TMZ Sports - Page 50

Wanna be Rae Carruth for Halloween? You're sick. But, the NFL wants no part of your tasteless attempt at dark humor.

The NFL has blocked fans from ordering customized Carruth jerseys on NFLShop.com -- continuing the policy of banning controversial names on licensed merch.

Other names on the NFL's jersey blacklist -- Aaron Hernandez and O.J. Simpson. Harambe the gorilla was on the list, but that name is now allowable.

Carruth was a pretty good football player before he orchestrated a plot to kill his pregnant girlfriend and their unborn child. He was a 1st-round draft pick for the Carolina Panthers back in 1997.

Carruth was ultimately convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, attempting to destroy an unborn child and discharging a firearm into occupied property and was sentenced to 18 to 24 years in prison.

Seems Carmelo Anthony is familiar with the conspiracy theory that the spit that kicked off the Chris Paul vs. Rajon Rondo fight came from his mouth ... and he's calling B.S.

Melo was standing right next to Paul when CP3 got hit in the face with mouth moisture -- and while most people believe it came from Rondo, there are some who believe it was a case of accidental friendly fire.

So, when we saw Anthony leaving Catch in L.A. on Sunday, we had to ask if there was any merit to the "Melo Did It" theory.

His response -- "Stop playin'!"

We also asked how he felt about the suspensions that were handed out -- 4 games for Brandon Ingram, 3 for Rondo and 2 for Chris Paul.

Melo didn't seem too bothered by it -- almost like he understood.

BTW, the Rockets -- without Chris Paul -- lost to the Clippers on Sunday.

The Jacksonville Jaguars offense is a dumpster fire -- but Colin Kaepernick can right the ship ... so says NFL Hall of Famer Cris Carter.

"This is just free advice. Swallow your pride, pick up the phone and call Kap," Carter said on FS1's "First Things First."

"I believe he can make the difference on that football team."

The Jaguars -- and specifically Blake Bortles -- sucked this weekend. In fact, Bortles was benched in the 3rd quarter of Jacksonville's 20-7 loss to the Houston Texans.

Carter says the Jags had an opportunity to sign Kaepernick in the preseason but passed -- "it was strictly a political decision" -- but now, they need to pull Colin's phone number out of the trash.

"They made a mistake by not signing Kap," Carter said ... "They know it behind the scenes. [Co-host Nick Wright] and I know it. They talked to Kap but we know. It was strictly a political decision."

Carter explains, "He's a better thrower of the football than Blake Bortles. He's a better runner of the football. He's been a better winner. He's a better leader than Blake Bortles. So, you get what you pay for."

As we previously reported, Colin's been training every morning at 5 AM in the hopes he gets a call from an NFL team ... like the Jags.

Rae Carruth -- the piece of garbage NFL star WR who hired a hitman to kill his pregnant girlfriend -- was released from prison Monday morning, 19 years after the deadly incident.

Rae was a talented football player -- the Carolina Panthers took him in the 1st round of the 1997 NFL Draft and made the NFL All-Rookie Team after a pretty solid rookie season.

But, he threw it all away in Nov. 1999 when he conspired with a gunman to murder 24-year-old Cherica Adams, who was 8 months pregnant with his child.

Officials say Carruth and Adams got in separate cars after a movie date and once they got on the road, he blocked her vehicle so the gunman could have a clean shot.

Adams was hit 4 times but managed to call 911 -- and emergency personnel were able to perform an emergency C-section and save the baby. Cherica died 4 weeks later.

The child, Chancellor Lee Adams, was born with severe cerebral palsy due to trauma from the shooting. He's been raised by Cherica's mother, Saundra, ever since.

Rae was hit with several criminal charges -- but when the time came to turn himself into authorities, he infamously ran like the coward he is. He was later found hiding in the trunk of a car in Tennessee.

Carruth was ultimately convicted of conspiracy to commit murder, attempting to destroy an unborn child and discharging a firearm into occupied property.

He was sentenced to 18 to 24 years in prison.

Carruth -- now 44 years old -- told WBTV in a recent interview he's "excited" to get out of prison but nervous about how he'll be received by the public, acknowledging there is "so much hate and negativity toward me."

Derek Jeter ain't got time to sit on a throne anymore -- dude DOES have a baseball team to run these days -- so now you can ... if you've got NEARLY $15 MILLION LAYING AROUND!!!

The Yankees legend is parting ways with an 11,000-square-foot castle in New York that he used as a summer vacation home when he was a kid.

It used to belong to his grandpa ... but Jeter bought the Greenwood Lake place way back in 2002 -- 'cause, well, it's a dope castle.

