TMZ Sports - Page 50

President Obama is now officially the hero of Demaryius Thomas' family after cutting the wide receiver's grandmother a huge break on her life sentence.

Minnie Pearl Thomas is one of the 214 prisoners who got their prison sentences commuted by the Prez on Wednesday. Minnie got sentenced to life in prison in 2000 for running a cocaine distribution ring, but now she's set to be released Dec. 1 ... thanks to Obama.

Demaryius said this "Couldn't be a better day" ... as he gave the President a shout-out for giving families like his "second chances."

Abby Wambach says she's been "totally sober" since her DUI arrest in April -- telling TMZ Sports she's learned from her mistake and doesn't plan to repeat it.

As we previously reported, the Team USA soccer legend blew a .13 during her April 2nd arrest in Portland -- and later pled guilty to driving under the influence of intoxicants.

She immediately took responsibility for the incident -- and vowed to be a better role model.

Well, we got Abby at LAX -- and she essentially told us the DUI was a teachable moment ... saying, "You live and you learn."

As for the complete sobriety -- the judge will be very happy to hear that ... since he asked her to abstain from booze while she's in her 1 year court-ordered diversion program.

Is it even fair anymore?

Chad Johnson's 11-year-old daughter Cha'iel just ran away with yet another gold medal in the 800m Jr. Olympic Finals in Houston ... defending her title from a year ago.

Cha'iel crossed the finish line with a time of 2:19:60 at the AAU Junior Olympic Track & Field Championships ... a full 2 seconds faster than the 2nd place finisher and almost 8 seconds faster than her time last year.

But that's not all ... Cha'iel has a chance to go for gold in the 400m on Thursday. She finished with the best time (1:00.35) in the semifinals.

Good luck! Not like she needs it ...

Here's video of Roy Jones Jr.'s kid, Roy III, using his dad-given athletic ability ... but NOT in a boxing ring ... 'cause it turns out the kid is an absolute terror on the hoops court.

16-year-old Roy III is a junior at Pine Forest and by the looks of his highlight video he's doing the same thing to his HS competition that his pops did to his foes in the ring ... making them look silly.

It's not just flash though ... kid's got the numbers to back it up ... averaging 14.1 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.9 steals and 1.6 assists per game this past season. We're told he's gotten interest from several colleges.

FYI -- Papa Roy used to get a little hoop himself ... famously playing in a pro basketball game THE SAME DAY he defended his super middleweight title.

WWE Hall of Famer "Superstar" Billy Graham has been hospitalized after doctors say he was bleeding internally ... but he's now in stable condition.

The 73-year-old legend -- who famously trained as a bodybuilder with Arnold Schwarzenegger -- was taken to the hospital late Tuesday night.

Billy's son, Joseph Miluso, told ProWrestlingSheet the bleeding is now under control and his father is expected to make a full recovery.

Billy's daughter told PWS that Graham is in stable condition.

#GetWellSoonBrother

A big pre-season victory for Seattle Seahawks cornerback Brandon Browner -- who will NOT be prosecuted for allegedly attacking his baby mama's father last month ... TMZ Sports has learned.

We broke the story ... cops were investigating Browner after the alleged victim claimed he was in a heated argument with the NFL player, who became violent. Browner allegedly left the scene in his white Bentley before cops arrived.

But according to new court docs obtained by TMZ Sports, the investigation hit a major roadblock -- because officials could not locate or interview Browner ... and the witnesses suddenly became uncooperative.

The L.A. County District Attorney's office ultimately decided they didn't have the goods to get a conviction -- and declined to move forward with charges.

"Damn ... I still can't believe that kid is dead" -- Conor McGregor.

The UFC superstar is opening up about the death of Portuguese MMA fighter Joao Carvalho -- who died from injuries he sustained during a fight in Dublin back in April.

Conor was cageside at the fight ... since Joao's opponent was McGregor's training teammate, Charlie Ward. Conor and Charlie had been working out together at the Straight Blast Gym in Ireland.

"It's f****d up," Conor said to Men's Health magazine ... "I wasn't just watching that fight. I helped train a guy to kill someone, and then someone wound up dying."

