TMZ Sports - Page 50

Another day, another NFL stud dying to be on "Dancing with the Stars" ... this time it's Panthers RB Jonathan Stewart who says his two-step skills are dope enough to bring home the mirror ball trophy.

Stewart recently took to Instagram to make it known he wants to be on the show so when we got him out at LAX of course we wanted to know ... dude, you serious?

Turns out he is ... and he told our camera guy he's totally wanting to put on his dancing shoes as long as it doesn't interfere with his day job.

Hey, we're cool with anybody on the Panthers team dancing ... except for that one guy.

Ricky Williams has some advice for fellow Heisman Trophy winner Johnny Manziel -- consider stepping away from the NFL for a little bit ... it could save his career.

Williams famously went to Canada and played with the Toronto Argonauts in 2006 after violating the NFL's drug policy for the 4th time ... and now, Ricky says the move was one of the best things he ever did.

"When I went to go play in Canada, it got my mind straight, I found my love for football again, I came back and I had another 5 years to my career."

Bottom line -- Ricky says Johnny needs to think outside the box for ways to get his life back in order and "follow your heart."

When Samantha Hoopes is on the move people pay attention -- mostly because she always looks like this when she's doing it.

Hoopes stepped out in Miami to do ... whatever smoking hot models do when they're not posing or partying, and thankfully she was wearing the least amount of clothing the law will allow.

The Sports Illustrated swimsuit model proves what we already suspected -- absolutely everything is hotter on South Beach ... even errands.

Truth be told ... SW's west coast outings are pretty damn hot too.

They're at it again!!

The Harlem Globetrotters have taken their show out west -- specifically, to the roof of the Staples Center in L.A. ... where they hit long distance bombs and it was all caught on video!

The man with the shooter's touch is Scooter Christensen -- who nailed a 100-foot shot from the roof to a hoop on the ground ... right next to the legendary Magic Johnson statue.

Eddie Lacy could be coming back to Green Bay straight DIESEL ... 'cause it looks like the Pro Bowler has taken up P90x creator Tony Horton's offer to train him ... we think.

We broke the story ... Horton made an on-camera plea to Lacy -- basically begging to train the running back -- after Packers head coach Mike McCarthy demanded Lacy drop 30 pounds before next season.

Well, there is some evidence to suggest the two have linked up and are getting it RIGHT NOW in Jackson Hole, Wyoming ... namely a tell tale Moose.

Check out these two posts that each guy put up on social media recently -- pay attention to the certain alces (look it up) figure that shows up in each shot.

Need more? How about GB head coach Mike McCarthy saying Lacy is "conditioning as we speak" in a presser he just gave ... seemingly aware of Eddie's efforts to shave some muffin top.

Nick Carter's bar fighting partner may have had some experience before their Key West arrest -- he'll be charged with a felony for knocking a man unconscious in Dodger Stadium's parking lot.

The L.A. County D.A. announced Michael Papayans -- who's Carter's close friend -- will be charged next month for felony assault. The D.A. claims Papayans punched a man in the stadium parking lot in October, knocking him unconscious and causing serious head injuries.

Papayans was booked last month for misdemeanor battery after he and Carter allegedly fought a bouncer in Key West.

He was going more than DOUBLE the speed limit -- but NBA star Jahlil Okafor is getting off cheap in his Philadelphia speeding case.

The 20-year-old was pulled over back in October after cops say he was going 108 mph over the Ben Franklin Bridge ... where the speed limit is 45 mph.

He was initially charged with reckless driving -- but cut a deal in which he was cited for "unsafe conditions" ... and fined $439.

That's roughly $7 for every MPH over the speed limit ... and he's already paid the fine.

Still think wrestling is fake?

WWE legend Edge says the damage he sustained from all of those famous ladder matches was VERY REAL -- and says the years falling from crazy heights jacked him up so bad, he had to retire.

Edge was famous for performing in TONS of ladder matches during his career -- and with Daniel Bryan recently retiring due to concussion concerns, we asked if he had similar issues.

But Edge says it wasn't his head that was problem -- "I fell off ladders a lot and that took a toll on the neck."

Edge retired in 2011 and had surgery to put 3 plates in his neck -- but isn't bitter about it. In fact, he's still very involved with the WWE.

One less problem for Washington Redskins star Junior Galette -- he's officially off the hook in his New Orleans traffic case after striking a sweet plea deal with prosecutors.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Galette was pulled over on July 7th in his Mercedes and cited for 3 traffic violations, including driving on a suspended license and an expired brake tag.

But we've learned ... Galette struck a deal in which he agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of driving without a license on his person ... and in exchange the other charges were dropped.

The punishment -- a $268.75 fine ... which Galette paid immediately.

