TMZ Sports - Page 50

It was lights, camera, action for Brazilian soccer god Ronaldo Thursday night -- hitting up the Hollywood club scene ... and telling TMZ Sports he's considering a career in the movies.

Ronaldo started off at Ago Restaurant in West Hollywood -- where he told us he was in town for both business and pleasure.

So, what's the business side of things?

We asked if he's pursuing a career on the big screen, to which he replied (in Spanish) ... that he's thinking about it.

Moments later, the 38-year-old World Cup champ rolled on over to 1Oak nightclub on the Sunset Strip ... and partied until the club shut down at 2AM.

With the one year anniversary of his infamous elevator incident coming up, Ray Rice has issued an apology to the city of Baltimore ... saying, "I apologize for the horrible mistake I made."

In an open letter which begins "Dear Baltimore," Rice says ... "This is not a farewell or goodbye. The last seven years that my family and I have spent in Baltimore have by far been the best of our lives."

He goes on ... "To all the kids who looked up to me, I’m truly sorry for letting you down, but I hope it’s helped you learn that one bad decision can turn your dream into a nightmare."

"There is no excuse for domestic violence, and I apologize for the horrible mistake I made. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me, and I hope to make a positive difference in people’s lives by raising awareness of this issue."

"Thank you, Baltimore Ravens, for all you have done for my family and I. I’m very grateful to Steve Bisciotti, Ozzie Newsome, John Harbaugh, and everyone at 1 Winning Drive. I love you all very much, and I’ll always be proud to say I played for the Baltimore Ravens."

It's interesting Rice thanks Bisciotti -- since the Baltimore Ravens owner essentially backstabbed him ... by accusing Ray of lying after he told Ray he had his back.

Ray Rice has just received a $1 MILLION contract offer from a fantasy football website hoping to sign him as a spokesperson ... but there's a catch -- if you hit your wife, we get our money back.

TMZ Sports has learned ... Rice has been contacted by ProDraftLeague.com to be an official PRO Draft League Fantasy Insider.

CEO Mark Tadros tells TMZ, "Mr. Rice has shown deep remorse for his act of domestic violence and I feel he deserves a second chance."

We're told the job is a 1-year gig which pays a $500k base salary and includes another $500k in bonuses based on membership milestones.

Rice's job obligations would include:

-- 2 TV commercials
-- 2 viral videos
-- 1 photo shoot
-- 30 media interviews
-- weekly column with personal analysis on which NFL players to play
-- field reporter work, interviewing various NFL players for the site

Now for the catch -- "It's been one year since Mr. Rice physically assaulted his wife and we are very confident that he will not do it again," Tadros says.

"But in the event that he does while being employed by Pro Draft League, his contract will be immediately terminated and the entire $500k must be returned PLUS an additional $500k in damages that our brand will incur for being associated with Mr. Rice."

Former L.A. Kings coach Barry Melrose tells TMZ Sports he has proof that hockey players are the toughest athletes around ... and it all has to due with the harrowing story of one man's teeth.

Melrose -- who works now as an analyst for ESPN -- was at LAX when we asked if hockey players had an edge over other sports like football, basketball and golf (lol) when it comes to toughness.

That's when Melrose told the mic-dropping, argument-clinching story of Duncan Keith ... a hockey player who had SEVEN TEETH knocked out during a 2010 contest ... and freakin' returned to play in the game!

Here's is Keith's toothless interview after that game ... stop cringing and watch.

There could be an RG4 in Robert Griffin's future -- because the NFL star just announced his wife is pregnant with their very first child!!

Griffin -- who's celebrating his 25th bday today -- made the announcement on Twitter ... posting one of those baby announcement photos along with a caption that reads:

"BIG thank you for making this birthday a special day!!! This year's gift will change our life forever!!! #BoyOrGirl"

The photo is interesting though ... considering his wife Rebecca seemed to make a point to include a shot of her ring finger with her big honkin' diamond on it.

It almost seems like she's making a statement about the state of her marriage ... after reports a while back suggested things may have been rocky at home.

Or maybe she just wanted to remind everyone she's got a baller diamond.

Either way ... congrats!!

Hope Solo looks like the Terminator of soccer goalies -- posting a video that sends a message to her U.S. women's soccer teammates ... she'll be back!

Solo posted the video of herself running goalie drills like a champ -- even though she's currently serving a 30-day suspension for allowing her husband to drive a team van the night he got busted for DUI.

The Philadelphia Eagles tell TMZ Sports the fact that Riley Cooper was selected as the photo for February in the official team calendar was an "honest mistake" ... and they're looking into it.

Of course, Cooper made national headlines at a Kenny Chesney concert back in 2013 when he was caught on camera saying, "I will jump that fence and fight every n***** here."

The Eagles fined Cooper for his actions at the time. He later apologized and then-QB Mike Vick vouched for him and said he wasn't a racist.

Which is why it was surprising that the wide receiver was picked to represent February -- Black History Month -- in the official team calendar.

"If anything, it was an honest mistake," Eagles PR rep Brett Strohsacker tells TMZ Sports.

Strohsacker says an independent company was used to put the calender together -- and says the Eagles are investigating to find out why Cooper was selected to be February.

He adds, "I will look into this issue and see what the thought process was."

3:50 PM PT -- The Eagles have issued a new statement saying, "We do not oversee the production of the annual team calendar. We do not provide any input about the players who are featured or where those pictures appear in the calendar. The NFL licenses the production of that calendar to a third party and we do not have an opportunity to review the material."

Bill Bradley clearly agrees with Aaliyah about that whole "Age Ain't Nothing But A Number" thing ... 'cause at 71 he tells TMZ Sports he's willing to suit up for the struggling Knicks RIGHT NOW.

