TMZ Sports - Page 50

Shawne Merriman tells TMZ Sports he believes Antonio Brown did make some "valid points" when he went off on a rant against Colin Kaepernick in a recent interview.

If you missed it, Brown called the ex-49ers star a "trash" QB in a sitdown with "Cigar Talk." He also said he believed the 34-year-old sold out when he settled his lawsuit with the NFL. And, he questioned just how big of an impact Colin was really having in the community.

Merriman clearly doesn't believe all of the above is true ... but he said on Friday there were some things he did agree on with Brown.

"He makes some valid points about Colin Kaepernick, saying that, you know, he took the money from the NFL. The settlement. The Nike commercials -- all these things," Merriman said.

"Well, I think a lot of people think that way about all the other stuff that Colin Kaepernick has going on, and his opportunities that he's had to get back in the NFL, and just hasn't."

Merriman says he believes if Brown hadn't already become such a polarizing figure -- he thinks more people would be agreeing with him.

"We get the message," Merriman said, "but people aren't trying to listen to the messenger."

There was at least one NFL star who agreed with Brown fully ... Saints wideout Michael Thomas tweeted Friday afternoon, "he isn’t wrong wrong lol."

An absolutely insane fight broke out at a card room in California this week ... and it all appeared to start because a man dropped a "Yo Mama" insult on another man.

The wild scene reportedly went down at HUSTLER Casino in L.A. ... after two guys got into a verbal argument at a poker table inside the venue for unknown reasons.

Video from the casino shows the two screamed at each other ... and escalated into a full-on fistfight when one of the men fired off a jab about the other man's mother.

In the clip, you can see the guy was so upset over the quip, that he spit on his rival's face ... and then tried to punch him in the head.

That's when the man in the grey shirt retreated, grabbed a small table and then beat the other man with it.

Security eventually stepped in and tased the dude who was wielding the table. As the guy was on the ground, he said, "He hit me first!"

According to poker news website CardsChat, HUSTLER Casino has banned all of the combatants, saying "any form of violence is not tolerated."

Stoolies rejoice -- Dave Portnoy is promising the full "Barstool experience" when he takes the mic for the Canelo Alvarez fight this weekend ... and by the sound of it, viewers will undoubtedly be entertained.

Pres and Big Cat are slated to give their expert analysis on an alternate PPV broadcast of Canelo's bout against Dmitry Bivol on DAZN on Saturday ... a move that Portnoy called "one of the great no-brainers in the history of Earth."

Of course, the gang has experience calling their "Rough N Rowdy" fights over the years -- as well as some work for the Jake Paul fight in August -- but this is the first time they get to provide commentary for one of the world's greatest.

Dave says it's a great idea to get the younger audience to tune in to the champ's fight in Vegas ... and despite going big time, they're not going to lose sight of what makes them unique.

"We're going to be ourselves," Dave added. "DAZN hired us to be ourselves, so we're going to be ourselves and do it how we'd do it if was on Barstool."

The guys are going to look the part and don suits for the bout ... but as Big Cat points out, his might be a bit tight.

"The last time I wore the suit was for the Jake Paul fight in August ... put it on for the first time last night, your boy's gained about 20 pounds. So, you also get to see me squeeze into a suit tomorrow."

This is a huge bummer.

UFC lightweight champ Charles Oliveira just missed weight by HALF A POUND at weigh-ins on Friday ... which means he's no longer the lightweight champ.

Oliviera is slated to fight Justin Gaethje at UFC 274 in Phoenix on Saturday ... a fight that many have been excited about for months.

Charles initially weighed in at 155.5 pounds earlier on Friday ... and in title fights, you HAVE to make weight.

Do Bronx was given one hour to shed the 1/2 pound ... but unfortunately, he was unable to make it happen.

Now, if Oliveira wins against The Highlight, the championship will be vacant ... but if Gaethje is able to come out on top, he'll get the belt.

Charles was confident he was going to make weight earlier in the day ... even tweeting, "weight ✔️ peso✔️ #UFC274."

Oliveira is 32-8 in his career ... and just won the belt after beating Michael Chandler in May 2021 at UFC 262. He has one title defense after choking out Dustin Poirier in the 3rd round in December.

Gaethje is the former interim champ, who came up short against Khabib Nurmagomedov in October 2020.

Tragic news ... former NFL defensive lineman Du'Vonta Lampkin has died after he was shot on Thursday.

He was just 25 years old.

According to the Dallas Police Department, Lampkin was found "lying on his back with a single gunshot wound" by officers at a rented residence at around 10:10 PM in Dallas.

Cops say they had been called to the scene after a witness said Lampkin had stopped answering phone calls.

