TMZ Sports - Page 50

Soccer superstar Lionel Messi just revealed the secret he's been keeping underneath his shinguard -- a brand new piece of body art ... and it's not going over very well in Europe.

It's a pretty simple design ... soccer ball, jersey number, sword, some roses -- but they're killing him for it overseas.

Some major media outlets are calling "terrible," "awful" and "the worst" ... and the Barcelona star isn't getting treated any better on social media:

-- "F**k your tattoo messi why you destroy your leg with this ugly s**t tattoo why please tell him to remove."
-- "That's an ugly tatoo..."
-- "All that talent can't account for taste"

So, Jameis Winston met ANOTHER big time Hollywood movie star last night ... but this time, he didn't get bitched out in front of his teammates.

The Florida State quarterback hung out with Jamie Foxx -- and apparently gave the guy some FSU gear to wear when the Seminoles take on Oregon in the Rose Bowl Thursday.

Funny thing ... Winston posted a pic on Instagram with the caption, "Got to meet the great @iamjamiefoxx #WillieBeamen."

It's an obvious reference to Foxx's role in "Any Given Sunday" ... a movie about an extremely talented, extremely flashy QB who's constantly making bad decisions off the field.

Sound familiar?

"The Admiral" is pleased ... and not just because he watched his son's Notre Dame football team beat LSU Tuesday night -- he's also pumped that his youngest boy just committed to play basketball to Duke!

David Robinson was leaving LP Field in Nashville where ND defeated LSU 31-28 in the Music City Bowl ... and was clearly excited for his son Corey Robinson, a sophomore WR on the team.

"I'm feeling GREAT! Are you kidding me?! Did you see that game?"

But the best part of the video ... at the very beginning of the clip, you can hear Robinson telling another man about his youngest son Justin, who just committed to walk-on to the Duke basketball team.

"It's going to be a long process for him and everything ... and I told him, I said, "You know what, don't ever get discouraged. There's no one like you in the world."

There's more and it's pretty great. Meantime, check out Justin's skills ... not bad.

Chicago Bears superstar Brandon Marshall says he's on a 4-week timeout from flying -- and can't get on a plane to NYC for a deposition in his assault case ... all because of his collapsed lung.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the wide receiver was scheduled to appear for the depo on December 9th to defend himself against allegations he punched a woman in the face outside of a nightclub back in 2012.

But in court docs obtained by TMZ Sports, Marshall claims there's no way in hell he could've made it to the deposition because doctors have put him on a "no-fly restriction" due to injuries he suffered during a Thursday Night Football game on Dec. 4th.

According to docs submitted in the case ... the WR's overall condition is "good" and doctors had planned to reevaluate the NFL star toward the end of December.

We did a little digging ... and according to the British Lung Foundation, the reduced cabin pressure in planes makes it more difficult to breathe.

For his part, Marshall has denied any wrongdoing -- and has said his wife was the real victim during the night of the incident ... claiming she was hit with a bottle while leaving the club after a scuffle had broken out.

Donald Sterling is under attack ... again ... this time by a woman who claims she busted her ass while trying to climb out of the hot tub at one of Sterling's L.A. apartment complexes.

TMZ Sports has obtained the lawsuit filed by Susanna Tarontsi ... in which she claims she was trying to take a dip in the hot tub back in Sept. 2013 ... but slipped and fell due to a faulty handrail next to the spa.

In her suit, Tarontsi claims she went down hard ... suffering serious bodily injuries.

Now, she's going after the disgraced former L.A. Clippers owner claiming it's his fault for not fixing the handrail before she slipped.

It's just the latest problem for Sterling ... who's also being sued by another former tenant who claims Donald ignored a bed bug infestation in his apartment because he's black.

On the same day ESPN's Skip Bayless called him a "liar" and "an alcoholic," Johnny Manziel decided to stay home by himself and read a book.

Just kidding ... he totally went out and partied in Miami.

Manziel hit up FDR at the Delano Hotel where he clubbed alongside Victor Cruz, Ryan Phillippe, and Maverick Carter. We're told Manziel asked fellow partiers not to take any pics while he was kicking it in the club.

That didn't stop Miami club queen Julz from posting a vid of Johnny Football giving LeBron James a happy birthday shout out.

Odd that Johnny hit the club just hours after Bayless called him out -- and Johnny himself promised to be more responsible as a pro football player.

As we told you ... Manziel was out partying Friday night before he missed a team treatment session on Saturday.

Matthew Stafford's wife is calling B.S. on the NFL -- claiming her husband was cleated JUST AS BAD as Aaron Rodgers last weekend ... and the league didn't do SQUAT about it.

Of course, Stafford's Detroit Lions teammate Ndamukong Suh was just suspended by the league this week after stomping on Rodgers during their matchup on Sunday.

When Kelly Hall learned of Suh's fate, she went to Instagram to express her discontent -- writing:

"Pretty sure Matthew's leg looks a lot damn worse right now from when he got stepped on/cleated in the same game. But it wasn't Suh.. And he's not Aaron Rodgers, so no one would think twice about it. #nflbias #givemeabreak #DETROITvsEVERYBODY"

Boom.

The gifts just keep on coming for the Dallas Cowboys ... this time it was DeMarco Murray who spoiled the offense with fancy watches to thank them for his record-setting season.

