TMZ Sports - Page 50

NBA Hall of Famer Mitch Richmond has a very clear message for Michael Sam -- don't give up -- telling TMZ Sports that he hopes Sam does everything he can to keep his NFL dream alive.

Richmond was out in Calabasas when our camera guy asked the 6-time All-Star and Cowboys fan about Sam being cut from the 'Boys practice squad to make room for another player.

Check out the clip -- Richmond goes all Jim Valvano on us, delivering just the message that Sam probably needs to hear right now.

And just in case you need some extra motivation today, here's Jimmy V at his finest ...

U.S. Olympic hero Amy Van Dyken is once again making huge progress -- she's moved from walking with the help of robotic legs ... to peddling a stationary bike all on her own.

The gold medal winning swimmer was unable to move her legs after severing her spinal cord in an ATV accident in Arizona back in June. In October, doctors equipped her with an Indego exoskeleton to help her walk.

But this week, Van Dyken posted a video on the stationary bike, with the caption, "At PT. Was making this bike move all ON MY OWN!! #progress #werk."

Pretty amazing.

Michael Sam's dream of being the first openly gay player to start a regular season NFL game took a major hit today ... with the rookie DE being cut from the Dallas Cowboys practice squad.

Sam, who was signed to the Cowboys after failing to make the St. Louis Rams 53 man roster, was released earlier today after Dallas signed linebacker Troy Davis.

Moments ago, Sam spoke out about the move releasing a statement via his Twitter account.

"I want to think the Jones family and the entire Cowboys organization for their opportunity, as well as my friends, family, teammates, and fans for their support. While this is disappointing, I will take the lessons I learned here in Dallas and continue to fight for an opportunity to prove that I can play every Sunday."

Sorry baseball ... Floyd Mayweather is just not that into you.

In fact, Floyd's so indifferent about America's pastime, the legendary gambler is sitting out of one of the biggest sporting events of the year -- the World Series ... TMZ Sports has learned.

As you know, Floyd's quick to drop anywhere from $20k to $1 MILLION on a football game (college or pro) ... but our sources tell us Floyd won't touch the MLB.

And why not? As one source puts is ... "He's just not into baseball."

Serena William's swag just reached new levels -- 'cause the tennis superstar got herself a new luxury watch that comes fully equipped with 323 DIAMONDS!!!

It's called an Audemars Piguet Millenary timepiece -- made with 18-carat pink gold, a black mother-of-pearl dial and 323 brilliant-cut diamonds! The watch usually runs around $75K.

A rep for Audemars -- popular with celebs like Jay-Z -- says the luxury watchmaker has a relationship with the tennis champ ... but this watch wasn't a freebie from them.

"Serena is a friend of the brand but that isn't a piece we gave her," the rep tells TMZ Sports.

Matthew McConaughey is coming out IN FAVOR of the Washington Redskins logo -- saying he's a huge fan of the emblem ... despite numerous Native American groups claiming it's offensive.

Matt -- who says he's a huge Washington fan -- was talking with GQ when the topic of the Redskins came up.

"What interests me is how quickly it got pushed into the social consciousness. We were all fine with it since the 1930s, and all of a sudden we go, ‘No, gotta change it’? It seems like when the first levee breaks, everybody gets on board."

Matt continues, "I love the emblem. I dig it. It gives me a little fire and some oomph. But now that it’s in the court of public opinion, it’s going to change. I wish it would't, but it will."

Porn star Brooke Haven -- star of "Assploitations 5" and "I Wanna Bang Your Mom" -- says she's hung out with TONS of athletes ... but there's ONE who parties harder than everyone else ... by far.

Haven -- who also appeared in "World Poke Her Tour" -- says the rager is an NFL star who still plays in the league.

The guy happens to be married with kids now ... but according to Haven, years before the athlete became a family man, the NFLer had one helluva wild side.

In an effort to prove he's just a regular, normal insanely wealthy guy ... Prince Harry hit up a youth rugby tournament in England this week -- and taught the sport to a bunch of starstruck boys and girls.