The former Knick -- and U.S. Senator -- was out in D.C when we asked him what exactly the Knicks need to get them out of the kingdom of suckdom that they have resided in all year.

"I'll go back for the average salary as a designated free throw shooter," Bradley said.

He was obviously joking around ... but he definitely turns serious when asked how many years he thinks it'll take his friend Phil Jackson to turn the team around.

New England Patriots wide receiver Julian Edelman's stock is still on the rise after his impressive Super Bowl performance -- in fact, he's now on Jay Z's radar ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Our sources tell us ... Edelman has a meeting with Roc Nation Sports in NYC Thursday afternoon to see if there may be opportunities to work together.

We're told Edelman isn't jumping ship on his current representation (as one source put it, he's "super happy" with them) ... but when Jay Z calls, you listen.

Our sources say Edelman's camp believes there may be some marketing and branding opportunities with Roc Nation Sports ... which has already established relationships with some pretty big brands including Budweiser and Geico.

Aaron Rodgers and Olivia Munn had a double date with a semi-famous friend Wednesday night ... an actor who's pretty recognizable from a famous Quiznos commercial ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The Green Bay Packers QB and the "Mortdecai" star hit up Matsuhisa in Beverly Hills ... along with actor Tim Rock and his date.

Tim (who's been friends with Munn for a while) is an actor who's been in a bunch of stuff ... but we remember him from that Quiznos ad where the oven was like HAL 9000 from "2001: A Space Odyssey" (awesome btw).

Wonder who paid for dinner?

Here's something you don't see every day ... a multi-billionaire hailing a cab.

Donald Sterling -- who recently sold the L.A. Clippers for $2 BILLION -- was out in Bev Hills Wednesday when he decided to catch a cab to go home.

Interesting, considering most billionaires in this city either drive themselves ... or use a private chauffeur ... or at least use Uber LUX if they're gonna hit the town.

But not Sterling ... who quietly got in the back seat and was quickly whisked away.

Brazil soccer legend Ronaldo -- considered one of the greatest players EVER -- has touched down in Beverly Hills ... and last night he weighed in on the great soccer debate -- Lionel Messi vs. Cristiano Ronaldo.

The argument has been raging for years -- with people claiming each superstar has a valid claim to be called "The Greatest." In fact, some people have said they're the two best players of all time.

So, when Ronaldo was leaving Madeo ... where he had the veal milanese by the way ... we had to ask if he thought Messi deserved to be called #1.

Bonus -- wanna see why Ronaldo's considered a god? Check out the clip below ...

He may have cheated to beat NFL star Dashon Goldson in a footrace, but Diddy is no joke when it comes to speed ... so says Goldson who tells us the 45-year-old mogul's a beast in the gym.

As we previously reported, Diddy challenged the Tampa Bay Bucs safety to a 100 yard dash outside of Jay Glazer's Unbreakable Performance Center in L.A. this week ... and won!

Goldson came on "TMZ Hollywood Sports" to defend himself -- and though his explanation is pretty sound, he was clearly impressed by the hip hop star.

Catch TMZ Hollywood Sports on Reelz weekdays at 6PM ET, 3PM PT.

TMZ Sports has obtained video showing a pissed off Pacman Jones being escorted out of the Hollywood Casino in Indiana Wednesday morning ... and we're told it was all over a dispute at the casino cage.

We broke the story ... cops were called to the casino to respond to a "disorderly person" after an incident inside the building.

The footage, which begins after Jones was confronted by police, shows the Cincinnati Bengals star passionately pleading his case to the officers ... and claiming he didn't do anything wrong.

You can hear him say in the video, "Where I'm from, if I ain't threatening you, if I ain't do s**t to you, then I ain't disorderly conduct."

Our casino sources tell us ... the incident began at the casino cage, when Jones got into it with an employee ... who immediately got security involved.

As for what they were arguing over, we're told it had to do with casino chips -- but the specifics are unclear.

At one point in the video, you can hear Pacman say, "Y'all trippin' over a couple thousand dollars?"

Jones was eventually asked to leave the casino and was NOT arrested. Pacman's agent insists he never broke the law.

Chicago hip-hop legend Twista tells TMZ Sports the decision to strip Jackie Robinson West of their U.S. LLWS title wasn't about following rules and ALL about one thing ... racism.

Team J.R.W. became the darlings of the 2014 Little League World Series, becoming the first all-black squad to take the U.S. crown ... earning them instant celebrity status and even a visit with President Obama.

When it was announced earlier Wednesday that the tykes had been stripped of their title due to a falsified boundary map, some people called B.S. ... including Twista.

We spoke to Twista -- one of the most celebrated rappers from the Windy City -- and he tells us that he thinks the whole thing was totally about discrediting an all-black team.

"I'm outraged. You don't see this extensive of an investigation happen unless it happens to black people."

Twista also says that there's a legit reason why some of the boys traveled out of district and that the higher-ups at Little League headquarters just don't care.

"There was a park in the Dolton area that got torn down, that made the kids have to even play at Jackie Robinson. No one pays attention to what they have to go through to play baseball."

He didn't stop there ... Twista essentially says America is still uncomfortable with a group of black kids succeeding in the country's celebrated pastime.

Tiger Woods says he's taking an indefinite leave of absence from golf ... explaining that he sucks -- and he can't stand it anymore.

Woods just issued a statement saying, "Right now, I need a lot of work on my game, and to still spend time with the people that are important to me. My play, and scores, are not acceptable for tournament golf.

"Next week I will practice at Medalist and at home getting ready for the rest of the year. I am committed to getting back to the pinnacle of my game."

He adds, "I do, however, expect to be playing again very soon."

Tiger's decision comes after a series of dreadful performances -- including a spectacular meltdown at the Phoenix Open last week ... where he had the worst round of his career.