketing people at Warner Bros. -- who trotted out this popcorn bucket for 'Dune 2,' which looks ... strange.

The crew had a blast trying to figure out exactly what this looks like -- take a guess yourself.

Somewhat of a serious and startling topic on 'TMZ Sports,' where Mojo and Mike analyzed the theft of a life-size Jackie Robinson statue from a youth baseball facility this week.

Check your local listings for when TMZ is on in your area or catch up on past episodes!

A chaotic scene went down before the Georgetown-Providence basketball game Saturday ... with videos flooding social media of fans pushing and yelling outside.

Here's the deal ... students were lined up, ready to head into the Amica Mutual Pavillion in Rhode Island for the Big East Conference showdown -- where they'd reportedly been since 7 AM, almost three hours before tip-off!!!

These dedicated students seem to have gotten overexcited 'cause it appears some started pushing their way forward ... which led to several students on the ground -- and a metal barricade standing almost totally vertical on the side.

Check out the vid -- several people are on the ground while their fellow students seem to be trying to hold the crowd back ... clearly in an effort to keep them from being trampled.

It's a tense scene ... with security screaming at students to stop pushing and shoving a couple students away from those who fell -- the person taking the video didn't come away unscathed either, tilting the camera down to reveal their shoes were taken off in the melee.

Ultimately, the people working seemed to calm things down and let students into the game slowly. It's not clear if anyone was injured ... but regardless, it's a pretty scary scene. BTW, Providence ended up winning the game 84-76 -- and videos from inside the arena show the sheer magnitude of the crowd.

Kim Kardashian and Kanye West showed up for another one of their icy encounters at their son's Friday night basketball game -- as the cameras caught almost every chilly moment.

The former couple arrived separately at 8-year-old Saint's sporting event in Los Angeles, trying to keep their distance from one another while also having an awkward interaction.

Check out these paparazzi photos, obtained by TMZ ... Kim does not appear happy while appearing to listen to something the rapper is saying.

Another picture shows the SKIMS mogul sitting on the sidelines mingling with other people next to her ... while Kanye chatted it up with Nick Cannon away from her.

In a third image, Kim is seen sitting all alone in her chair with a serious look on her face.

After the basketball game, Kim left with Saint to go grab some dinner. Kanye, of course, was not invited, and exited the game alone. His boo, Bianca Censori, was nowhere in sight.

Remember, Kim and Ye were doing much of the same at Saint's game last week, too.

As we reported, Kim and Kanye have had an especially rocky relationship since their 2022 divorce after 7 years of marriage and four children together, including Saint.

Shawne Merriman says the Chargers knocked it out of the park with their Jim Harbaugh hire ... telling TMZ Sports he believes his ex-team now has a feeling of, "'Hey, we can go out and win a championship now!'"

The former pass rusher was fired up when we spoke with him shortly after the Bolts named the ex-Michigan coach their new head man ... explaining to us he thinks L.A. is now a real-deal Super Bowl contender.

Merriman says the roster Harbaugh is inheriting is "the most talented team to never make the playoffs" ... and he's expecting a turnaround to happen relatively swiftly.

"If I'm Jim Harbaugh, I'm licking my chops," Merriman said. "I'm walking in there one day like somebody just handed me the keys to a Ferrari and I'm about to slam on the gas, right?"

As for the fit, Merriman previously expressed concerns about Harbaugh's ability to connect with young players at 60 years old ... but it seems those qualms have been squashed since the hiring process officially kicked off a few weeks ago.

"It's just a match made in heaven," he said. "I don't think there could've been more of a perfect storm."

Merriman also expressed gratitude that his former team passed on the opportunity to sign Bill Belichick ... believing the fit just wouldn't have worked in the City of Angels.

Chandler Jones' jewelry shopping spree didn't stop with iced-out Jesus pieces ... TMZ Sports has learned the NFL star also just got a chain that's worth $1 MILLION too!!

We're told the former Las Vegas Raiders pass rusher reached out to Gabriel Jacobs this week after coppin' the religious bling to get even more new drip made ... and, as he normally he does, the celeb jeweler came through big time.

Jacobs made Jones a chain that's loaded with 300 carats of diamonds that, as you can see, shine ultra bright.

Unclear what Jones paid for it, but Jacobs says it's worth $1.1 million!!!

Even though the bill for all the recent jewelry certainly wasn't cheap ... Jones, of course, can afford it, as he earned over $131 million in NFL contracts after recording 112 sacks and 34 forced fumbles in 12 seasons.