Police say medical personnel arrived a short time after officers discovered Lampkin ... but said the ex-football player couldn't be saved and died on the scene.

No further details regarding the shooting were released ... cops say an investigation is underway. They're asking anyone with information on the case to call 214-671-3994.

The Univ. of Oklahoma -- where Lampkin played college football from 2015 to 2017 -- released a statement on the tragedy, saying the school is "deeply saddened" by Lampkin's passing.

"Du'Vonta was full of life and spirit, was a supportive teammate and a joy to be around. Our sincerest thoughts, prayers and sympathies are with his family and loved ones."

Du'Vonta played in 15 games for the Sooners in his three years on campus, logging 27 total tackles and a sack. He left the school early with intentions to play in the NFL, but went unselected in the 2018 draft.

Lampkin would eventually sign with the Tennessee Titans just before the 2018 season, but he was cut prior to their first game. He went on to play indoor football in 2019.

F1 superstar Lewis Hamilton is taking a stand against FIA's ban on jewelry during races ... by wearing multiple necklaces, rings, earrings AND watches at his press conference Friday in Miami.

The Mercedes champ has been outspoken against the association's recent crackdown on the accessories drivers are allowed to wear during races ... claiming there are much bigger issues to focus on.

37-year-old Hamilton doubled down on his position when speaking with media members ... saying he feels like it's a "step backwards" as the sport looks to grow.

"This is such a small thing," Hamilton said. "I've been in this sport for 16 years. I've been wearing jewelry for 16 years. In the car, I only have my earrings and my nose ring, which I can't remove."

"It seems unnecessary for us to get into this spat," he added. "So, I'll try to communicate and work with (FIA president) Mohammed (bin Sulayem). I think I'm here to be an ally of the sport, of Mohammed, and Formula 1, and I think we got bigger fish to fry, bigger things to do, more impact to have."

"So, I think that's where the focus should be."

Hamilton says his jewelry is not magnetic and there are no safety concerns while racing ... but if he's not allowed to compete over the ban, he is content with hanging out in South Beach and letting the backup driver take his spot.

Cain Velasquez might be behind bars, but he's still finding a way to let his daughter know he's thinking about her on her birthday ... penning a sweet message to the 13-year-old from jail.

The UFC legend posted the note to his Twitter page on Friday ... while attaching several photos of the father and daughter enjoying past times together.

"Happy 13th birthday Coco!" Velasquez said. "I miss you so much! Te amo mucho."

As part of his note, Velasquez also said he was hoping to be released from jail at a hearing on Friday.

"I hope God grants us the ultimate gift for your birthday," Velasquez said, "for me to be home with you."

Sadly for Velasquez, a judge didn't grant him bail at the hearing ... instead, the matter was continued and pushed back to May 16 -- which means he'll be locked up for at least another 10 days.

The 39-year-old has been behind bars since February ... when he was arrested for allegedly shooting at a man who had been accused of molesting one of his family members.

WARNING!!! -- If you're in the middle of your morning eggs and toast, you might want to wait to watch this ...

Former NFL star Chris Long accidentally chugged a can full of dip spit while filming his podcast on Friday morning ... and, yes, it's as gross as it sounds.

The stomach-turning moment happened in the middle of Long's "Green Light with Chris Long" show ... when the ex-L.A. Ram grabbed a can thinking it was water, and, instead, got a mouthful of spit and chewed tobacco.

In the video from the pod, you can see Chris immediately knew he screwed up -- and went straight for a toilet to yack in.

Long's co-hosts showed no mercy after the blunder, giving him a super hard time over it ... and even saying, "Are you going to throw up?! That'd be great! Do it on camera!"

Unclear if the can with the spit was Chris' or someone else's ... but either way, it was nasty.

But, hey, Chris was a good sport about it all -- he finished the pod and even played around with his followers about the scene on Twitter all morning Friday.

Olivia Rodrigo turned the Philadelphia Phillies game into her own prom on Thursday ... dancing her face off and vibing to her hit song!!

The moment was captured on the Citizens Bank Park scoreboard in the 6th inning of the Phils' game against the New York Mets ... with the stadium showing off the Grammy winner to the fans.

Naturally, OR's "good 4 u" was blaring over the speaker system ... and just like the rest of the world does when they hear it (admit it, you love it), the singer had to rock out.

The video is pretty cool -- Rodrigo jumps up and down, waves to the cameras, dances and points out her friends as the crowd loses it.

So, what the heck was she doing at a Phillies game?? Rodrigo is in the City of Brotherly Love the next two nights for her "SOUR" tour ... so why not catch a good ol' ballgame??

