TMZ Sports - Page 50

Everyone wants to know if Cleveland Indians superstar Francisco Lindor will sign a new deal to keep him in CLE after the 2021 season.

So, we asked him about that ... and this video could have Indians Nation super worried!

Here's the deal ... Lindor was out in NYC this weekend and was super nice to our camera guy and other fans, talking about everything MLB related.

He gave love to Cleveland and called it "my home" -- but when we pressed him about staying with the Indians long term ... well, that's when the cat got his tongue.

Watch the video ... Lindor is chatty about every other topic except when we specifically asked about his career in Cleveland.

Of course, Lindor -- who's one of the 10 best hitters in the sport -- has a very uncertain future in Cleveland ... Indians owner Paul Dolan has already hinted he ain't willing to give the shortstop the FAT contract extension he probably deserves.

In fact, Dolan famously said before this past season, "Enjoy him. We control him for three more years. Enjoy him and then we’ll see what happens."

So, is Lindor's silence speaking volumes ... or is this a big ol' nothingburger?

It's not just the Indians fans in our office feeling some sort of way ... and even the non-CLE crowd was shocked by the non-answer answer.

Nothing ruins a romantic vacation quite like diarrhea ...

Just ask golf superstar Rickie Fowler who says he came down with a terrible case of food poisoning while honeymooning with his smokin' hot wife, Allison Stokke.

Fowler and Stokke got married on Oct. 5 down in Mexico ... and to celebrate the nuptials, the two hopped on Puma's private jet and took a sick vacay to some remote beaches.

But, at some point near the end of the trip, Fowler caught Campylobacter jejuni -- a nasty strain of food poisoning -- and told Golfweek he was pretty miserable.

"It was not a fun stretch," Fowler said.

In case you didn't know ... the Center for Disease Control's description of Campylobacter jejuni is awful -- symptoms include "diarrhea (often bloody), fever, and abdominal cramps."

Yeah, not good.

Rickie says he's taking meds to get better ... but the 30-year-old was forced to pull out of this weekend's Mayakoba Golf Classic while he rests up.

It's a bummer for Fowler ... but hey, a lifetime of Stokke should be more than enough to make up for it!!!

The NY Knicks fan who started a "Fire James Dolan" chant at Madison Square Garden on Sunday was confronted by security, but we're told he was NOT ejected.

The chant broke out as the Knicks were getting crushed by the struggling Cleveland Cavaliers  -- and as everyone knows, owner James Dolan doesn't like being heckled.

In the past, he's thrown out and banned fans who have directed similar taunts his way.

The man claiming to be the heckler is Andrew J. Padilla -- who went to social media tell his side of the story.

"6 security guards just took me out my seat at Madison Square Garden for chanting 'fire Dolan,'" Padilla said.

"I was escorted to the basement where they told me I could go back so long as I followed the 'code of conduct' ... Aka Not chanting #FireDolan."

"I chose to leave and spend my money somewhere else."

There are reports Padilla was ejected from MSG and subsequently banned from coming back -- but our MSG sources are adamant that's just not true.

As one source put it, "No one was ejected last night from MSG for any reason."

TMZ Sports has previously posted video of Dolan personally ejecting hecklers in the past -- including an incident from March 2019.

Dolan also famously had a sideline altercation with Charles Oakley that led to the Knicks legend being banned from MSG for a year.

Oklahoma QB Jalen Hurts brought a special VIP guest to celebrate with the Sooners this weekend -- 12-year-old Rayden Overbay -- and the video is awesome!

Overbay is the special needs student who was targeted in violent attacks by classmates who mocked him for being autistic, diabetic and deaf in his right ear. He suffered serious injuries and had suicidal thoughts after the incidents.

But, MMA star Justin Wren took Overbay under his wing and has rounded up famous and non-famous friends to offer support. Stars like Baker Mayfield, Mick Foley and more stepped up.

And now, Overbay can add a Heisman Trophy candidate to his friend list -- with Hurts inviting Overbay into the Sooners' locker room after their 42-41 victory over Iowa State.

"You got a whole squad of people behind you," Hurts told Rayden ... who was STOKED to meet the football star.

Hurts tweeted about meeting Rayden on Sunday ... saying, "It was great getting to meet Rayden Overbay this weekend! He is a true soldier and such an inspiration to many."

"He has a friend in me! Much Love! #StopBullying"

Not only did Rayden get to meet the star QB ... he also got introduced to the whole squad by head coach Lincoln Riley, who gave him a game ball and let him break the team's final huddle!!

Michael Irvin says he's still 100% on Team Antonio Brown -- rooting for the embattled NFL star to get his career and life on track ... and he ain't apologizing for it!

The NFL Hall of Famer tells TMZ Sports he knows supporting AB isn't the popular thing to do these days ... but Mike doesn't care what everyone else thinks.

Irvin says he spent his offseason giving motivational speeches -- and talked to kids from "some of the hardest ghetto areas in Miami that Antonio Brown has come from."

"And, I want his story to end well so I can use it as inspiration and motivation for all those other little black kids in the ghettos and in the hells of America that are trying to get out."

Irvin says he knows Antonio is self-destructing with some of his off-the-field antics -- but the Cowboys legend tells us, "Everybody's talking about the problem, but nobody's talking about the solution."

"We as a country get off on the problem because somehow, someway we take that as some kind of self-fulfilling thing that, 'Hey, he made all this money playing football but at least I'm not making the stupid decisions that he's making now.' And, I think that's a sad way to look at it."

Irvin adds, "I want his story to end well so I can use it to inspire others that are growing up in the same hellhole he grew up in and ain't nothing wrong with that, man."

"And, I'm not gonna let anybody make me think there's something wrong with that."

