TMZ Sports - Page 50

Pat Bowlen -- the longtime owner of the Denver Broncos who helped the team win THREE Super Bowls -- has died at 75.

The Broncos announced Friday the Hall of Famer passed away late Thursday night following his battle with Alzheimer's disease.

Bowlen is one of the most successful team owners in sports history ... he bought the Broncos back in 1984 and helped SEVEN different rosters make the Super Bowl.

Pat's Broncos also averaged more than 10 wins per season in his 35-year tenure as Broncos' owner.

"We are saddened to inform everyone that our beloved husband and father, Pat Bowlen, passed on to the next chapter of his life late Thursday night peacefully at home surrounded by family," his family said in a statement released by the team.

"His soul will live on through the Broncos, the city of Denver and all of our fans."

Pat -- who stepped down from his day-to-day role as owner of the Broncos in 2014 because of his battle with Alzheimer's -- is most famously known for his relationship with John Elway.

After Elway won his first Super Bowl with the Broncos in the 1997 season ... Pat famously grabbed the Lombardi Trophy and said, "This one's for John!"

Of course, about 20 years later -- after Elway won Super Bowl 50 as Denver's general manager -- he said, "This one's for Pat!"

Bowlen was just named a Hall of Famer this year ... and will be officially inducted at a ceremony in Canton, Ohio this summer.

“Our family wishes to express its sincere gratitude for the outpouring of support we have received in recent years," Pat's family said ... "Heaven got a little bit more orange and blue tonight."

Dominican Republic prosecutors have released new video that shows a different angle of a man shooting David Ortiz in the back ... as well as the motorcycle crash that followed the attack.

Prosecutors say 25-year-old Rolfi Ferreira Cruz and several others were paid around $8,000 to try to kill Big Papi in the D.R. last Sunday night.

Officials say the plan involved two cars and a motorcycle ... and they allege the new video they released late Wednesday shows the whole scene.

You can see in the vid ... two men arrive on the scene riding the same motorcycle, when one gets off near the nightclub that Ortiz is partying at.

The guy casually strolls up the sidewalk ... and then pulls out a gun and fires on the Red Sox legend's back. He then takes off, and gets back on the motorcycle with another man.

But, the new video shows the two men crashed to the pavement just yards away from the shooting ... with one of the men able to flee the scene.

Of course, the other man wasn't able to make a break for it ... getting caught by bystanders and then beaten to a pulp.

D.R. officials say they've arrested six men total in the plot to kill Ortiz so far ... and say there is still at least one man on the run.

As for Ortiz ... his wife, Tiffany, said in a statement Thursday, "David remains in guarded condition in the surgical intensive care following his second surgery. He continues to heal and make progress."

** WARNING -- THIS THE GROSSEST THING YOU WILL SEE ALL DAY!!! **

SERIOUSLY ... IT'S SUPER GRAPHIC. YOU SEE BLOOD AND BONE AND A METAL ROD.

IF YOU'RE EATING ... PUT DOWN THE CHALUPA!!!

Okay ... breathe. Focus.

These are intensely graphic pictures from Paige VanZant's arm surgery -- where a metal rod was reinserted into her right forearm.

Remember, Paige initially jacked up the arm during her Jan. 2018 fight when she tried to hit Jessica Rose-Clark with a spinning back fist ... and caught her with the forearm instead.

She had two surgeries since but the arm still isn't 100% so she went under the knife again Thursday for another procedure in hopes of fixing it once and for all.

But, Paige loves to shock her audience and decided to go public with the in-surgery photos of the procedure -- which show the metal stabilizing rod being implanted next to her radius and ulna.

So, if you're a freak and enjoy looking at gross and graphic pics ... YOU'RE GONNA LOVE THIS!!!

Tyson Fury says he NEVER signed a contract for a rematch with Deontay Wilder -- saying the Bronze Bomber is simply lying about the deal because "he sucks."

Remember, on May 31 ... Wilder put out a video promoting Wilder vs. Fury II -- and said on social media, "All contracts have been signed." Deontay also spoke with TMZ Sports about the rematch.

So, when we spoke with Fury on Thursday we were shocked when he called BS on Wilder's claims.

"I've signed nothing," Fury says ... "Not that I'm aware of unless someone signed it for me, which is illegal."

So, why would Wilder make that public statement? Fury has a theory ...

"Cause he sucks, that's why ... and he's trying to get some fame off of my back."

We're reaching out to Wilder to get his side of the story.