The 30-year-old -- who's also the Patron of England Rugby’s All Schools Programme -- played in a couple of games ... did a little coaching ... and hung out with some rugby pros who were also in attendance.

In unrelated news ... seems Prince Harry is on the prowl again.

The guy reportedly broke up with his girlfriend Cressida Bonas and was recently seen making out with a mystery blonde.

Forget that regional rivalry garbage, Nelly says it's OK for Cardinals fans to root for the Royals in the World Series ... with the St. Louis native telling TMZ Sports it's all about supporting the Show Me State.

The rap star was leaving Siren Studio in L.A. Monday night when he talked about his beloved Cards getting knocked out of the NLCS -- "We didn't deserve to win man."

"We gave away too many runs and that makes it easier to cheer for KC ... Show Me State in the building!"

The war may be over -- but NY Knicks superfan Michael Rapaport couldn't help but take one last shot at Spike Lee ... and it was pretty hilarious.

Lee and Rapaport had been feuding for months over how to fix the problems in New York City -- Rapaport called Lee a "s**t stain" and Lee said Michael was "stupid."

But Michael recently told HuffPost Live they spoke on the phone and squashed the beef for good.

In fact, when we saw Michael out in NYC Monday ... he was PRAISING Spike as the biggest Knicks fan in the world -- even bigger than he is -- but dropped one last zinger at the famous director.

Former Olympic hero Oscar Pistorius was sentenced to 5 years in prison for killing his girlfriend on Valentine's Day 2013.

Under South African law, Pistorius will have to serve at least 10 months before he can ask for parole.

In addition, Pistorius was given a 3-year suspended sentence on a firearms charge (unrelated to Steenkamp), but it was suspended for 5 years, so long as he's not found guilty of another crime where there's negligence involving a firearm during that period.

Pistorius had previously been found guilty of culpable homicide in the death of Reeva Steenkamp. He maintained throughout the trial he thought she was an intruder.

So, how the hell did surf god Kelly Slater pull off his insane 540 spin in Portugal last week???

The 42-year-old legend joined us on "TMZ Hollywood Sports" to explain ... telling us it wasn't just skill -- there was something in the air that day.

In case you haven't seen it by now, the trick has been the talk of the surf world ever since Slater pulled it off ... and for good reason -- it's super hard to do.

Check out the clip -- there has never been a bigger sports star who's still so humble about pulling off such a tremendous feat.

Well, this is the most adorable thing you're going to hear all day -- Tom Brady's 4-year-old son revealing that he and his famous daddy are gonna have matching Halloween costumes.

Tom was having his weekly conversation with Westwood One's Jim Gray on Monday ... when Brady's son Benny grabbed the phone and the cuteness took over.

So what's the big Brady family theme this year?? Hint: it all has to do with a character named "Barf" ... but it's not the guy from "Spaceballs."

Like hot butts? Like trick shots?

Then you're gonna love Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Nina Agdal hitting a crazy half court shot ... while the camera is trained squarely on her ass.

The 22-year-old Danish model fired off a shot like a pro -- and swished it -- no rim, no backboard.

Check out the vid (and thank us later) -- this isn't the first time Nina has shown her affinity for roundball -- but we gotta say, it could be the most pleasing.

Patriots wide receiver Brandon LaFell cops to having a wardrobe malfunction -- wearing a shirt that says "F**k Statistics" around a bunch of high school kids this weekend ... and wants to apologize for what he calls an innocent mistake.

Parents at Lamar High School in Houston tell TMZ Sports they were in shock seeing the football star take the field ... to cheer on his alma mater ... with the the four-letter word across his chest.

But a rep for the wide receiver tells TMZ Sports ... Brandon wasn't trying to shock the kids -- he was just at home and "when he realized his high school was playing he shot out of the house" and forgot he was wearing the shirt.

"It wasn't a conscious decision to make a statement at all. If he could do it over, he would wear a different shirt." We reached out to the school to see if anyone complained, but so far ... no word back.

The good news -- Lamar High kicked the crap out of its opponent ... 56-14.

Dear NBA,

Stop trying to shorten the length of your games. It's already short enough.

Love,