TMZ Sports - Page 50

Good news for the struggling Packers ... ex-Pro Bowl running back Ahman Green says he wants to help Green Bay get back to their winning ways ... as a COACH.

TMZ Sports spoke with Green -- who played 8 seasons in the frozen tundra -- and he tells us he's already reached out to coach Mike McCarthy about joining the staff.

"I would love to come in and help that running back crew, help that team because a lot of this game, people don't realize that it's a lot of mental part of it. You gotta be mentally strong to get through a dip like this."

It's about time people start respecting Michael Jordan for more than just the "Crying Jordan" meme ... so says the President of the United States!!!

MJ was at the White House along with a huge list of stars like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Tom Hanks, Robert De Niro, Bill Gates, Robert Redford, Ellen and more ... when President Obama singled him out for some jokes!

Obviously, Obama praised him for being a hugely successful athlete, businessman and philanthropist -- but zinged him a little bit for his acting career and the whole Internet meme thing.

L.A. Rams cornerback Troy Hill has just been waived by the team ... just days after he was arrested for DUI.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... the 25-year-old -- who signed with the team in 2015 after going undrafted out of the University of Oregon -- was arrested on Saturday after crashing into a semi-truck around 8 AM.

Hill was a pretty significant player on the Rams defense -- starting 4 games and was the 4th leading tackler on the team.

Tampa Bay Lighting winger J.T. Brown didn't get all of his aggression out on the ice Monday night -- smashing a fan's iPhone moments after he was sent to the penalty box after an all-out brawl.

Brown went straight Conor McGregor on Nashville Predator defenseman Ryan Ellis after a blindside hit in the 3rd period.

As Brown was sent off the ice, Preds fan Brendan Johansen began to heckle him ... and that's when Brown reached up and smashed the cell phone.

We spoke with Johansen who says he's not mad and isn't taking any legal action -- but says he hopes the Lightning will spring to get him a new phone ... because his screen got shattered in the mayhem.

As for the game, the Predators won 3-1.

Here's a photo of Bruce Springsteen ... finally knowing what it's like to be the odd man out.

A bunch of super famous people gathered at the White House Tuesday to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama ... including Vin Scully, Michael Jordan and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.

Cool photo, right?

Well ... it's officially official.

After weeks of speculation, Bruce Arena has been named the head coach of the U.S. Men's National Soccer team ... the squad announced Tuesday morning.

Arena replaces recently sacked Jurgen Klinsmann ... who lasted 5 years with the organization.

“Any time you get the opportunity to coach the National Team it’s an honor,” Arena said.

"Working as a team, I’m confident that we’ll take the right steps forward to qualify for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.”

Arena is the most accomplished coach in U.S. soccer history, so hopefully he can turn things around.

Byron Scott gon' cry in the car ... 'cause Julius Randle is giving 100% credit to new coach Luke Walton for the team's surprising start ... saying the young coach is pressing all the right buttons.

The Lakers are 7-7 this year -- not exactly World beaters -- but when you consider they only won 21 games ALL OF LAST SEASON ... the start is pretty impressive.

So when we got Randle out in L.A. and asked him what was making the Lake show great again ... he gave props to the new sheriff in town.

It doesn't matter who takes over the USA men's soccer team -- a World Cup victory just ain't in the cards for America ... EVER ... so says Dominic Monaghan.

The German-born, English-raised 'Lord of the Rings' star is a HUGE soccer fan -- so we hit him up for his thoughts on the firing of Jurgen Klinsmann.

And that's when Dom hit us with some straight talk saying Team USA will NEVER win.

A sweaty, grocery-buying Matthew McConaughey may have just made the most compelling argument for the University of Texas to not fire head football coach (and his personal friend) Charlie Strong.

McConaughey was out running errands in Austin when he happened to stroll by a FOX 7 reporter who was doing a man on the street reaction piece to Strong possibly being on the outs at UT.