But, by the looks of it, Olivia might not have cared too much about the action on the diamond ... as she was spotted taking pics during the middle of the game.

Hey ... when ya got 25 million followers on Instagram, you gotta take advantage of every photo op.

As for the game, the Phillies lost 8-7 ... and it was one of the biggest collapses in team history.

Kayla Harrison attempts to defend her PFL crown once again Friday night, but, she tells TMZ Sports she was originally scheduled to fight two weeks ago ... against Cris "Cyborg" Justino!

"I thought I was gonna be fighting Cris Cyborg on April 22 in Hawaii. So, yes, I'm interested in the fight," the 2-time PFL champ says, adding ... "I'm more than ready and willing to step up for that opportunity. I think the fans want it, I know I want it, I know PFL wants it. I'm ready! I thought that that was gonna happen this year, I thought it was gonna happen last week."

Then, why's 31-year-old Kayla fighting Marina Mokhnatkina tonight?

It all goes back to Harrison's free agency a few months ago. She and manager, Ali Abdelaziz, tested the waters amongst the major MMA promotions, and actually struck a deal to face Cris.

But, Harrison's contract dictated PFL had an opportunity to meet any offer she received elsewhere, and that's exactly what they did.

"I accepted [against Cyborg] and PFL had the right to match and ultimately they did. I'm happy, I'm very happy with where I'm at. I'm excited about the season, you know, I'm excited for the potential fight with Cyborg but I have four fights in front of me in five and a half months. It's no easy feat. It's a grind."

The fight with Cris is super important to Kayla ... as she's made it crystal clear her desire is to show she's the baddest MF'er in MMA.

How do Kayla and 36-year-old Cris match up? Justino, regarded as one of best female MMA fighters of all-time, has only lost twice in her career. One L was to the G.O.A.T., Amanda Nunes in 2018. The other was literally her first ever pro fight ... in 2005.

Kayla, who got into the sport in 2018 following two Olympic gold medals in Judo, is undefeated at 12-0. She's twice entered, and won, the Professional Fighters League tourney.

If the top part of the Yankees' batting order looks a little sluggish tonight ... now ya know why!

New York stars Aaron Judge, Anthony Rizzo and DJ LeMahieu all attended the Rangers' playoff game against the Penguins on Thursday night -- and they were feelin' so good in their seats, they chugged beers together!!

The trio had on-the-glass spots for Game 2 of the Pittsburgh vs. NY series -- and when the Madison Square Garden cameras spotted them ... they pounded their drinks to get the crowd going.

None of the three were Tom Brady-level chuggers ... but it seems clear Rizzo won the drink-off.

As for how the beer-pounding played at MSG -- it seemed to fire up both Rangers fans and the actual team ... 'cause NY went on to score three more goals after the scene, winning the game 5-2.

But, don't fret about a potential hangover, Pinstripes fans, Yankees aren't slated to play the Texas Rangers on Friday night until 7 PM ET.

Antonio Brown just unloaded on Colin Kaepernick -- saying the quarterback is "trash" on the field ... while questioning the QB's charity work "in the hood" off of it.

AB fired off the explosive comments in a sit-down interview with Naji of "Cigar Talk" ... ripping the guy for settling his past lawsuit with the NFL, saying he doesn't believe Kaepernick actually wants to play still, and openly wondering if the 34-year-old's community contributions have actually made a difference.

Brown's rant all began after he appeared to be puzzled about why people feel bad for Kaepernick these days ... saying he thinks the settlement Kap reached with the NFL in 2019 following his collusion lawsuit sufficiently took care of him.

"He took a deal," Brown said. "We don't feel sorry for you. You took the deal. F*** outta here."

"'Oh, Kaepernick!'" he added in a mocking tone. "Man, you on f***ing Nike, man. F*** outta here."

Brown then said he thinks Kaepernick "don't want to play" football anymore ... and said even if the former 49ers star still truly did, he called his skill set "trash."

"All that is cap," Brown said. "We ain't respecting that, bro. You took the money, the commercials. We don't see you outside. We don't see him in the hood. He don't do nothing. Like, we cool. But, nah, we ain't even stan Kaepernick."

Brown continued, "He not even from the hood. He haven't even been in the trenches. We like Kaepernick and all, but we ain't really on that."

AB went on to wonder out loud how much Kaepernick has really done for those in need.

"He built a foundation," Brown said. "What it do, though? I'm being real. What superhero he enforce? Who he put on? Who he help?"

Of course, Kaepernick has been heavily involved in charitable work since becoming an NFL free agent following the 2016 season ... he created the "Know Your Rights Camp" to help in the fight for social justice. He also famously donated $1 million to orgs with similar calls for action. Kaepernick even wrote a children's book.