We spoke Umberto Cipolla -- CEO of Orefici Watches -- who tells us DeMarco bought 22 watches for his teammates just before Christmas ... carefully selecting each piece for specific players based on individual style and taste.

Cipolla wouldn't tell us exactly how much cash Murray dropped ... but said each watch runs between $700 and $900 ... so, it wasn't exactly a cheap shopping trip.

We're told Murray claimed he wanted to buy the gifts to show his teammates how grateful he is for helping him dominate this season.

FYI -- Murray broke the team's single-season rushing record and will most likely sign a HUGE contract next year.

It's just the latest gift-giving act from Murray -- who had already hooked up his lineman with $1,300 iMac computers earlier this season.

He might be one of the toughest guys in the NBA, but Sacramento Kings player Reggie Evans has a soft spot for his kids ... as evidenced by the adorable chain he rocked around NYC yesterday.

Evans -- who was in town to play the Brooklyn Nets -- headed over to the Barclays Center with several diamond-encrusted pictures of his 4 kids.

C'mon ... that's cute and you know it.

Evans was also rocking out a pair of fancy Louboutin boat shoes ... $1,200 a pair.

Here's Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver Antonio Brown gearing up for this weekend's big playoff game ... by getting stuck with HUNDREDS of acupuncture needles.

Turns out, several Steelers players SWEAR by the traditional Chinese technique ... including linebacker James Harrison ... who claims it's the ultimate pain reliever.

In fact, some NFL stars can get super competitive when it comes to the treatment -- with Harrison once admitting he told his therapist to stick him with 300 NEEDLES after hearing an NFL running back was routinely treated with 232.

In what seems like a scouting trip for a possible Solange Knowles career change, Jay Z and Beyonce took in a Muay Thai fight during their vacation in Thailand.

It all went down at Patong Boxing Stadium in Phuket. There were kicks. There were punches. There was Beyonce sitting ringside while the violence unfolded ... all in a space that was roughly the size of an NYC elevator.

FYI -- Muay Thai is the national sport of Thailand ... where fighters are allowed to use their knees, elbows, feet, shins and hands to strike their opponents.

High heels are strictly prohibited.

Jimbo Fisher's wife was ready for her Beverly Hills close-up Monday -- rocking a $2,000 Louis Vuitton purse to the team "Beef Bowl" at a fancy L.A. restaurant ... and TMZ Sports has the footage.

Candi Fisher -- who's got a reputation as a hardcore football fan -- was first off the team bus when it pulled up to Lawry's in Bev Hills ... sporting a L.V. Tivoli GM handbag.

Of course, the Fishers can afford it -- Jimbo signed a $21 million contract with FSU back in January.

As for the "Beef Bowl" ... the entire FSU team, including Jameis Winston, devoured hundreds of pounds of prime rib on Monday ... just 24 hours after the Oregon team had their pre-Rose Bowl mega-meal.

The man who beat out Michael Sam for a spot on the St. Louis Rams tells TMZ Sports ... Sam "definitely" has NFL talent and strongly believes he should be on a roster.

We spoke with defensive end Ethan Westbrooks ... who ultimately won a roster spot over Sam during training camp. Sam's competition with Ethan was one of the featured storylines in Sam's OWN Network documentary.

"We both had an opportunity to show who can help the team more and show we belong," Westbrooks says ... "I was just more of a fit for the current direction the team wanted to go in."

Westbrooks says Sam was a "great teammate" during camp -- and they continued their friendship even after Sam was cut.

Which is why Ethan says he got so upset with several Twitter cowards who made homophobic comments to him about Sam on Twitter during camp.

"It got to a point I had to delete the app from my phone and just focus on the game."

As for Sam's future, Westbrooks tells us ... "The NFL is hard man. I wish him the best and hope nothing but the best for him."

Johnny Manziel hasn't lost the support of his teammates ... so says a Cleveland Browns player who tells TMZ Sports, "most guys on this team want him to be the one leading us next year."

The player -- who spoke to us on the condition of anonymity -- says everyone knows Johnny made mistakes ... but most teammates are chalking it up to immaturity.

"He's still learning, He's still a rookie. He needs more time to figure out life at the next level."

The player adds, "Johnny hasn't been a bad teammate" ... and several Browns believe JM's screw-ups have been blown out of proportion by the media because he's so famous.

"He has to live his life. As long as next year we compete for the playoffs, guys in this locker room will support him in his maturation process."

So, what provoked the self-induced nip slip? Ya gotta watch the clip ... it's hilarious.

Jon -- who's taking on Daniel Cormier at UFC 182 on January 3rd -- also talks about the secret weapon he's hiding in his Vegas hotel room.

In today's episode of "Things You Never Thought A Black Guy Would Say" ... West Coast hip hop legend Kurupt is going to tell us what a great guy the NBA lost in ... Donald Sterling.

Here's the thing ... he's not kidding.

During the 5-minute interview with vladtv.com ... the rapper praises Sterling as a "great guy" -- who got screwed over by the NBA.

"They took a good man down," Kurupt says with a straight face ... despite the fact Sterling said on-tape that he didn't want V. Stiviano bringing black people to Clippers games.

Kurupt also explains his friendship with Stiviano ... and defends her too.

FYI -- Kurupt's making his living these days by pushing medical marijuana in L.A.