TMZ Sports - Page 50

Matt Lauer knows ... the first morning show to interview Ray Rice WINS -- and that's why the "Today" show ... and everyone else in morning TV is officially in on the chase to lock down the NFL star.

Matt played coy when we asked if he had already reached out to Rice -- but the answer was written all over his face.

He also explained, "Ray Rice has a story to tell that he wants to get out there." It's clear, Lauer wants to be the one to help him tell that story.

"I think anybody who does what I do for a living would wanna sit down with either of them [Ray and Roger Goodell] and Janay as well."

Ray has texted back and forth with some ESPN reporters over the past few days -- but it's unclear if he's committed to an on-camera interview ... yet.

The NFL has appointed former FBI Director Robert Mueller to run an investigation into how the league handled evidence in the Ray Rice domestic violence case.

NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell announced Mueller's probe will be overseen by Giants owner John Mara and Steelers owner Art Rooney. Goodell says Mueller will have access to all NFL records.

The announcement came hours after a league source told us ... "no one" at the NFL's various offices had received the video of Ray Rice punching his wife -- refuting an AP story that said a league exec was sent the clip back in April.

The judge in the Oscar Pistorius murder trial ruled he cannot be found guilty of premeditated murder in the killing of his girlfriend, Reeva Steenkamp, but he can face other possible verdicts, including culpable homicide.

Judge Thokozile Masipa cast doubt on witness testimony and said she believes the media coverage of the high-profile trial contaminated testimonies.

If found guilty of culpable homicide, there is no minimum sentence under South African law ... it's completely up to the judge.

A high-ranking NFL source tells TMZ ... "No one at the league" saw the Ray Rice elevator video until TMZ Sports posted it Monday.

The Associated Press claims someone from law enforcement sent a DVD of the video to an NFL exec in April ... months before Roger Goodell handed down the 2-game suspension.

Up to now ... the NFL has hedged, saying to their knowledge no one in the organization got the tape. But now an NFL source tells us in no uncertain terms ... no one at the league got it. And the source goes on to define the league as 3 things -- NFL headquarters, NFL Films in New Jersey and the NFL Network in L.A.

The source goes on to say the NFL headquarters has around 475 employees at its NYC headquarters, and "no one at these 3 offices saw it."

Roger Goodell made a very bad assumption when he chose not to contact the casino to request a copy of the Ray Rice elevator video -- because law enforcement tells TMZ Sports ... that would have been perfectly legal.

Goodell said Tuesday he did not contact the Revel Casino because it was his understanding "the casino is prohibited from turning over material to a third party during a law enforcement proceeding" -- namely the criminal case against Rice.

But Paul Loriquet, the Director of Communications for the New Jersey Attorney General, tells TMZ bluntly, "No, it's not illegal."

To be clear ... our question was very specific: "Is it illegal for the casino to show or provide this material to a private entity in an ongoing investigation." His answer, "No, it's not illegal."

Mind you ... the NFL has some of the best lawyers in the country. It's inconceivable they didn't do basic legal research to either validate or invalidate Goodell's assumptions.

Floyd Mayweather claims he hadn't seen the new elevator footage of Ray Rice before he went after the NFL for not sticking by their 2 game suspension ... and now he's apologizing to the league.

"I was just getting word from people that there was a video out there. I didn't know because I'm training for a fight," Mayweather said.

"If I offended anyone, I apologize."

Just one problem ... when he made his original comments, Floyd said he HAD seen the video.

Hmmm.

Mayweather had ripped the NFL for changing Rice's 2-game suspension to an indefinite one once the new video came to light. He claimed the league should have stuck to it's original ruling.

Besides the comments about the NFL, Mayweather had also said that Ray was not the worst wife-beater in the country ... his incident just happened to be caught on tape.

An NFL executive got the video of Ray Rice punching Janay way back in April -- and the exec got it from someone in law enforcement ... according to a new report.

The Associated Press is saying a source claims he sent a copy of the video -- first posted by TMZ Sports on Monday -- to the NFL exec, and even got a voicemail from a NFL offices phone number confirming receipt of the video on April 9.

The AP says the source actually played the 12-second VM for them -- and a female voice is heard saying thanks for sending the video and described it as "terrible."

Here's what's curious -- why would the law enforcement official, who admits he was not authorized to share the video, leave his phone number with someone in the NFL ... therefore allowing the leak to be traced back to him?

Mike Tyson just WENT OFF during a live TV interview -- cussing out one of the hosts while cameras rolled ... and Mike's rep tells TMZ Sports it's all because the guy "deceived" Tyson on the air.

It all went down on CP24 -- an all-news network in Toronto -- when one of the moderators asked Tyson if his recent endorsement of Rob Ford could hurt Ford because Mike's a "convicted rapist."

Mike was furious -- at first, he admonished the guy for being "negative" ... until he finally blew up on the guy -- saying, "You’re really a piece of s**t. F**k you."

Mike's personal rep tells TMZ Sports ... "Mike was there to promote his very successful 1-man show and we felt deceived, bamboozled by the reporter when he broke our agreement to focus on the show by going off-topic."

12:50 PM PT -- According to local police, O'Haire committed suicide. He was found in his bedroom beside his bed, with a red rope tied around his neck and connected to the bedpost. His body was discovered by his father, who then called 911.