Meanwhile, Fury is gearing up for his next match against 24-0 German heavyweight Tom Schwarz -- a 25-year-old phenom who happens to be 6'5" and 241 pounds.

Fury is a HEAVY favorite in the June 15 fight on ESPN+ but Tyson tells us Schwarz has a shot to be the next Andy Ruiz ... the underdog who shocked the world by upsetting undefeated Anthony Joshua.

Fury says Schwarz is no bum -- and he would never underestimate the guy.

"We've all seen the best heavyweights in the world get chinned now and again don't we?"

"[Wladimir Klitschko] was the best heavyweight in the world until I spanked him all over Germany."

Of course, Klitschko was a heavy favorite when he fought Fury back in 2015 -- but Tyson came out victorious ... ending Wlad's decade-long reign as heavyweight champ.

Remember that adorable puppy the St. Louis Blues adopted during the season and occasionally let loose on the ice??

... LOOK AT HIM NOW, HE'S ALL GROWN UP AND HE'S A CHAMPION!!!

If you're unfamiliar ... the Blues picked up Barclay, a Labrador Retriever, way back when he was the cutest puppy ever in October.

They let him skate around ... they played with him ... and adorable times were had by all.

But, turns out, the good boy ended up being a good luck charm ... because he helped the Blues' win the Stanley Cup for the first time in franchise history Wednesday night!!!

Now, STL is rewarding Barclay for the good job he did this season ... giving him a championship hat -- and lobbying for his name to be inscribed on Lord Stanley!

"Hey @NHL," the Blues wrote on Twitter on Thursday ... "Barclay was wondering if he gets his name on the Cup, too?"

Of course, Barclay won't be with the team for too much longer ... they say they're training him to be a service dog that will eventually leave the team to help people in need.

Sad he won't be around the ice anymore? Here's some photos of baby Barclay that'll cheer you up ...

AWWWWWWWW!!!!!!!!!!!!!

U.S. soccer legend Cobi Jones LOVES the fact the U.S. Women's National Team racked up 13 goals against Thailand ... and says the criticism they're getting is a bunch of crap.

The U.S. women have been under fire from people who accused the team of bad sportsmanship for running up the score and celebrating every single goal.

So, when we saw Cobi -- one of the most famous U.S. soccer players of all time -- we asked if he thought the team took things too far.

"I don't think it's bad sportsmanship," Jones told TMZ Sports in L.A. ... "I don't think any of the celebrations were directed toward the other team. [They weren't] running over to their bench or getting in the face of the other players. It was all internal meant for them and their group."

Jones says the downside to such a dominant performance is there will be a bunch of new HATERS who want to see the U.S. lose ... because "We tend to root against the winners."

Still, Cobi says he wants to see Alex Morgan and company keep their feet on the gas ... saying, "Keep scoring goals! Celebrate! It's the World Cup!"

Team USA takes on Chile on Sunday ... where the Americans are currently favored by 4.5 goals.

Common is sick and tired of watching female athletes get TRASHED by "sexist" sports fans who hold the women to a completely different standard than their male counterparts ... and he's calling for it to end.

The rapper/actor/social activist was at LAX sporting a shirt that reads, "Love Her" -- so we asked about the U.S. Women's National Team getting no love from people upset with their 13-0 victory over Thailand.

Some critics have called the team classless for celebrating after some of the late goals -- and accused the team of unnecessarily running up the score against an obviously outmatched opponent.

But, Common says we should be CELEBRATING the women and lifting them up for their accomplishments instead of looking for ways to put them down.

"If they felt like celebrating then they celebrated," Common explained ... "They worked hard to get there. If they celebrated, that's okay."

Common also says this latest round of criticism is nothing new -- saying "the whole country has been sexist" when it comes to sports ... adding, "We just gotta erase that whole mentality."

He also compared the plight of female athletes to black athletes -- saying they face similar unfair criticism from the masses.

David Ortiz's wife is shouting out the man who raced the MLB star to the hospital -- crashing his own car in the process -- in the wake of Sunday's assassination attempt in the Dominican Republic.

"I want to take this opportunity to offer our heartfelt thanks and gratitude to Eliezer Salvador, owner of Presidente Sports, for your quick thinking and swift action on Sunday night," Tiffany Ortiz said in a statement.

"Your heroism and selflessness were the first steps to ensuring David could get the urgent care he required. For that we are eternally grateful."

Salvador runs a sports betting firm in the D.R. and was at the scene when Big Papi was shot Sunday night. When Ortiz went down, Salvador quickly put the legend in his own car and raced to the hospital because he didn't want to wait for an ambulance.

