TMZ Sports - Page 50

The Texas Highway Patrol trooper who pulled over a Dallas Cowboys running back -- and then took a picture with him -- will face disciplinary actions for the incident ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The photo has been all over the Internet -- a trooper posing with backup running back Christine Michael in front of the player's pulled over Bentley ... causing many people to wonder, WTF?!

We spoke to a rep for the Texas Highway Patrol who tells us ... Michael's car was initially pulled over at noon on Sunday because it appeared the Bentley had illegal tint on the front windshield.

The trooper did not issue a citation -- but asked for a pic and then let Michael go on his way.

Sergeant Lonny Haschel tells TMZ Sports ... "The trooper’s actions have been reviewed by DPS and are not consistent with department procedure."

"Corrective action, in the form of a procedural review, will be taken. In conversations with his chain of command, the trooper realized his error in judgement and was apologetic for the incident."

2:09 PM PT -- USC players tell us they were notified that Sarkisian was fired via text message from the coaching staff.

Steve Sarkisian is out as the head football coach at USC.

Here's the official statement from Athletic Director Pat Haden:

"After careful consideration of what is in the best interest of the university and our student-athletes, I have made the decision to terminate Steve Sarkisian, effective immediately."

"I want to thank Clay Helton for stepping into the interim head coach role, and I want to add how proud I am of our coaching staff and players and the way they are responding to this difficult situation."

"Through all of this we remain concerned for Steve and hope that it will give him the opportunity to focus on his personal well being."

Pete Carroll says the the situation surrounding his coaching protege Steve Sarkisian "breaks his heart" but he remains ultra-confident that his former assistant will get things back on track.

Carroll opened up about Sark on his weekly ESPN radio program "The Pete Carroll Show" and said he's reached out to the USC coach and believes he can conquer his demons.

"It breaks my heart to see how this has gone. He recognizes it, and he's going to do something about it."

Pete says Sark has a tough road ahead -- but believes he'll prevail in the end.

The rumors are true ... Ronda Rousey is in a relationship with UFC fighter Travis Browne -- the same guy who was accused of beating up his wife -- and then CLEARED after a UFC investigation.

Browne just went on "The MMA Hour Live" and said he started talking with Ronda over the summer and their relationship blossomed.

"I'll say now that we are together," Browne said ... "She's my woman and I am her man."

IBF light middleweight champ Jermall Charlo just added another title to his resume ... ruler of the shake joint ... 'cause he went HAM in a strip club over the weekend ... tossing $25k into the atmosphere.

Charlo and his crew took over VLive in Houston ... Drake's favorite strip club ... and made sure all the lovely ladies knew he was the man ... by wearing his championship belt while he made it rain.

Check out the video -- Charlo's only been champ for about a month but he's already got the good life down ... spraying cash all over some of the most famous dancers in the country.

God speed young man.

Gordon Ramsay had the guts to enter the grueling Ironman World Championship in Hawaii, but he ended up losing those guts ... on the side of a road.

Chef Ramsay had to drop out of the legendary race, but not before completing the 2.4 mile ocean swim. He moved on to the 122 mile bike ride, and that's when he started blowing chunks.

He tried to persevere through the final marathon leg, but went down with dehydration ... which prevented him from finishing. Medics had to come to his aid.

Ramsay's finished the race before ... in 2013 and it took him 14 hours. He says he'll be back next year.

Matt Leinart is speaking out on Steve Sarkisian -- his QB coach during his days at USC -- asking people to support his friend because "he needs help."

Leinart went to Twitter and wrote, "Sark is a friend and he needs help. I ask everyone instead of the criticism show your support for him. This is much bigger than football!"

Russell Wilson and Ciara have Tim Tebow's support in their vow to abstain from sex until marriage.

Of course, Tim has also famously sworn off sex until he ties the knot ... and Sunday at LAX, he told us he wishes the Seattle Seahawks QB and his GF "all the luck" when it comes to keeping it in their pants too.

BTW -- since Tim is essentially out of football, but still in insane shape, we asked if he'd ever consider training for the Olympics.

UFC's Urijah Faber had an unwelcome visitor over the weekend who crapped all over his party.

Faber was entertaining friends at his Sacramento home when a woman bolted into the house and locked herself in the bathroom. Cops were called and Urijah chronicled the search with his cellphone.

The reveal almost brought the UFC star to his knees ... a woman passed out on the bathroom floor who had crapped herself and vomited for bad measure.

Drake breezed into a club Sunday night and hung with a woman -- not Serena -- which tracks with what we're hearing ... that Drake isn't dating the tennis star.

