TMZ Sports - Page 50

Earnest Byner says he's in favor of the Browns giving Kareem Hunt a second chance ... IF the ex-Chiefs superstar and the team can show he's a changed man.

TMZ Sports spoke with the ex-Brown shortly after Cleveland inked the troubled RB ... and he says BOTH Hunt and the team have to show more for him to accept the controversial signing.

Byner -- who trained with Hunt before the draft -- tells us he wants to see if Kareem has "gone through a process of development" before he throws his support behind the move.

Don't get it twisted ... Earnest says he's all in favor of second chances -- he just believes what Kareem did to a female in an altercation at a Cleveland hotel last year was unacceptable.

"We don't support the violence against women. Okay? That will never happen. That should not be."

For their part ... both general manager John Dorsey and Hunt himself issued statements insisting the running back has learned his lesson.

"What I did was wrong and inexcusable," Hunt said Monday.

Wanna see the best high school dunker you've never heard of??

Good ... 'cause cameras captured Eric Gaines in a regional championship game this weekend -- and the dude can FLY!!!!

He's just 6'1", 140 pounds ... but 18-year-old Gaines took over for his Lithonia H.S. squad in a game in Georgia this weekend -- dunking on EVERYBODY.

Gaines threw down a few monster slams that woulda made Zion Williamson jealous ... even, at one point, cocking back a tomahawk that he slammed on some poor kid's head.

Bad news for Eric ... Lithonia still lost the regional championship game he was playing in, 61-59, in overtime.

Good news for Eric ... we're pretty sure you're gonna see him on a DI court sometime soon.

Gaines -- who's still a junior -- says he's got an offer from Georgia State ... but has been hearing from other schools like Georgia and Florida State as well.

Former NBA star Al Harrington says some nights in his NBA career were better than others ... and those are the nights he was guarded by white guys because on those nights he could do "something special."

Harrington -- who played 15 years in the NBA and averaged close to 14 points a game for his career -- appeared on "Van Lathan's The Red Pill" podcast and talked about his life.

Most of the conversation was about Al's Viola Lifestyle cannabis brand which he thinks will change the world (no one knows more about weed) but eventually, the conversation turned to the NBA.

When asked if Al felt any difference when he was up against white players versus black players, Harrington kept it all the way real.

"I might have that look in my eye with them ... I feel like Imma do something special."

Before you jump down Al's throat, he's not the first guy to say it ... Larry Bird, patron saint of the white hooper actually said in an interview he'd get INSULTED if an opposing team put a white dude on him.

Blake Griffin's dog is a violent menace -- so says an L.A. man who claims the Detroit Pistons star's pooch bit the crap out of him at a fancy restaurant ... and now he's suing.

The man behind the suit is Emmanuel Aframian -- who claims he was dining at A Votre Sante restaurant back in June 2018 when Griffin's "vicious" dog attacked him out of nowhere.

Aframian says he suffered real injuries from the attack which required expensive medical care -- and he thinks Griffin should have to cover all the bills ... plus other damages.

And, Aframian says Blake KNEW his dog had a history of biting random people -- so he should have taken proper steps to make sure he protected the public from his ferocious canine.

He's also going after the restaurant -- saying it had a duty to protect customers.

Aside from physical injuries, Aframian says he's also suffered -- and continues to suffer -- from "severe emotional harm."

FYI, Griffin signed a $171 MILLION contract extension in 2018.

Detroit Lions general manager Bob Quinn says his team DID consider signing Kareem Hunt ... but ultimately passed, saying, "I want good people in this organization."

The Lions brass held a Q&A session for season-ticket holders at Ford Field on Monday ... when Quinn opened up to a fan on why Kareem is in a Browns jersey now and not a Lions one.

Bob didn't hold back ... saying the troubled RB did NOT fit the mold of the kind of player they want on their team.

"We talked about it internally and he’s a player that we didn’t feel comfortable bringing to the Lions for numerous issues."

"I stand by that. That’s my word. I want good players and I want good people in this organization.”

Of course, Browns GM John Dorsey seems to disagree ... after signing Kareem on Monday he said, "Given what we know about Kareem through our extensive research, we believe he deserves a second chance."

Antonio Brown was found guilty in his reckless driving case -- stemming from a November incident when cops say the NFL star was doing 100 MPH in his Porsche.

Remember, cops in Pittsburgh were responding to a bank robbery on Nov. 8 when they saw a black Porsche racing away from the scene.

Cops gave chase and pulled the car over -- but it wasn't a bank robber, it was Brown, who was cited for reckless driving and ordered to appear in court.

Brown did NOT show up to court Tuesday and therefore did not fight the charges. The judge has ordered him to pay roughly $400 in fines and other fees. He has 30 days to appeal the case.

The Pittsburgh Steelers star is in the middle of a $68 MILLION contract -- it's peanuts to him.