Jeets is pretty busy now as a part-owner of the Miami Marlins ... and he says he just doesn't have time for the 6-bedroom, 4-kitchen palace anymore -- so it can be all yours, for a pretty penny.

Derek's asking for $14.75 MILLION, according to TopTenRealEstateDeals.com ... and if you wanna know what you get for that -- it comes with a game room, a sunroom, a gym, a bar -- AND A TURRET!!!

Talk about great protection ... a TMT bodyguard tells TMZ Sports he'd straight-up box anybody -- INCLUDING BRUCE LEE -- if he had to, to protect Floyd Mayweather.

The Money Team defender's name is Jizzy Mack -- one of Floyd's longtime protectors -- and he tells us it doesn't matter who's comin' after Mayweather ... he's ready to be there to stop them.

"Whether it's Khabib, whether it's Conor, whether it's Bruce Lee, I don't care," he tells us ... "I'm coming at you."

Of course ... this whole discussion kicked off because Floyd's angling to fight Khabib -- and Khabib, after UFC 229, is now known for taking things just a little too far.

So, when we asked Jizzy what he'd do if Nurmagomedov and his crew tried to pull that same stunt on Floyd -- he says it'd get violent in a hurry.

"At the end of the day, my job is to protect Floyd. And, if they're all about that life, they can get it if they want to."

BTW ... if Floyd does eventually get in the ring with Khabib -- you can bet Jizzy's throwin' down cash on it -- 'cause he says he's put AT LEAST $100k on EVERY Floyd fight.

Winnie Harlow and Wiz Khalifa have been projecting their relationship on us for months now with signs and gestures -- but none are more clear than this one ... they're dating.

The Canadian supermodel was spotted holding hands with the Pittsburgh MC Saturday night as they were leaving the Staples Center in L.A., following the Lakers' loss against the Rockets ... and a nasty brawl that'd broken out between the two teams.

BTW ... Wiz's ex-wife, Amber Rose, gave her blessing to the new pair last month, saying she thought Winnie was a "f****** sweetheart," but noting she wasn't sure if Winnie had met Amber and Wiz's kid, Sebastian, yet.

Also worth noting ... their fashion-statement-making outfits. Winnie wore a full-body Fendi outfit, while Wiz was out there rockin' purple and yellow (not 'Black and Yellow').

It was fight night at the Staples Center when players from the Los Angeles Lakers and Houston Rockets got into an intense fist fight ... marring the hometown debut of LeBron James.

It all went down Saturday night late in the 4th quarter. Lakers forward, Brandon Ingram, shoved Rockets Guard, James Harden, for which Ingram received a technical foul. Moments later, Houston PG, Chris Paul and Lakers PG Rajon Rondo began trading punches.

It is unclear why Ingram shoved Harden in the first place ... he was visibly upset and took out his frustrations on the ref after being called for the shove. The shoving continued between Rondo and Paul before Rondo threw a punch, igniting the fight.

Chris Paul, Rajon Rondo and Brandon Ingram are sure to be socked with suspensions.

LeBron says he tried his best to calm things down and he didn't speak to his team after the game.

Nick Diaz says Canelo Alvraez is fighting BUMS -- and if he wants a REAL superfight, Oscar De La Hoya needs to call him, ASAP.

He's not joking -- telling TMZ Sports, "Let's be real. Canelo moving up to my weight? You ain't gonna win that fight."

Diaz says he's sparred with top-flight boxers like Andre Ward, and honestly believes he can compete and defeat Canelo, widely regarded as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the world.

"You're just basically one of them little guys I spar before I fight," Diaz says ... adding, "Nothing personal. Motherf**ker don't speak English so he ain't knowing what I'm saying anyway."

So, we went to Oscar -- Canelo's promoter -- to ask if there's a chance he'd make it happen.

Oscar ain't exactly saying "no."

If you thought Alberto Del Rio was getting back in the cage for clout ... THINK AGAIN!!! 'Cause the ex-WWE superstar tells TMZ Sports he's ready to whoop some serious ass in his MMA comeback!!

The 41-year-old announced his decision to return to MMA for Combate Americas earlier this month ... and he's eyeing a fight in 2019.

ICYMI -- ADR had been in the news for other reasons over the past year -- he had a very public breakup with Paige and was investigated for domestic violence after an airport incident (he was cleared of any wrongdoing).

Alberto says he's been humbled by those incidents ... and that's what got him back in the gym training like a madman.

"For the first time after 19 years, I started doing some sparring with my boxing coach, with my jiu-jitsu coach and I was like, 'damn, I think I can do this again.'"

Del Rio says he even questioned if he'd be able to compete on a professional level again ... but he's not giving up for good reason.