Drake spent more than 2 hours at The Nice Guy in West Hollywood. He arrived alone and left alone, but people in the club say he hung with the woman who entered and exited just minutes after Drake.

Her name is Ravie Loso -- an Instagram model -- who definitely has a similar build as Serena, and is clearly into Drake. While they were in The Nice Guy, she tweeted ... "Ever since I left the city you ..." -- lyrics from his song, "Hotline Bling."

Our Serena sources insist Serena and Drake are not dating, despite the pics showing physical interaction. The sources say they're long time friends ... and that's it.

To be continued ...

USC football coach Steve Sarkisian was "very emotional" and even crying before he was removed from the USC football facility on Sunday ... multiple sources connected to the incident tell TMZ Sports.

Our sources tell us ... Sark appeared intoxicated at the USC athletic facility on Sunday -- and at one point, he was sobbing in a corner. That's when staffers decided to get USC athletic director Pat Haden involved.

Haden says he spoke with Sarkisian on the phone and determined he was "not healthy" -- and ordered him to take a leave of absence.

Khloe Kardashian was head to toe in Adidas over the weekend, which makes sense given boyfriend James Harden's $200 million deal with the company ... but now it seems the entire clan is in on the act.

Kylie was out with Tyga Sunday in Calabasas, decked out in an Adidas tracksuit, and this isn't the first time they've been spotted giving the company prized promotion.

It would sure make sense. Fact is, they might be better pitch people than Harden.

Ex-NBA player Terrence Williams is calling BS on allegations he had ANY involvement in the Louisville sex scandal ... saying he never had to pay for lovin' in college ... 'cause he was the biggest star there.

Williams -- who now plays overseas -- was at Louisville from '05-'09 and tells TMZ Sports he's furious his name was mentioned in the book "Breaking Cardinal Rules."

The book alleges Terrence ... then a star for the Cardinals ... paid $500 dollars for a sexual escapade with two women -- an assertion which Williams AGGRESSIVELY denies.

"I am not a part of that. To Louisville I am f**king Elvis Presley. So why would I pay anybody for anything?"

"Motherf**kers pay me for pictures and handshakes. And that's not being cocky, 'cause I don't play around with my blessing. I'm very honored to be in that position in Louisville. Louisville is the greatest city, the fans are great, Rick Pitino is great."

He's not finished ... Williams says Katina Powell -- the woman behind the book -- is nothing more than a thirsty, money hungry liar looking for a pay day.

"Nobody's gonna pay attention to a b*tch searching for money. So you make up stuff, and you put out all these allegations. If my name's on anything, provide proof."

"At the end of the day when the smoke clears, she's going to go to jail. You need to be put under the f**king jail. You need to be put in a black f**king hole in Langley."

Terrence says he's got a team of lawyers evaluating his legal options -- and says he's also furious that his former coach Rick Pitino and his close friend Andre McGee are being dragged through the mud.

It may be business on the field ... but it’s definitely a party off the field for San Diego Charger Brock Hekking.

Brock’s golden waterfall of mullet wonder has NFL fans in a frenzy -- and regardless of the San Diego vs. Pittsburg game Monday night, there is one clear winner!

WWE star Rusev might be a tough guy in the ring but he's a softie for his real-life girlfriend Lana ... because he asked her to marry him.

Sources close to the couple tell TMZ Rusev proposed to his WWE manager gf last month at their Nashville home. We're told Rusev proposed in the couple's swimming pool and filmed the whole thing.

Judging by the size of the rock ... we're guessing it was pretty easy for Lana to say yes.

It's interesting, Rusev recently got engaged to WWE Diva Summer Rae on SmackDown but we're told it was just for the show ... Lana takes the title as his real life fiancé.

3:19 PM PT -- Multiple sources tell TMZ Sports Sarkisian was at the USC football facility on Sunday but never made it up to the practice field. We're told he was clearly in no shape to work and was ultimately "escorted out" of the facility.

USC football coach Steve Sarkisian has been ordered to take a "leave of absence" from the team after missing practice Sunday -- with the school's A.D. saying he's simply "not healthy."

USC's athletic director Pat Haden wouldn't get into specifics about what Sark's medical issues are at a news conference earlier today, but it seems pretty clear:

“I was over at basketball and got a call that coach Sarkisian wasn’t at practice. So, I just learned about this about 1 o’clock. I called Steve, talked to him. It was very clear to me that he is not healthy. I asked him to take an indefinite leave of absence.”