U.S. Congressman Hank Johnson says it's a "grave injustice" that Kareem Hunt is getting a second chance in the NFL before Colin Kaepernick.

Hunt was signed to a 1-year deal by the Cleveland Browns on Monday -- mere months after TMZ Sports posted video showing Hunt getting violent with a woman in an Ohio hotel.

The Chiefs cut Kareem almost immediately ... and when we got Rep. Johnson in D.C. he told us he's blown away that Hunt got his second chance so fast, and Kap is still waiting.

"When I think about Colin Kaepernick and him being blackballed from the NFL for taking a knee for protesting social injustice but yet people who are accused of crimes get cut and then resigned quickly, something is wrong with that."

Johnson doesn't stop there, saying a reasonable person could think that the NFL cares less about violence against women then they do about someone standing up for a political cause.

Clippers stud Montrezl Harrell took policing loud-mouth fans into his own hands again Monday ... telling a courtside heckler to "shut the f*ck up, now!"

It all went down at the L.A.-Timberwolves game in Minnesota ... when Harrell's Clips were getting ribbed by some guy with floor seats at the free-throw line.

Montrezl wasn't in the mood to hear it ... and turned to the dude and screamed, "Be a fan, bro. Sit over there and be a fan. Shut the f*ck up, now!"

It ain't the first time Harrell's gone after a heckler ... back in December, he threatened to "smack the sh*t out" of some guy who was chirping at him on the way to the locker room.

Of course, Harrell's one of MANY who have had incidents with fans this season ... guys like Kevin Durant and Blake Griffin have hit back hard at smack-talking guys in the stands.

Doesn't seem the clapbacks are ending anytime soon ... but if anybody wants to learn how to calmly deal with the situation -- don't forget Julius Randle's advice!!!

Floyd Mayweather says he doesn't give a DAMN about the Gucci boycott -- telling TMZ Sports no one tells him what to do or what to buy ... and that's why he dropped a FORTUNE at the store Monday night.

The boxer -- along with his entire TMT crew -- rolled into Gucci in Bev Hills ... and when we told him about all of the stars calling for a Gucci ban over a sweatshirt that resembled blackface, Floyd scoffed.

"I'm not no follower, I do what the f*ck I wanna do," Floyd told us.

When we told Floyd that stars like T.I. and Spike Lee would be upset with him, Floyd laughed.

"You said they're gonna be upset with me? I love it, I love it, I love it. See, the thing is this, I live for myself. I do what I want to do."

Outside the store, Floyd and his crew showed off a BUNCH of bags filled with Gucci -- dropping a fortune on clothing and accessories.

"I'm not a follower," Floyd added ... "You know when everybody else they say, 'Everybody gonna boycott?' I say guess what, this boy gonna get on a yacht and live life."

"We all know racism still exists but that's not gonna stop my drive. I've got friends from all walks of life and to me of course, black lives matter first ... but my thing is this, I'm gonna continue to go out there live life and be happy."

He added, "Half of the people that's on social media saying, 'Don't wear this, don't wear that,' I ain't never seen none of them supporting The Money Team."

After the Gucci run, Floyd -- flanked by his bodyguards Jizzy Mack and Badou -- went over to Neiman Marcus -- where the store stayed open past the normal closing time so Floyd could shop.

Mayweather tells us he dropped $200-300k at Neiman. Good times.

You don't think the people at Fortnite were gonna back down from a fight, did you?

TMZ has learned Epic Games has loaded up their metaphorical Battle Bus to go to war with 2 Milly, the rapper who claims the video game stole his signature Milly Rock dance move.

Remember, 2 Milly sued Epic Games back in December for copyright infringement claiming ownership of the Milly Rock, which Fortnite players can use to celebrate a victory on the virtual battlefield.

But, Epic says they have done nothing wrong -- because 1) No one can own a dance step. And, 2) The dance in Fortnite is different than the Milly Rock.

Epic's argument isn't too complex -- they claim copyright law does NOT allow people to own individual dance steps and simple dance routines because they are "building blocks of free expression."

The other argument ... Fortnite claims their characters aren't even doing the Milly Rock, but rather a similar dance called the Swipe It ... which is a slower version of the M.R.

Future bailed on a performance at Clive Davis' pre-Grammys party at the last minute -- maybe not coincidentally, considering Ciara and Russell Wilson were front and center at the event.

Eyewitnesses at Clive's Beverly Hilton bash Saturday night -- which was a who's who of Hollywood event ahead of Sunday's award show -- confirm Future was booked to perform, but hightailed it when his team realized his ex-fiancee and her new hubby were in the front row.

Our sources -- who were present during the exchange -- say someone in Future's camp accused the event organizers of being "messy" by having Ciara and Russ there, and said their guy wouldn't perform. We're told Future was briefed about it outside, and then dipped.

