TMZ Sports - Page 50

Penn State football coach Bill O'Brien says he's fighting to keep his team together after the unprecedented NCAA sanctions ... and claims some universities are playing dirty to get his players.

O'Brien, who has the unenviable task of cleaning up Joe Paterno's mess, was on "Mike and Mike in the Morning" to react to the NCAA rulings -- $60 million fine, vacating 111 wins, 4-year bowl ban, and loss of scholarships.

O'Brien said the hardest part of the punishment is "the fact the NCAA said these guys [Penn State football players] can transfer without penalty." O'Brien added ... he's met with the team and believes most of his players are staying at PSU.

As for the players who are leaving for other schools -- O'Brien said, "I respect the coaching profession, but a lot of coaches ... they have recruited our players without the courtesy of calling me."

O'Brien was not specific about which teams skirted him to get to his players. PSU's star running back Silas Redd is reportedly considering a jump to USC.

O'Brien said he plans to attract future recruits by "talking to them about the degree from PSU. They have to understand to have a PSU degree in their back pocket is a big deal."

USC head football coach Lane Kiffin knows what it's like to run a program that's been hit with major NCAA sanctions ... but the leader of Troy tells TMZ ya just can't compare SC to Penn State.

Lane -- along with his star QB Matt Barkley -- was leaving Pac-12 Media Day at the Gibson Amphitheater at Universal CityWalk yesterday when we asked how he felt about the Penn State punishment.

Here's why Lane's opinion matters ... the SC football team was hit with a 2-YEAR postseason ban in 2010 ... after the NCAA uncovered violations surrounding illegal compensation to USC running back Reggie Bush.

SC was also stripped of its 2004 national championship victory, vacated all wins from the 2005 season and lost several scholarships.

The Penn State football program -- which covered up a CHILD RAPE SCANDAL FOR A DECADE -- was only banned from postseason play for 4 YEARS ... plus, a $60 million fine, scholarship reductions ... and of course, the Nittany Lions had to vacate 111 wins.

"The situations are different," Kiffin said ... noting, "It's impossible to compare the penalties in the situations."

Muhammad Ali ... the GREATEST of All Time ... has arrived in London for the 2012 Summer Games ... 52 years after winning his own gold medal.

Ali was spotted leaving his hotel Tuesday with some help from his wife Lonnie (left).

There are rumors Ali will have a role in the opening ceremonies on Friday ... but so far, no one has confirmed one way or the other.

L.A. Lakers stud Jordan Hill showed up to a Texas courthouse today to face a judge in his assault case ... instead, he got a front row seat to a TV reality show about a murder trial.

Here's the deal ... 24-year-old Hill appeared at Harris County Criminal Justice Center to be arraigned for allegedly attacking his girlfriend back in February.

The hearing happened to be taking place in the same courtroom where A&E producers were taping an episode of "The First 48" ... a reality show about on-going homicide investigations.

In fact, there was a sign posted outside of the courtroom warning people that they were entering a "filming area."

Since Hill's case was set to go AFTER the murder trial proceedings, the NBA star had to sit and wait until that case wrapped up.

Turns out, the taping was the most interesting part of Hill's day -- the judge pushed his arraignment to August. 9th.

Oakland Raiders wide receiver Darrius Heyward-Bey won't be seeing the inside of a jail cell any time soon ... after striking a deal with prosecutors in his DUI case.

DHB pleaded no contest today in San Francisco Superior Court stemming from the April 7 incident ... in which cops said he bombed his field sobriety test and blew a .12 BAC.

In exchange for his plea, Heyward-Bey was sentenced to 3-years probation ... 3 months of DUI classes and had to shell out around $1,800 in court costs.

Ultimate Warrior won't face criminal charges after allegedly bilking a memorabilia dealer out of valuable wrestling merch ... including ring-worn wrestling trunks -- this according to law enforcement.

TMZ broke the story ... a sports memorabilia dealer named Christopher Elias filed a police report last week, claiming he paid Warrior $28,000 for the giant merchandise collection ... but Warrior never anted up.

Now, a rep for the Sante Fe Sheriff Department tells TMZ, they investigated the matter and can’t determine whether any fraud took place.

As a result, police have deemed the merch dispute to be a civil matter -- and the courts can handle it from here out.

Dez Bryant was officially charged today with assault stemming from the fight he had last week with his mom ... TMZ has learned.

Jamille Bradfield at the Dallas County D.A.'s office tells TMZ ... Bryant was charged with assault, family violence -- a class A misdemeanor.

No court date has been set.

11:00 AM PT -- Joe Paterno's family just responded to the NCAA sanctions, claiming they "defame the legacy and contributions of a great coach and educator without any input from our family or those who knew him best."

The family adds, "Punishing past, present and future students of the University because of Sandusky's crimes does not serve justice. This is not a fair or thoughtful action; it is a panicked response to the public's understandable revulsion at what Sandusky did."

6:26 AM PT -- Well, that didn't take long -- a PSU football recruit has ALREADY decommitted to the school.

Ross Douglas -- a cornerback from Ohio -- will no longer attend PSU in the Fall. No word on where he will play.

Penn State University was just hit with a $60 million sanction by the NCAA for its role in covering up the Jerry Sandusky child rape scandal.