Start fillin' out your March Madness brackets RIGHT NOW ... 'cause Carlos Boozer says Zion Williamson's Duke squad is the team to beat this season ... and the competition ain't even close!!

TMZ Sports spoke with the former Blue Devil about Duke's chances at winning it all ... and he says Zion, R.J. Barrett and Coach K are a lethal combo that'll be a BIG problem for the rest of the NCAA.

"I can't think of any other team that's on the same level with their athletes," Boozer says.

Booz says Zion is "one of the best athletes you've ever seen" ... and teaming up with Barrett -- the projected no. 1 overall pick in next year's NBA draft -- will make them unstoppable.

Look ... we get what you're thinking. Booz oozes Duke blue ... but college allegiances aside, he's probably right.

Don't get your hopes up when it comes to seeing Floyd Mayweather box Khabib ... 'cause the fight is NEVER HAPPENING -- so says ex-UFC star Brendan Schaub.

We got the UFC fighter-turned-MMA analyst out at LAX ... and dude wouldn't even let our photog finish his question about a possible Nurmagomedov-Floyd tilt.

"Stop it," Brendan tells TMZ Sports ... "It's never happening. It's never happening."

"It's not happening. EVER."

Why's Schaub so confident about that??

"Khabib's not a striker!!!!!!!"

Khabib feels otherwise -- he's bragged about putting Conor McGregor on his ass with an overhand right during their fight at UFC 229.

Of course ... all this Khabib-Floyd talk has gotten real recently 'cause Mayweather told us the fight is 100 percent going down.

Halloween is creeping up and that means it's time to start pimping those pumpkins! We've put together some scary good celebrity stencils that'll make for a few gourd-eous pumpkins!

From Tiffany Haddish and Post Malone to LeBron James and Hailey Baldwin we've pumped up our star-studded stencils for your carving please.

Step 1: Scroll through our celebrity stencils.

Step 2: Pick one out that'll impress the trick-or-treaters.

Step 3: Use the link in the captions to download and print out an easy-to-use-PDF template.

Sorry, fight fans ... Floyd Mayweather's making it clear -- the Manny Pacquiao tilt is off.

"I don't give a f*** about what's going on with Pacquiao," Floyd tells TMZ Sports.

Remember ... Floyd was singing a little different tune just a few weeks ago -- when he said, "I'm coming back to fight Manny Pacquiao this year another 9 figure pay day on the way."

But, Floyd tells us that's now off, saying, "We not going to make that happen right now. Not right now. We must take that fight and let that fight build. And then, down the line, let that fight happen."

So, what happened??

Mayweather says it's kinda complicated ... but, basically, since Pacman's now signed with Floyd's manager, Al Haymon -- they wanna go a different route.

"I think the best fight for Pacquiao -- what I told Al Haymon -- was probably the Adrien Broner fight. And then we got Errol Spence and Terence Crawford."

In the meantime ... Floyd seems sure as hell set on getting in the ring with Khabib and/or Conor McGregor.

Anderson Silva has a message for Conor McGregor -- FORGET A REMATCH WITH KHABIB and fight ME instead!

Remember, before UFC 229 earlier this month ... Conor told reporters he'd be interested in a superfight with Silva after he got through Khabib Nurmagomedov.

Obviously, the loss put a wrench in Conor's plan -- but Silva says he's still down to scrap as soon as Conor is ready to get back in the Octagon.

"I just waiting," Silva told us outside his new Spider Kick MMA gym in West Hollywood ... "I accept the challenge for Conor."

Silva says it makes perfect sense for Dana White -- "Two big names. Two big legends. And, why not?"

"It's not about money, Conor. It's about martial arts challenge."

If that can't happen, Silva says he'd still love another crack at Nick Diaz -- since their first fight in 2015 was essentially scrapped from the books, because they both tested positive for banned substances.

As for Spider's new gym, Silva says he's created a new elite facility to pass along all of his fight knowledge -- and it looks AWESOME!!!

Move over Khabib, Conor and Floyd ... Cody Garbrandt wants in on the MMA-boxing crossover action -- and he's callin' out Manny Pacquiao!!!

We got Cody outside of Mastro's with Russell Peters and Chuck Zito ... talkin' everything from Mike Tyson training Khabib to Nurmagomedov's chances against Mayweather in a ring.

But, then Peters brought up a dream fight for Cody -- a boxing match with Pacquiao ... and, turns out, Garbrandt's ALL FOR IT!!!

"I would love that fight, yeah, I would love that."

Cody tells us it wouldn't just be a money grab ... dude says he has a legit boxing background -- and seems confident he could take Manny!