"This is a f*****g dangerous game. People call it a sport, but it's fighting. I'm just making sure it ain't me. And that's f****d up."

Tom Brady turns 39 today ... and his wife, Gisele, honored the QB with a heartfelt personal message ... on Instagram.

"Happy Birthday my love! We miss you and wish we could be with you today," Gisele wrote.

"Sending you all our love. May this year bring you so much joy and fulfillment. We love you!!"

Soccer superstar Neymar says he has Michael Jordan to thank for inspiring him to achieve greatness -- saying even when he was a kid, he wanted to be like Mike.

Of course, Neymar happens to be a Jordan Brand athlete -- but he sat down to talk about #23 and gushed about his first pair of Jordans and how they impacted his life.

Neymar says he's always been impressed with MJ's work ethic -- and has tried to apply it to his own life.

Cincinnati Reds star Joey Votto did the quickest 180 in baseball history Tuesday ... totally hooking up a fan with an autograph moments after shaming him on national TV for bad baseball etiquette.

Votto was trying to snag a fly ball during the 7th inning of last night's game vs. the Cardinals when an excited fan seemed to impede his ability to make the catch.

Joey's initial response? SHAME. He grabbed the man's Reds jersey ... reminding him what team he was rooting for and when to get the hell out of the damn way.

Clip went viral instantly ... but while the Internet was eating it up, Votto was already doing an about-face ... going back to the dugout and writing out an apology to the man on a signed baseball.

Everybody won (including the Reds 7-5) but next time get outta the damn way, man!!!

Kareem Abdul-Jabbar opened up his wallet to take Kathy Griffin out to a dinner Tuesday night -- to thank the comic for writing his "I'm Michael Jordan" joke at the Democratic National Convention.

There's a new bar in L.A. that guides people to the bathroom with more than the traditional "men's" or "women's" sign ... the guide is one person with 2 identities.

Nickel Bar in West L.A. greets gents with the famous Bruce Jenner Wheaties pic, and ladies with the big Caitlyn Jenner "Vanity Fair" reveal. You're looking at both doors in the pic.

BTW ... it's not an LGBT bar.

So we gotta ask ...

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was in NYC Tuesday night -- so, we had to ask the question everyone wants to know ... "How's Jimmy Garoppolo doing?"

Kraft answered the question positively -- but when we asked if Tom Brady was mentoring his backup QB, Bob just smiled.

Jimmy is all set to start the first 4 games of the season while Tom serves his suspension -- and while Kraft wasn't exactly Mr. Chatty ... Rob Gronkowski recently praised the kid.

"He’s taken a big step over the past two years," Gronk told SiriusXM's "Movin' the Chains."

She's 6'2", 238 lbs and a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation Hall of Famer -- but Gabi Garcia says she's willing to fight a MAN if she can't find a worthy female opponent.

Garcia is 2-0 in the Rizin Fighting Federation -- but tells TMZ Sports her people are having a hard time finding a woman who's willing to take her on in the cage.

So, Gabi (alongside her trainer, Babalu Sobral) told us they're open to a real-life battle of the sexes -- if it comes to that.

Our sources tell us ... there's been talk of a Gabi vs. Man fight in Japan -- but so far, it's not a done deal.

In the meantime, take a look at her workout session ... it's pretty obvious why everyone's scared.

Screw hotels, the Team USA basketball squad is staying on a massive cruise ship during their stint in Brazil ... complete with round the clock security and a bulletproof security wall!!

Both the men's and women's team are staying on a 16,800 ton behemoth called the Silver Cloud -- a luxury liner that features a pool, gym, cigar lounge, bar ... the works!

So ... why?

A rep for Team USA tells TMZ Sports, "Hotel rooms were scarce in Rio, we ended up getting some rooms on the ship for our teams."

"This is not something new, in 2004 we stayed on a ship for the Athens Olympics. The U.S. men’s and women’s basketball teams are not the only guests on the ship, there are others outside the organization."

Interesting note -- some of the rooms were replaced with 7-foot beds to accommodate the massive stars ... so says the Daily Mail.

The only thing left is to cruise to gold medal ...