TMZ Sports - Page 50

Great news for Tennessee Titans linebacker Avery Williamson -- his 9/11 tribute cleats just sold at auction for $6,600 ... and it's all going toward a charity to help U.S. soldiers!

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Williamson customized his Nikes to honor the victims and first responders -- with patriotic symbols and the words "Never Forget" written on the back.

After he wore them in the game, Williamson put the cleats up for auction on CharityBuzz.com to raise money for Operation Warrior Wishes.

FYI -- the winner ain't just gettin' the cleats. The auction winner gets 2 tickets to a Tennessee Titans home game ... as well as an opportunity to chill with Avery.

Nice work.

Ex-NBA star Larry Sanders says the Terence Crutcher shooting makes him scared for his son -- who will grow up to be a big man ... and he doesn't want him profiled as a "bad dude."

By now you know Crutcher -- a black man -- was shot and killed in Tulsa by a white police officer while his hands were in the air. Someone in a police helicopter covering the scene said Crutcher "looks like a bad dude too. Probably on something."

Sanders spoke with TMZ Sports and says his 5-year-old son loves cops and is friends with people of all race -- but he has very serious concerns ... "At what point does he become the enemy?"

No Brady or Garoppolo? No problem ... 'cause backup Patriots QB Jacoby Brissett's no stranger to filling in on short notice.

With Tom Brady (suspended) and Jimmy Garoppolo (injured) sidelined, 23-year-old Brissett will take over under center against the Texans this Thursday.

TMZ Sports spoke with Jack Daniels -- Brissett's football coach at Dwyer High School in Florida -- who tells us the rookie signal caller started showing his insane game preparation when he was a freshman.

"He's been through this before," Daniels says. "We were facing one of the best teams in the country and our starter went down. Jacoby came in as a 15-year-old and went 12 for 12."

“I talked to him after the game. He’s excited for the opportunity to play. He’s going to do whatever he can to help this team win. I think he’s going to be a little nervous.”

It doesn't matter how hard he's been working or how many people he's apologized to ... Ray Rice should NEVER play another down in the NFL ... so says Jay Glazer.

"I've always had this mindset that if you play a violent sport and you knock your wife out or your girlfriend and put your hands on a woman, you should be stripped of that privilege forever."

Antonio Brown stuck a fork in his private chef -- who was one of his close friends -- and it's clear it was a bad breakup.

The Pittsburgh Steelers superstar was inseparable from Chef Niko ever since he hired him earlier this year ... and they would often post videos of each other on Snapchat.

In fact, our friends at "For The Win" just published a story about how close the two were. The story also details Niko's battle with drug addiction and how he's conquering it.

But something went down between Brown and Niko this week ... something bad ... because the NFL star fired the chef and in a new video, Niko makes it clear the relationship is OVER.

"I thought he was my friend and that's not the case I guess."

Neither Brown nor Niko have revealed what happened behind the scenes. Brown issued a "new chef alert" Monday night to announce Niko has been replaced.

Michael Rapaport channeled his inner Danny Aiello to scream at Jay Cutler Monday night -- blasting the Bears QB as a "mayonnaise and newspaper breath smelling motherf*****."

It's hilarious ... Rapaport's obviously paying tribute to Aiello's character in "Do the Right Thing."

LeSean McCoy has been hit with a lawsuit by two off-duty cops who say the Buffalo Bills running back and his crew beat the hell out of them during a bar fight in Philly.

The officers behind the suit, Darnell Jessie and Roland Butler, claim they were partying at Recess Lounge back in February when McCoy and his crew attacked them.

An attorney for the officer told ESPN both men suffered "serious and permanent injuries."

The officers are also suing Recess and 3 members of McCoy's party -- Curtis Brinkley, Tamarcus Porter and Christopher Henderson.

Steve Harvey says he has NO DESIRE to own a NASCAR team ... despite allegations in a new lawsuit -- saying straight-up, "I don't even like fast ass cars!"

We broke the story ... a racing exec is suing NASCAR and nearly all of its racing teams for more than $500 MILLION -- claiming he tried to team with Harvey to start a team last year, but NASCAR shot them down. The exec, Terrance Cox, claimed racists at NASCAR blocked the move.

But Harvey says the whole thing is B.S. -- claiming he NEVER tried to start a NASCAR team ... and says Cox is lying about the whole thing.

In fact, Harvey went on his radio show and says his relationship with Cox was only supposed to be about helping underprivileged youth ... but things turned weird, so Harvey backed away.