Salvador says he raced at speeds of over 100 MPH and made the trip in under 7 minutes. He later made a social media video showing that he had David's jewelry so the family wouldn't worry.

Tiffany says the quick-thinking decision may have saved David's life.

Ortiz's wife also gave props to the doctors who worked on David.

"To the amazing surgeons, medical team, and staff at the Abel Gonzalez Clinic in the Dominican Republic, there are no words to express our gratitude for the amazing care you provided."

'Without you, our story could have had a tragic ending. You will forever be our guardian angels."

As for David's condition ...

"David remains in guarded condition in the surgical intensive care following his second surgery. He continues to heal and make progress."

"It would be a crime for them to take the foot off the gas!"

That's Eagles superstar Zach Ertz -- whose wife, Julie, is a stud on the US Women's National Team -- going scorched earth on soccer critics who say Americans ran up the score on Thailand!!

If ya missed it ... Alex Morgan and the U.S. ladies went OFF on the Thai team earlier this week in their World Cup opener -- piling on 13 goals in a shutout win.

The slaughter was met with backlash from fans all over the globe ... saying the USWNT shouldn't have run up the score so badly on such an inferior squad.

Enter Ertz ... who said to a group of reporters at his locker Wednesday that his wife and her teammates did absolutely nothing wrong -- and, in fact, should have kept scoring more!!!

"The first tie-breaker in the World Cup in the group stage is goal differential. So, it would be a crime for them to take the foot off the gas and then finish second in the group because they took the foot off the gas."

As for all the celebrating after the goals -- even when it was clear the U.S. team had won?? Ertz says he was fine with that too, saying it builds great team chemistry!!

For their part, the women have defended their actions ... with Morgan saying to ESPN on Wednesday, "I think it's disrespectful if we don't show up and give our best and play our game for 90 minutes."

Who chugs Pappy Van Winkle straight from the bottle!?!?!

... STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS DO!!!!

Just ask St. Louis Blues center Robby Fabbri -- who grabbed a bottle of the ultra-rare Pappy Van Winkle rye and slammed it right after beating the brakes off the Boston Bruins!

FYI, Pappy Van Winkle products are the most sought-after whiskeys in the world ... a bottle of PVW Rye can run you about $1,200 -- and that's if you can even find one in the first place!!!!

Most people sip this stuff by the glass ... and that ain't cheap either!

But screw it, it's the Cup and Fabbri was ready to party!

Back in the locker room, the players went crazy too -- and even took a low key shot at the Bruins by playing "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" by the Dropkick Murphys as they poured beers into the trophy.

It was a quick party for the Blues ... they hopped on the plane to get back to the fans with the shiny, new hardware ... and the Blues supporters lost their minds.

Bunch of people at a bar in Charlottesville, Virginia took it all the way back to 1994 this week ... when Dwyane Wade took over the stage on karaoke night and busted out "Candy Rain."

You remember the song ... it was Soul For Real's biggest hit back in the day (hit #2 on the Billboard Hot 100) ... produced by Heavy D and written by Ali Shaheed Muhammad from A Tribe Called Quest.

In other words, it's a classic!!!

So, when D-Wade and his friends were in town for a youth basketball tournament, the retired NBA superstar decided to hit up Rapture Restaurant and provide some musical entertainment ... and the crowd loved it!

At one point, the other guy on stage is calling for someone in the crowd to come up -- someone he refers to as "Drizzy" and "Drake" ... but from what we're told, it wasn't the superstar rapper Drake.

Still, enjoy the clip ... and here's the original song if you're in the mood to jam.

St. Louis Blues fans went absolutely bonkers after winning the first title in franchise history ... hitting the streets and attacking anything with wheels!!

The Blues finished off the Boston Bruins in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final ... and the fans flooded the streets and hit the roofs of OCCUPIED cars to celebrate ... and tried their best to knock over a golf cart.

The fans kept the party going all night ... which is a great thing, 'cause the players showed up early Thursday morning with their new friend, Lord Stanley!!

The Blues players wasted no time getting back to the home crowd, celebrating in the locker room briefly before hoppin' on their jet and flying to St. Louis.

But don't worry, they also had their fun on the ice as well before going home ... Robby Fabbri was CHUGGING whiskey straight out of the bottle like a boss.

Team captain Alex Pietrangelo showed off the trophy while the fans went crazy ... despite it being 4:30 in the morning.

Here's an insanely human moment from a dude who's about to become a god ... MLB great Edgar Martinez says he's been thinking about his HOF speech, and he's freakin' nervous.