HollywoodLife first reported Future's departure. Now, there's another side to this story -- sources close to Future tell us he didn't bail because of Ciara or RW.

Our Future sources say the show was behind schedule by nearly an hour, and he and his team were instructed to shorten his performance significantly, which, we're told, Future wasn't down with. We're told he had no idea Ciara or Russ was there.

More car trouble for NFL wide receiver Terrance Williams -- this time, the repo man grabbed his flashy Dodge Hellcat ... and the pics are sad.

The Dallas Cowboys player bragged about his 2015 Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat years ago ... after he pimped it out with a custom purple and lime green, Joker-style paint job.

But, apparently, the 29-year-old had some issues when it came to making payments -- because the repo man came calling this week in Texas ... and hooked it up to a tow truck.

Interesting, considering Williams has reportedly made close to $13 MILLION during his 6-year NFL career.

We reached out to Terrance's camp for comment -- so far, no word back.

It's not the first time Williams has had drama with a flashy whip -- dude's bright blue $200k Lambo smashed into a light pole in Texas back in May 2018.

Despite the fact cops found the key to the car in Williams' pocket -- he denied being behind the wheel at the time of the crash. He was arrested for public intoxication in that case (because cops saw him drunkenly biking to the crash scene) ... but, that charge was later dismissed.

Kareem Hunt deserved a second chance in the NFL and it's GOOD the Browns signed him Monday ... so say 2 NFL players, who tell TMZ Sports they're happy for the RB.

We got Titans TE Jonnu Smith and Eagles DB Jeremiah McKinnon out in L.A. just hours after Cleveland inked the ex-Chiefs star ... and both say they're glad the deal went down.

"I think it's good, man, that he got another opportunity," Jonnu says ... "Everybody makes mistakes. I'm just glad the NFL is giving guys second chances."

Added Jeremiah, "We're just glad he got a second chance."

Remember, Kansas City shockingly cut the superstar in November after TMZ Sports posted a video showing him getting violent with a woman in a Cleveland hotel.

Hunt apologized almost immediately after ... and has said he's undergoing treatment for alcohol and anger management to make sure similar incidents never happen again.

The Browns clearly think he's done enough to earn another job in the NFL ... 'cause they signed him to a reported 1-year deal -- with GM John Dorsey saying, "Given what we know about Kareem through our extensive research, we believe he deserves a second chance."

Everything associated with the New England Patriots is getting another Super Bowl ring ... including Bill Belichick's famous boat!!!

ICYMI ... Bill's owned a little fishing vessel for years -- and it's always been named after the number of Super Bowl rings he's accumulated.

So ... yeah, the thing's undergone new paint jobs A LOT.

It didn't take long for Bill to update it once again after the Pats' win over the Rams ... 'cause 8 days after SB53, it was spotted on the docks with a new name -- "VIII Rings"!!!

Of course, Bill won two Super Bowls with the Giants as an assistant under Bill Parcells in 1987 and 1991 ... and he's now got SIX as head man of the Pats.

BTW ... The Hoody definitely knows how to get down on a boat ... remember when he took this epic nap on the water with his smokin' hot GF in 2017??

Notre Dame wide receiver Javon McKinley was arrested Sunday morning after cops say he drunkenly tried to fight TWO officers, one of whom is a woman ... according to court docs obtained by TMZ Sports.

McKinley was a STUD coming out of high school a few years back -- where he shattered many California single-season records. He had 91 catches for 1,906 and 20 TDs as a junior!

But, the 20-year-old is now in major hot water after cops say he battered 2 officers in a drunken attack.

According to court records, Notre Dame University Police officers were dispatched to help out a male who had passed out in the back of an Uber at 3:50 AM.

The officers identified the man as McKinley and tried to help him to his dorm -- noting he reeked of booze.

But, cops say during the walk to his room, McKinley freaked out, punched a male and a female officer and tried to flee.

Cops eventually located McKinley and took him into custody with the help of ND firefighters.

Both officers claim McKinley injured them when he punched them.

Now, McKinley is facing 3 charges -- 2 counts of misdemeanor battery and 1 count of misdemeanor underage drinking.

He's due in court Tuesday to be arraigned.

A Super Bowl ring didn't come cheap for Patrick Chung ... the Pats DB broke his arm in the big game -- and needed surgery AND 23 stitches to fix it!!!

The New England stud got his forearm caught in between a teammate and Todd Gurley's back early in the third quarter of the Pats' win over the Rams ... and his arm broke in half.

It looked gnarly ... his arm wiggled like Jell-O when he fell off the pile -- but, the guy said last Friday that the surgery was a success.

And, on Monday ... Chung revealed the aftermath of going under the knife -- and it wasn't pretty.

Dude's got a scar that runs from his wrist to his elbow ... and says it's held together by 23 stitches!!!