D.L. Hughley is demanding action from some NFL legends -- calling out Jerry Rice, Ray Lewis and others who condemned Colin Kaepernick ... and asking why they're not as upset about the shooting of Terence Crutcher.

Of course, Crutcher is the 40-year-old black man who was shot by a white police officer in Tulsa while his hands were raised and he appeared to be surrendering.

"All the people from Jerry Rice to Jason Whitlock to Ray Lewis to Rodney Harrison who was so upset about Colin Kaepernick not standing up, I wish all of them were just as upset about Terence Crutcher getting shot down as they were about Colin Kaepernick not standing up," Hughley said.

For reference, here are the previous statements the NFL legends made about Kaepernick:

Jerry Rice -- "All lives matter. So much going on in this world today. Can we all just get along! Colin, I respect your stance but don't disrespect the Flag."

Ray Lewis -- "Listen I understand what you're trying to do, but understand, take the flag out of it. I have uncles, I've got brothers, going into the military, that said I will never see you again. To understand that I will always respect that part of what our patriotism should be. And that's the side that I think if Colin just really steps back, to effect change, to effect true change in what he's trying to say, if you don't have a real solution, if you ain't seen as a true activist, to go into hoods and do these things on a daily basis and not just jump up and just protest off this one thing because you're sick of it -- we've been sick of racism for 400-plus years."

Rodney Harrison -- "I think his heart is in the right place, I just think he was going about it in the wrong way. If he really wants to make change, sitting his butt down [during the anthem], that’s not going to change, that’s going to get people very upset and he has to understand that."

With the Cleveland Browns in serious quarterback trouble, Johnny Manziel says one thing's for sure -- they're definitely not calling him.

Former boxing superstar Zab Judah tried to lie after a Vegas car crash back in January -- claiming his name was "Michael Johnson" ... and the whole thing was caught on video.

The 38-year-old boxer allegedly smashed into another car at 7 AM on January 29th -- and the victim pulled out her phone to document the aftermath.

You can see Judah -- a former 4 time world champ -- in the driver's seat ... slurring his words as he's confronted by the other driver.

When the woman asks for his name, Judah says, "Michael Johnson."

The woman told Judah he "smacked the s*** out of me" and was responsible for the damage and her injuries.

She also told Judah she was calling the police because it was "obvious" he had been drinking. However, we've done some digging and can't find a record of Judah being arrested for DUI on that date.

Sources connected to the incident tell us Judah's insurance company settled with the woman ... and it was only then that the woman learned Judah's true identity.

Ryan Lochte's becoming the poster boy for second chances, and the latest company to put their money behind his comeback is Debt.com.

Jabari Parker proved he's a serious threat as a shooter -- at least when it comes to beer pong.

The Milwaukee Bucks star hit up a house party near the Milwaukee School of Engineering on Saturday night -- and partied with a bunch of the students.

But the highlight of the evening ... when Parker was asked to join in on the B.P. game -- and crushed shot after shot after shot!

Sources at the party tell TMZ Sports Parker was super nice to everyone and people were stoked he was there ... especially the girls.

We're told Parker has a friend on the MSOE basketball team -- and that's why he was there.

He was super social with people and took pics with anyone who asked.

Beer pong is apparently super popular with NBA stars -- Michael Jordan and Charles Barkley have gotten into the sport in recent years.

But from what we're told ... Parker would wipe the floor with the old guys.

#LetsGetaTournamentGoing!!

Here's Giannis Antetokounmpo buying a MASSIVE teddy bear at Costco ... just two days before he signed his big ol' $100 MILLION contract with the Milwaukee Bucks.

Don't worry ... it only runs about $30 ... so, he's gonna be fine.

We're guessing the Greek Freak was getting some birthday shopping done at the Milwaukee-area super store for his girlfriend ... whose birthday was also Saturday.

With that fat ass new contract, we're guessing there was some major jewelry that went along with that bear.

Steve Harvey's bid to start a NASCAR team crashed and burned ... and at least one racing exec thinks it's because stock car racing honchos are racists.

NBA legend Julius Erving says he's PROUD of Floyd Mayweather's youth football team -- comprised of 6 year olds -- for protesting the National Anthem ... saying it's healthy for kids to "speak their minds."

As we previously reported, the Las Vegas Red Lions -- sponsored by Mayweather's TMT brand -- followed Colin Kaepernick's lead this weekend and took a knee during the "Star-Spangled Banner."

Dr. J says he loved seeing the protest -- because it shows that even 6 year olds can "bring attention to the issues."

He also gives props to adult team leaders -- explaining why encouraging young people to stand up for what they believe in at a young age is so important.