Here's some pretty good video of Kobe Bryant getting clowned by some super famous NBA stars -- topped off by Chris Paul presenting Mamba with an old man cane.

It all went down at the Gentlemen’s Supper Club at Parcae during NBA All-Star Weekend in Toronto -- with Dwyane Wade, Carmelo Anthony and CP3 honoring Kobe with speeches and gifts.

One of the funniest parts ... CP3 says he asked Kobe for his game-used shoes back in the day so he could auction 'em off for his charity -- but Paul admits, "Them shoes still at the crib!"

D-Wade also gifted Kobe a 1 year subscription to Netflix AND some undies so he can be comfortable in retirement.

Here's a list of other gifts Kobe got from the guys:

-- reading glasses

-- Preparation H

-- Mamba fruit chews

-- TV remote

-- denture adhesive cream

-- compression socks

-- Barbaresco 1996 magnum bottle of Italian wine

A federal judge has rejected Darren Sharper's plea deal -- calling for the ex-NFL star to do between 15-20 years in prison (instead of 9) for raping and drugging several women ... but it may not matter in the end.

Sharper's attorneys had previously hammered out a global plea deal with 4 states -- in which Sharper would plead guilty to multiple counts of rape and serve a grand total of 9 years behind bars.

The federal judge in Louisiana said that such a light sentence violated federal sentencing guidelines and she couldn't sign off.

But that doesn't mean Sharper will end up doing 15 to 20.

The next step for Sharper is either to convince the judge that his cooperation with prosecutors should get him a reduction in his sentence OR to plead guilty to a different basket of crimes which would warrant a lighter sentence.

The UFC has launched an investigation into legendary fighter BJ Penn -- after a former writer on Penn's website claimed BJ sexually assaulted his girlfriend.

The writer is Pedro Alex Carrasco -- who went to Twitter and said BJ recently came to his home "when I wasn't there and forced himself on my girl, pulled her clothes off, then blamed me, said I looked at his GF ass."

Pedro's girlfriend reportedly filed charged is Ohio -- and the UFC has already announced it's looking into the situation.

"UFC is aware of the recent allegations made against BJ Penn."

"Every athlete is deserving of proper review and this situation, as with any serious allegation, will be investigated by an independent party and thoroughly reviewed by the UFC."

"The UFC organization will also cooperate with any law enforcement investigation."

UFC says they've put any plans to book Penn in a fight on hold until they know more about the situation.

Magic Johnson is lashing out at Manny Pacquiao -- saying he'll NEVER watch another Pacman fight after he trashed gays as "worse than animals."

The NBA legend went to Twitter and wrote, "I applaud Nike for terminating Manny Pacquiao's contract after his derogatory statements that gay people are worse than animals."

"Fans of all walks of life including gay fans supported May/Pac fight putting $100M in his pocket. I guess to him their money is still green."

"I won't be watching another one of Manny Pacquiao's fights."

Manny Pacquiao is doubling down on his anti-gay stance -- posting a bible verse that condones putting gays to death ... hours after he was fired by Nike.

The Filipino news agency ABS-CBN captured an Instagram Manny put up early Thursday morning quoting Leviticus 20.13:

"If a man has sexual relations with a man as one does with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They are to be put to death, their blood will be on their own heads."

The post has since been deleted.

TMZ Sports spoke with Manny's longtime promoter Bob Arum who says although he finds Manny's views abhorrent, he understands them because they're rooted in religious belief. Manny is a born again Christian.

Earlier this week, Manny said gays are "worse than animals" -- though he later apologized, while noting that he is still very much anti-gay marriage.

Great news for Odell Beckham Jr. ... you've been cleared to take Zendaya on a 2nd date (if she wants) ... because her dad says the NFL star passed his "interview" with flying colors!!!

Zendaya's dad, Kazembe Ajamu Coleman, joined the guys on the "TMZ Sports" show (airs weeknights on FS1) ... to talk about how IMPRESSED he was with Odell this weekend.

As we previously reported, OBJ and Zendaya (and dad) hung out in Hollywood -- and Kazembe said it was an "audition" to see if he was worthy of dating his daughter.

Not only did Kazembe give OBJ some serious compliments -- but he's got a pretty nice message for Odell's parents too.

Shaquille O'Neal's superstar son Shareef isn't sure which college he'll take his hoops skills to, but he knows one he WON'T ... his father's Alma Mater LSU.

We got Shareef out in L.A. and wanted to know if he was leaning any particular way for the next level -- being that he's one of the best prep players in the country.

Cover your ears Baton Rouge ... Shareef says he's visited a couple of schools and has a bunch of offers but there's no chance that he ends up down on the bayou.