Martinez was a 7-time All-Star, a 2-time batting champ (he had 2,247 hits and 309 HR's), and never saw a pitch he feared during his career, but when we got him out in NYC he admitted he's shook when it comes to public speaking.

"For some reason, public speaking is not that easy. It's not something you do constantly every day."

Edgar says the dread hasn't quite set in yet but told our guy the fear gets a little more real the closer he gets to Hall of Fame induction day next month.

We gotta say ... EM talked with our guy for a while and did a fantastic job -- and seeing as our cameras reach millions of people, this was really kinda like a dry run that he nailed.

Induction day is July 21 ... which is right around the corner, Edgar. We know you got this.

3:32 PM PT -- Dominican Republic police have released the mug shot of the man they say shot Big Papi, 25-year-old Rolfi Ferreira Cruz.

D.R. officials also announced they have now arrested SIX total people in connection with the attack on Ortiz ... and say there is at least 1 other suspect still on the run.

The man who allegedly shot David Ortiz has been arrested ... officials announced Wednesday -- saying the shooter, along with 5 other suspects, were paid 400,000 pesos to kill Big Papi.

As we previously reported, Ortiz was shot in the back on Sunday night as he was sitting in an outside patio area of a popular Dominican Republic nightclub.

D.R. cops say two young men drove up to the scene on a motorcycle ... when one of them got off to fire a single bullet into the Red Sox legend's lower back.

Cops say the guys tried to flee the scene on the bike afterward ... but when it fell to the pavement -- they tried to make a run for it on foot.

One of the guys -- the alleged shooter -- was able to escape ... but the other suspect, Eddy Vladimir Feliz Garcia, was beaten to a pulp on the scene by bystanders before he was handed over to cops.

Now, D.R. officials are saying they've caught the suspected shooter and arrested him ... and have also detained 3 additional people they say contributed to the ambush.

Officials say 6 total individuals were paid 400,000 pesos (the equivalent of $8K) to kill Ortiz in what they believe was a highly-orchestrated attack.

They say the ambush involved 2 vehicles and 1 motorcycle ... and announced 5 of the suspects are now in custody, but one remains at large.

A motive has yet to be determined.

During the press conference, officials also presented the gun they believe was used to shoot Ortiz.

Big Papi underwent surgery late Sunday night to repair the damage the bullet caused ... with surgeons saying they needed to remove his gallbladder and parts of his intestines.

David underwent a second procedure on Monday night after he returned back to Boston.

In a statement released Wednesday by Ortiz's wife, Tiffany Ortiz, she said, "His condition is guarded and he will remain in the ICU for the coming days, but he is making good progress towards recovery."

The guy who's famously had multiple girlfriends at once just got a BIG ASS BED ... and we think we know why.

L.A. Clippers star Lou Williams showed off the new centerpiece of his master bedroom on Wednesday ... and the thing is big enough to fit like, 4 Shaquille O'Neals.

Williams captioned his IG pic with "California wasn’t big enough" ... and he wasn't lyin' -- the folks at MAREE tell us he got a bed 4-feet-wider and 3-feet-longer than a regular California King sized bed.

Now, remember ... it was revealed back in 2014 that Lou Will was running the triangle offense with 2 different women -- Ashley Henderson and Rece Mitchell -- who were cool with him spreading the love.

Unfortunately, Lou and Ashley broke up last year, but things are still going strong with Mitchell ... so if another girlfriend happens to come along, there will be plenty of room for her!!!

Kevin Durant just confirmed what everyone was hoping wouldn't be true -- he ruptured his Achilles in Game 5 of the Finals ... but made it clear he WANTED to play, despite still recovering from a calf injury.

The Warriors superstar posted a post-surgery pic on Wednesday ... saying everything went well and he's looking forward to the recovery process.

"Surgery was today and it was a success, EASY MONEY," Durant says.

"I got my family and my loved ones by my side and we truly appreciate all the messages and support people have sent our way."

KD's right calf popped during the 2nd quarter as Golden State took on the Toronto Raptors. There has been a lot of talk about whether KD should've even been on the court when the injury happened ... but he says it was his decision to play.

"Basketball is my biggest love and I wanted to be out there that night because that’s what I do. I wanted to help my teammates on our quest for the three peat."

KD says he gave it his all and is proud of his teammates for pulling out the win.

"It's going to be a journey but I'm built for this. I’m a hooper."

"I know my brothers can get this Game 6, and I will be cheering with dub nation while they do it."