Former WCW and WWE wrestler Sean O'Haire was found dead Tuesday at his home in South Carolina ... TMZ has learned.

The coroner in Spartanburg, SC tells TMZ a cause of death is unknown at this time, but no foul play is suspected. They are awaiting toxicology reports that might shed light on things.

O'Haire (whose real name was just Sean Haire) made his debut with the WCW in 2000 and along with partner Chuck Palumbo, was the final WCW tag team champions when the organization folded.

Once in the WWE, he was Rowdy Roddy Piper's protege, but when Piper left in 2003 ... O'Haire fizzled out and eventually left the WWE in 2004.

He eventually transitioned into kickboxing and MMA before becoming a hair stylist.

Charlie Sheen is taking sides in the "Tip War" involving NFL star LeSean McCoy -- claiming he's giving $1,000 to the waiter McCoy stiffed after a controversial lunch earlier this week.

Actually, it wasn't a technical "stiffing" -- the Philadelphia Eagles running back tipped a waiter named Rob 20 cents on a $61.56 meal at PYT restaurant in Philly. McCoy reportedly felt he was mistreated inside the restaurant.

The receipt -- with the 20 cent tip -- was later posted on social media by the owner of the restaurant, Tommy Up.

Now, Charlie Sheen is getting involved ... issuing a statement saying, "dear Tommy Up at PYT in Philly. Please tell Rob K I'm pledging 1000 dollars to him for the tip debacle just wanna help. c #NoJudgement"

The United States Congress has inserted itself in the Ray Rice scandal ... the House Judiciary Committee has just fired off a letter to NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell ... demanding that he come clean.

The letter -- signed by 12 members of the Committee and obtained by TMZ Sports -- notes that Goodell has said he had requested the video but never got it. But the Committee is skeptical, writing, "To our knowledge the public has not been informed as to specifically how and in what context the request was made, and specifically how relevant law enforcement responded."

TMZ has reported ... Goodell's request was to law enforcement but NOT the Casino, which would have gladly anted up the video. And we reported Rice's lawyer had a copy.

The Committee goes on, "Nor has there been a full explanation as to whether the video was requested of others, such as Mr. Rice's attorney or the casino where the incident occurred (and if not, why not), or whether any employees, agents, or consultants of the league or any of its teams outside of your office had access of the video prior to September 8."

He ran a crappy investigation, but Mike Golic says Roger Goodell will NOT lose his job over the Ray Rice debacle ... in fact, Golic says Goodell deserves to stay in power.

The co-host of ESPN's "Mike & Mike" radio show was out in NYC -- when he stated his case.

Too soon? Apparently not ... according to Gilbert Gottfried who finally decided to put Ray Rice in the comedy crosshairs.

"Obviously Ray Rice misunderstood me when I said 'She's hot, you should definitely hit that!'" ... Gilbert tweeted.

Cracking jokes on timely news stories is kinda Gilbert's thing -- and he also knows there can be consequences ... like when he was fired from his job as the voice of the AFLAC duck back in 2011 after joking about the tsunami in Japan.

Senator John McCain says Roger Goodell has serious "credibility issues" ... and should get Condoleezza Rice on the phone ASAP to help clean up his mess.

McCain was out in D.C. Tuesday when he was asked how he felt about the Ray Rice video and how the NFL was handling the situation -- and that's when McCain fired the shot at Goodell.

As for talk that Condoleezza could replace Goodell as NFL Commish, McCain doesn't exactly sign off on that -- but says Rice "would be a good person for [Goodell] to call in and have a discussion with."

He adds, "I think she could help him."

FYI -- Condoleezza is a huge football fan and has expressed interest in the NFL job before. She's currently on the College Football Playoff Selection Committee.

As for McCain, he took one last parting shot ... at his beloved Arizona Diamondbacks.

President Barack Obama's ongoing rivalry with Donald Trump may have hit him where it really hurts -- the golf course ... as the Prez was reportedly denied a tee time at one of Trump's famous courses over Labor Day weekend.

Obama tried to get tee times at Trump National Golf Club in Westchester County, NY -- but his advance team was turned away ... according to WNBC. A couple of other top notch courses -- the Winged Foot and Willow Ridge -- also refused the Commander-in-Chief.

WNBC says the club managers explained that giving the President a tee time would require shutting down the whole course and stiffing their own high-paying members.

But c'mon, Trump would have made an exception ... if Barack had a birth certificate on him.

Floyd Mayweather says Ray Rice is far from the WORST of the domestic abusers in America -- only problem is that Ray got caught on video.

Mayweather -- who spent time in jail for beating up his baby mama a few years ago -- spoke to Fight Hub TV and said he's pulling for Rice ... "I wish something positive out of the situation."

And that's when Floyd tried to explain why Ray's attack wasn't that bad compared to other wife-beaters -- "[There are] a lot worse things that go on in other people's households also ... it's just not caught on video."

There's more ... when asked about his own domestic abuse case -- Mayweather used the O.J. Simpson defense to try to explain why he was wrongly convicted a few years ago.

"I'm pretty sure that with my situation, no bumps, no bruises, no nothing ... with OJ and Nicole, you seen pictures. With Chris Brown and Rihanna, you seen pictures. With Ochocinco and Evelyn, you seen pictures."