As for his playing career, Kaepernick has said over and over again he wants to get another crack at playing in the league -- and has been working out like a mad man in order to get a tryout somewhere.

Absolute wild scene in Germany -- fans of Eintracht Frankfurt stormed the pitch after their beloved soccer club reached its first Europa League Final since 1980 on Thursday ... and it was all caught on video!!

The chaos went down following Frankfurt's 1-0 victory over West Ham at Deutsche Bank Park in Frankfurt, Germany ... when fans immediately rushed the field to celebrate the huge accomplishment.

In the short clip, you can see droves of fans sprint from their seats in the stands and scatter all over the field ... as the remaining supporters in their seats cheered and screamed in excitement.

The image of spectators rushing the field after a big win is not uncommon in soccer ... in fact, storming the pitch, also known as a "pitch invasion," happens more than you think.

Generally, fans will participate in the tradition when they want to celebrate or protest something ... obviously, in this case, Frankfurt fans were elated over their club's win.

Ben Simmons is one step closer to recovery -- the former #1 overall pick had back surgery to reduce pain from a herniated disc on Thursday ... and he says the microdiscectomy procedure was a big success.

"Surgery went well," Simmons said on Instagram minutes ago. "Thank you for the well wishes."

Of course, Ben's back first became a problem when he was still with the Philadelphia 76ers in February 2020 ... forcing him to miss several games.

The issues continued into the next season ... where he suffered back tightness and pain in 2021.

25-year-old Simmons -- who was traded to the Brooklyn Nets mid-season -- ended up missing all of the 2021-22 campaigns ... and will now work on recovery over the next 3-4 months.

It's worth noting -- several talking heads ripped Simmons for not taking the floor in the postseason ... claiming he quit on his team.

Considering the fact he needed surgery, those analysts might be eating their words now.

While there's hope he'll be ready to go by the time training camp comes around, it's probably best to remain cautiously optimistic about it all.

Glad to see Ben is in good spirits ... and Nets fans gotta be excited to finally get to see their star in Black and White next season.

After 20 years of endless debate, Tom Brady is finally caving into the possibility that the controversial "tuck rule play" from the Patriots' 2001 playoff game "might have" been a fumble ... and naturally, the Raiders had something to say.

The 44-year-old took to social media to make the revelation with the help of none other than Justin Bieber on Thursday ... admitting there's a chance he may have gotten away with a fumble that the refs didn't call in the classic AFC Divisional Round game.

Here's the deal -- Bieber posted a TikTok asking his followers to tell him something honest (to promote his new single called, you guessed it, "Honest") ... which opened the door for Brady to make the public admission.

"The Tuck Rule game against the Raiders might have been a fumble," Brady said in the vid ... adding, "Keep this on the down-low please" in the accompanying tweet.

Remember, the Raiders were leading 13-10 with 1:47 left in the 4th quarter when Brady -- who started the season as Drew Bledsoe's backup -- dropped back to make a pass as defensive back, Charles Woodson, was blitzing off the edge.

Brady "lost the ball," but the refs ruled that because his arm was going forward, the play was an incomplete pass -- much to the dismay of Raiders fans.

The rest was history ... as the Pats went on to defeat the Raiders in overtime, 16-13, then march to the Super Bowl, where they beat the Rams, 20-17.

The Raiders' Twitter account had a hilarious reaction to TB12's vid ... saying, "Knew it."

While Brady has seemingly softened his stance on the play, he still believes the refs probably made the right call.

"I said might. Such a tough call. No choice but to respect the official's probably correct decision."

The Grizzlies will be without Dillon Brooks against the Warriors on Saturday -- the Memphis forward was just suspended one game after he injured Gary Payton II during Tuesday's game.

NBA exec, Byron Spruell, says Brooks is suspended without pay for "having made unnecessary and excessive contact against" Payton, which resulted in substantial injury to the son of the Hall of the Famer, Gary Payton.

GPII was running the court on a fast break when he received a pass from Draymond Green in transition ... then the lefty got vertical for a finish at the rim.

Brooks -- who presumably was trying to make a play on the driving Payton -- ended up clobbering Gary over his head ... causing him to land awkwardly and violently on his left arm.

As a result, Brooks hit the showers early ... as the refs assessed a flagrant 2 foul on the play and ejected him from the game.

Coach, Steve Kerr, was not pleased with Brooks' move on Payton -- a key member of the Dubs' rotation -- accusing Dillon of "breaking the code."

Payton II has since been diagnosed with a fractured elbow ... and is expected to miss a month of action, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski.