TMZ Sports - Page 50

Snoop Dogg is FIRED UP about the NFL Rookie Class of 2014 -- because 3 of the players are alumni of the youth football league he started back in 2005 ... TMZ Sports has learned.

De'Anthony Thomas (RB, KC Chiefs), Kam Jackson (CB, Colts) and Greg Ducre (CB, Chargers) all played for the L.A.-based "Snoop Youth Football League" back when they were kids ... and Snoop tells us he couldn't be prouder.

Former NFL wide receiver Reche Caldwell -- who spent 6 seasons in the league -- was arrested in Florida yesterday for allegedly trying to sell Ecstasy ... officials say.

The 35-year-old -- played for the Chargers, Patriots and Redskins -- was busted at an apartment in Tampa around noon ... after cops say he was trying to slang some E pills.

Caldwell was booked for possession of a controlled substance. Bail was set at $2K.

Dwyane Wade's wedding guests better pack flip flops -- TMZ Sports has learned, his upcoming nuptials to fiancee Gabrielle Union will take place on the surface of the sun ... aka Miami in August ... and we have the Save the Date.

The wedding is scheduled for August 30th -- and the Save the Dates just went out.

Dwyane's kids even make a cameo in the heart-shaped reminders, holding up signs that say, "Nickie, will you marry us?" (Nickie is Gabrielle's nickname ... her middle name is Monique.)

If all goes well, Dwyane will get more than one ring this year.

The Houston Texans will rue the day they passed on Johnny Manziel ... so will the Raiders and the Cowboys -- because he's going to be a KILLER pro quarterback ... so says Billy Bob Thornton.

The "Friday Night Lights" star -- who's a huge sports fan -- was leaving Tavern in Los Angeles last night when he told us he thinks a lot of people have seriously underestimated the explosive Heisman Trophy winner.

"I wasn't so big on the Johnny Manziel thing when he was in college," Billy Bob says ... "But I think in the pros ... I think he's gonna do better than they think."

Browns fans better hope he's right. Meantime, watch the video (below) and try not to cry.

The plot thickens -- the nightclub Lamar Odom got denied from insists the rejection was NOT a reality show set-up ... Lamar was turned away because the club was afraid he'd start a Chris Brown-level brawl with French Montana.

As we reported, Odom was spurned from Penthouse in West Hollywood while his ex Khloe Kardashian and her new man French Montana partied inside.

An E! camera crew was conveniently posted up outside the club to capture the rejection -- so obviously there was speculation that Lamar's rejection was a set-up for "Keeping Up with the Kardashians" -- but a rep for Penthouse tells TMZ, not so.

The rep says the decision to deny Lamar was the club's decision alone. We're told the nightclub wanted to avoid another bottle-throwing Chris Brown-Drake situation, so bouncers refused to let him in.

Sources close to the Kardashians tell us the same story -- Khloe didn't even know Lamar planned to show up.

You'll recall, Brown and Drake were involved in a massive brawl at W.i.P. nightclub in NYC back in 2012. The brawl resulted in a bunch of lawsuits ... and the club even lost its liquor license for a while. So it's no wonder Penthouse was playing it safe.

9:44 A.M. PDT -- Khloe just tweeted this: "Still hurts... Maybe it always will"

Carolina Panthers star Greg Hardy is about to be released from jail after a domestic violence arrest -- under the condition he stays the hell away from his GF.

As we previously reported, Hardy -- aka "Da Kraken" -- was arrested Tuesday morning after allegedly getting into a physical altercation with his girlfriend at his apartment in North Carolina.

Hardy appeared in an N.C. courtroom Wednesday morning in an orange jumpsuit and handcuffs.

The judge set his bond (a grand total of $17k) and ordered Hardy to have NO contact with his girlfriend for the time being.

He was also ordered to attend 3 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings per week.

L.A. Clippers player Hedo Turkoglu is calling for prayers for the 201 people killed in a mining accident in his native Turkey this morning ... saying, "No words for our sadness today."

Turkoglu -- who was born in Instanbul and played for the Turkish national team -- went to Twitter moments ago and wrote, "201 miners killed in an accident in Soma /Turkey , pls keep our miners and their families in your prayers."

Lamar Odom endured one of the most humiliating club denials ever ... he was turned away from a West Hollywood club Tuesday night as his estranged wife and her new boyfriend partied inside.

It all went down at Penthouse. Our photog spotted Lamar rolling up to the club with a few friends. But when Lamar got to the door, he hit 2 big snags -- Khloe and French Montana.

Lamar and his friends stood there for a few minutes and left in defeat. Watch Lamar recoil in controlled anger when someone mentions French Montana.

French Montana was the special guest last night ... French even posted a photo to his Instagram page of him with Kim Kardashian with the caption "Shout out to my BFF @kimkardashian for coming out tonight party was turnt up."

It's unclear if Khloe or French had anything to do with Lamar getting denied -- but there was a giant clue in the form of an E! camera crew ... that just happened to be outside to shoot Lamar getting turned away.

Remember, the guy's under contract to appear on the family reality show -- and since he and Khloe are NOT divorced ... all signs point to Lamar being in on this.

His night didn't end up entirely bad ... he had better luck at Lure, a few miles down the road.

Carmelo Anthony could be the next John B. Stetson ... because the NBA superstar tells TMZ Sports he's gunning to start his very own HAT LINE ... and it's gonna be awesome.

Anthony is a huge fan of fancy headgear ... from fedoras to berets and even baseball hats -- and most recently rocked a top hat to the Met Gala in NYC.

So, when we heard he was going to be starting his own line -- we had to ask about it ... and yesterday in New York, the big man confirmed the wheels are definitely in motion.

Anthony even told us which type of hat he plans to focus on producing ... and let's just say Justin Timberlake would approve.

Hi, I'm Terrell Owens.

I'm 40. I'm broke. And I've got ZERO employable skills ... outside of my athletic talents.

Please don't make me pay my estranged wife's attorney's fees in our divorce.

Thanks,

T.O.

That's essentially the message T.O. sent a judge in new legal docs ... in which he explains why he shouldn't have to pony up for Rachel Snider's legal fees.

In the docs, T.O. says his marriage to Snider was only for 3 days .. yet she hired a fancy lawyer who charges through the nose -- and he simply can't afford to pay ... now or ever.

In fact, Owens explains, "Besides my athletic abilities, I do not have any special skill set or education that makes me employable. I use my celebrity status as a former NFL player as much as possible as I struggle to earn a living to support my children."

Owens says Snider isn't just trying to hurt his wallet -- she's also dead set on destroying his image in the media.

Kate Moss once said, "Nothing tastes as good as skinny feels." We're not entirely convinced Rex Ryan agrees with that.

The New York Jets coach -- who lost more than 120 pounds since undergoing gastric bypass surgery -- was out in NYC yesterday when we asked about the downside to living the skinny life.

Rex gave a super honest answer ... telling us there's one delicious food item he misses more than anything else.

NHL legend Jeremy Roenick says he was "kind of impressed" with Vladimir Putin's hockey skills ... but tells TMZ Sports he'd DESTROY the Russian leader if they ever faced off on the ice.

Roenick was out in NYC today and told us he watched the footage of 62-year-old Putin scoring goals during a celebrity hockey game in Russia this week ... and says the guy deserves props.

"I didn't think he had it in him!"

In fact, Jeremy tells us he got to meet Putin while he was out in Sochi for the Olympics -- and says despite his reputation, VP was actually a really nice guy.

Still, Roenick says ... if push came to shove and they had to play against each other, Putin would get no mercy -- "I would run him just like I ran everybody else in my career ... try to take his head off for sure!"

Emmitt Smith has Magic Johnson's back in a big way -- in fact, he's firing back at Donald Sterling with cold hard NUMBERS ... one million of 'em to be exact.

After Sterling stupidly claimed that Magic hasn't done squat to help the black community, Smith went online and hit Sterling right between the eyes.

"How can anyone question Magic Johnson's contribution to community and kids? Thank you Magic and @CjbyCookie for helping us raise $1M this weekend for kids!"

He continued, "In 20 minutes, you changed 20 underserved kids lives forever! @patsmithty and I are forever grateful."

Magic Johnson would NEVER, EVER steal the Clippers ... hell no ... because if he WAS gonna steal a franchise, Magic tells us he'd go after the Lakers instead!!!

Magic just called into "TMZ Live" -- and shot down Donald Sterling's allegations that Magic concocted a diabolical scheme to take over the L.A. Clippers after the racist audio surfaced.

"If I'm gonna set somebody up," Magic said ... "It won't be to buy the Clippers, that's for sure. It'll be to buy the Lakers!"

Of course, Magic says he's not a crook or a thief and would NEVER do anything underhanded like steal a team ... but IF he did, he'd aim WAY higher than the Red and Blue.

V. Stiviano has made plenty of mistakes in her life ... but slamming her red Ferrari into the back of a Range Rover this week wasn't one of them -- and TMZ has the video to prove it.

We broke the story ... Stiviano was involved in a fender bender in Beverly Hills Monday afternoon ... and went OFF on the other driver, cussing her out and shouting things like, "You know who you're messing with, motherf*****?"

The other driver told us Stiviano was at fault -- failing to stop as she pulled her Ferrari into a parking lot and slamming into the back of the other driver's Range Rover -- but the video tells a much different story.

In the clip, you can clearly see the Range Rover is actually the one responsible -- REVERSING INTO Stiviano ... and tapping her front fender.

If only Donald Sterling got that much action.