And it gets worse -- or better -- depending for whom you're rooting.

NCAA President Mark Emmert just announced ... PSU will be BANNED from bowl games for the next 4 years. The NCAA will also vacate all PSU football wins from 1998 to 2011.

Bald is not beautiful ... it's embarrassing ... and men should do whatever it takes to hide their hairless shame ... so implies Wes Welker -- the new face of hair transplant surgery.

The 31-year-old New England Patriots wide receiver has revealed ... he underwent hair transplant surgery back in July after noticing his hair was starting to thin.

In fact, Welker is enjoying his new thickened mop so much, he's agreed to star in an ad campaign with the man who re-populated his melon, Dr. Robert Leonard of Leonard Hair Transplant Associates.

According to the LHTA, Welker's procedure went down in July -- with doctors "transplanting follicles to an area of Welker’s scalp where his hair had started to thin."

5 hours later, Welker's dome was good to go ... and according to LHTA, Welker was "immediately able to resume his regular activities, including training for the football season and even wearing a helmet."

It's hard being teammates with Tom Brady ... that beautiful sonofabitch.

Washington Redskins offensive lineman Trent Williams is 6'5" and weighs 318 pounds, so just imagine how much ink was used to slap a gigantic tattoo on his back.

WIlliams -- whose self-annointed nickname is "The Silverback" due to his aforementioned massive size -- got the tat a few months back of ... what else ... a silverback gorilla.

The ink cost Williams around $3,000 (plus a "nice tip") ... courtesy of Sergio Garcia at Ultimate Designz in Miami. We're told Williams had to sit through two separate seven-hour sessions ... which he took like a champ.

Hard to imagine a man that size crying.

Dennis Rodman won't be thrown in jail for failing to pay over $200,000 in back child support -- because TMZ has learned the NBA legend finally struck a deal with his baby mama ... to pay her back ... kinda.

TMZ broke the story -- a Florida judge issued an arrest warrant for Rodman back in April after he failed to pay one of his baby mamas $179,000 in unpaid child support.

The judge later revoked the warrant when Rodman said he planned to fight the bill ... but set a court date earlier this month to address the issue. In the meantime, Rodman's $179,000 tab swelled to $253,000.

Rodman showed up to court -- with his longtime lawyers Bradford Cohen and Vanessa Prieto -- and we're told The Worm finally hashed out a deal with his ex. Which is good, because in Florida, deadbeat dads can get jail time.

Rodman's lawyers tell TMZ, he agreed to pay his ex $5,000 up front in good faith -- and slowly repay the balance in monthly installments. The judge was satisfied with the arrangement.

We're told Rodman still wants to get the principle amount lowered.

Sports radio host Max Kellerman thinks Penn State did the right thing in taking down the statue of Joe Paterno -- in fact, he thinks they need to go further.

We caught up with Max at LAX today where he said it was "about time" the statue of JoePa came down. Max said he believes Paterno's actions in the Jerry Sandusky child abuse action outweigh all the good that he's done ... and that Penn State shouldn't stop with just the statue.

The statue honoring Penn State football coach Joe Paterno has been removed from in front of Beaver Stadium.

The statue was removed via forklift as 100-150 students watched, chanting, "We are Penn State."

Penn State president Rodney Erickson announced the statue will be stored in a "secured location."

Erickson released a statement saying, "I now believe that, contrary to is original intention, Coach Paterno's statue has become a source of division and an obstacle to hearing in our university and beyond. For that reason, I have decided that it is in the best interest of our university and public safety to remove the statue and store it in a secure location."

The decision came 10 days after a report conducted by former FBI director Louis J. Freeh conclude that Paterno, as well as other top Penn State administrators, had concealed the allegations of child sexual abuse made against former defensive coordinator Jerry Sandusky.

A new report by CBS Sports says the NCAA will hand down "unprecedented" penalties against the school on Monday morning.

Jason Kidd took to his twitter account to kind of, sort of apologize for his alleged drunk-driving accident last week in Southhampton, NY.

Kidd was arrested July 15 for DWI after allegedly smashing his SUV into a light pole ... which knocked out the power of the surrounding community for hours.

After pleading not guilty to DWI -- the Knicks point guard addressed the crash publicly for the first time via Twitter yesterday, but made sure not to take responsibility of any kind.

He tweets, "I regret any disruption my accident last weekend may have caused members of the community and want to thank the local authorities ... I’d also like to thank my family and friends for their support."

Kidd sure knows how to beat around the bush. Poles? Not so much.

Tennessee Titans wide receiver Kenny Britt has been arrested ... again ... this time for driving under the influence in Kentucky ... TMZ has learned.

The NFL star was taken into custody by the Fort Campbell Police Department at 3:30 AM Tuesday while attempting to drive on to Fort Campbell -- a U.S. Army base located on the border of Kentucky and Tennessee.

We're told Britt was with a soldier at the time of the arrest.

Britt's cherry red 2008 Dodge Challenger was taken to a nearby impound lot (pictured below).

It DEFINITELY ain't Kenny's first brush with the law ... the 23-year-old was busted back in April 2011 for careless driving ... and in June 2011, he was popped in New Jersey for resisting arrest.

A rep for Fort Campbell tells TMZ the incident is "under investigation."