That's when Matt -- a HUGE Texas fan who's been invited to Longhorns practices -- stopped to defend the embattled football coach and even made a prediction for the upcoming week.

Washington Redkins stars Pierre Garcon and Chris Baker were doing a pretty cool thing Monday night, giving away Thanksgiving turkeys ... when suddenly a HUUUGE Cowboys fan crashed the party!

The woman -- sporting her Dallas Cowboys beanie -- is hilarious ... getting right up in Baker's face and pledging her allegiance to her squad ... adding, "I look forward to seeing you Thursday!"

The video is great -- the woman talks smack, but does it in a playful manner -- while ultimately saying, "For real, thank you baby. Regardless of what team I belong to, I still think you're doing a good thing."

JAMIE FOXX GOT HANDS!!

We've already seen him throw ... but now the "Ray" star is proving he can haul in passes too -- even when the ball is being fired at him at 100 MPH!

Foxx was training at the Sports Academy in Thousand Oaks while shooting his new flick "All-Star Weekend" -- when his buddy, Tony Besson, challenged him to get into the "100 MPH Club."

The ball was shot at him by a JUGS machine -- and the challenge was to catch the ball twice ... while taking a step closer the second time around.

Think Jamie was afraid? Hell no.

Liar, liar, Speedos on fire ...

Ryan Lochte says he just doesn't believe Michael Phelps is done with competitive swimming -- despite the fact he filed official retirement paperwork earlier this week.

The Rock already has a major celebrity supporter if he REALLY decides to run for the White House -- his old WWE buddy Dave Bautista ... who says Rock is a "better candidate than f**king Trump!"

Big news from Caron Butler on his Mark Wahlberg-produced biopic -- a director has been chosen to lead the project and the script-writing process is underway.

We got Caron leaving a meeting with script writers ... and he told us the flick (which is in the early writing stages) is gonna show the REAL story behind his childhood struggles as a drug dealer.

C.B. says Wahlberg (as well as director Jason Lew and writer Steve Springer) is helping him be a part of the whole process to make sure it gets his stamp of approval.

Butler's partner, Tabrez Yousuf, summarized the movie's vision in one sentence:

Kirk Cousins deserves Matt Stafford money ... because he's BETTER than Matt Stafford -- so says Joe Theismann.

Cousins has been tearing it up this year ... and is coming off a 42-24 dismantling of the Green Bay Packers where he once again went H.A.M. ... throwing for over 375 yards and 3 TDs.

Kirk is currently playing under the franchise tag earning $20 mil for this year ... but when we talked to Thiesmann he says it's time for Kirk to get a major upgrade in the coin dept.

"If he can stay healthy, you're talking about a $100 MILLION dollar contract."

Joe's metric? He says there are a lot of other franchise QBs making the century mark ... and he feels Kirk is better than A LOT of them.

"I think he's better than a Matthew Stafford, I think he's better than Joe Flacco, I think he's better than Jay Cutler."

Dennis Rodman has just been charged with 4 misdemeanor criminal charges -- including hit-and-run -- stemming from a late-night wrong way freeway crash in July ... TMZ Sports has learned.

The Orange County District Attorney has charged Rodman with ... hit-and-run with property damage, driving a car across the divider, giving false info to a cop and driving a car without a valid license.

If convicted on all counts, Rodman faces up to 2 years in county jail.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Rodman was driving an SUV on the 5 Freeway around 12:30 AM on July 20th ... after partying at a karaoke bar.

We're told Rodman was driving northbound in the southbound carpool lane.

A car driving the RIGHT way was forced to swerve to avoid a head-on collision and crashed into the center divider. That person called 911.

Dennis allegedly fled the scene before cops arrived and never exchanged info with the other driver.

Cops investigated the incident -- and officials say Rodman lied to investigators.

A rep for Rodman said, "We agree that if anything, this is a misdemeanor traffic matter, and certainly not a felony. We appreciate the district attorney evaluation and know that it should resolve successfully when all facts are considered."