Brown has a BUNCH of obstacles keeping him from playing again -- starting with allegations he raped a woman in 2018. The NFL is currently investigating the situation and, according to multiple reports, he's not expected to play in the NFL again this season.

Charles Rogers -- the #2 overall pick in the 2003 NFL Draft -- has died, TMZ Sports has confirmed. He was only 38.

The details surrounding Rogers' death are unclear. We're working on it.

One of the people confirming his death is former Michigan State teammate Chris Baker.

"Devastated to learn of the passing of my spartan brother Charles Rodgers," Baker said.

"Spoke with his mom this morning. Please pray for her and his children. Please also be respectful of their privacy at this difficult time. Rip Chuck."

Rogers was selected by the Detroit Lions and flashed huge potential -- catching 22 passes for 243 yards and 2 touchdowns during his first 5 games of the '03 season. But, he suffered a broken clavicle, which ended his rookie campaign.

The following season, he broke his clavicle again -- on just the 3rd play of the '04 season.

He was cut by the Lions in 2006, essentially ending his NFL career.

After his football career ended, Rogers admitted he had struggled with substance abuse -- including an addiction to Vicodin. He had been arrested multiple times for alcohol-related issues.

Rogers -- who reportedly signed a $40 mil rookie contract with the Lions -- is survived by 8 children.

Rogers was a legend at MSU -- where he earned 1st-team All-American honors during his 2002 junior season, when he posted 68 catches for 1,351 yards and 13 TDs.

Story developing ...

Terrible news in the case of Aniah Blanchard -- stepdaughter of UFC fighter Walt Harris.

Officials say they found blood in Blanchard's recovered vehicle that's "indicative of someone suffering a life-threatening injury," according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by the Montgomery Advertiser.

Officials also say they found a witness who observed kidnapping suspect Ibraheem Yazeed forcing the 19-year-old woman "into [her] vehicle against her will and then leaving with her in the vehicle."

According to the document, the blood in the vehicle was tested and came back as a match for Blanchard.

As we previously reported, law enforcement tracked down Yazeed in Florida on Friday after a nationwide manhunt.

Officials say they chased Yazeed on foot before apprehending him -- and he suffered an eye injury that required medical attention.

So far, Blanchard has not been located. Unclear if Yazeed is cooperating with officials.

Auburn Police Chief Paul Register said Thursday there may be other suspects in the case.

Screw jerseys, hats and jackets ... Post Malone's repping the Dallas Cowboys in the most baller way possible -- with a $250,000 diamond chain!!!

The "White Iverson" rapper is showing off some new bling to profess his fanatical admiration for his favorite NFL team. Isaac from Angel City Jewelers is the master behind the chain and massive pendant ... and delivered it to him at AT&T Stadium last weekend for Post Malone’s second annual hometown festival, Posty Fest.

We're told the new bling includes 3,000 stones, 9.7 carats of baguettes, 13.5 carats of sapphires and 8.7 carats of diamonds. There's also a "77" inscription on the back ... PM's favorite number.

Post Malone's fandom for the Cowboys is unrivaled. He's gotten a NY Giants fan to wear his Cowboys jacket after winning a bet. PM's also put his money where his mouth is ... and it once cost him. Like when he handed over 20k to YG after the 'Boys fell short to the Rams.

Johnny Damon says players like Sean Doolittle and Steph Curry should NOT ditch The White House because of President Trump ... telling TMZ Sports it's the perfect time to make their voices heard with the leader of the free world!

Of course, it's become a major debate in sports ... with huge athletes boycotting celebratory visits to 1600 Penn. as a way to stick it to POTUS.

So, when we saw Damon, we spoke with the ex-Yankees superstar about some Washington Nationals players like Doolittle, Anthony Rendon and more deciding to sit out the trip last weekend ... and JD says that's the WRONG thing to do.

"That's one of the things you wanted to do when you won the World Series was go to The White House, regardless of what political affiliation you may or may not have," Damon told us outside Capitale in NYC.

"I think it's a great thing and if you do have an issue, that's the greatest time to talk about the issues that you see and try to make things work."

Damon says there's too much hate going around between both sides ... and refusing to talk it out isn't gonna make anything better.

"I'm glad the Nationals went there. I'm glad there was a great support for the president. I hope other teams elect to go in the future so they can talk about the issues that are bothering them."

As for those who DID go to The White House ... the visit looked, uh, interesting. Just ask Kurt Suzuki.

FaZe Banks is a guy who knows how to clean up after his own mess, even if it takes a bit of time -- at least that's what we gathered when we asked him about his Vegas debacle.

We talked to the gaming guru -- who founded the FaZe Esports collective -- at the Logan Paul/KSI fight this weekend and he cleared the air with us on what exactly happened last month at the Encore at Wynn Hotel in Sin City, where his room was torn to shreds.

Banks comes clean with us here, saying he f***ed  the room -- which caused over $30k in damage, BTW -- and even apologizes for it too. A weekend in Vegas, as he puts it.

You'll recall ... the hotel was pissed about the mess, and got cops involved ... who were investigating for felony malicious destruction of property -- a charge the carries a max sentence of 5 years in prison. Luckily, it didn't get there for FB -- he handled it.

The dude says he and the hotel are all good now, and that it's all love -- the implication being that he paid for the damage and is back in their good graces. Quite a guy, huh?!

We get around to talking about his fellow member FaZe Jarvis' lifetime ban from 'Fortnite' after being caught cheating ... and he gives us his thoughts on that too.

The Miami Heat has suspended Dion Waiters without pay after he reportedly overdosed on weed edibles ahead of a crucial game against the Lakers this week.

The team made the announcement Sunday in a statement, saying they were disappointed in their star guard's actions this season ... including the "very scary situation" from Thursday night, adding they were grateful that the outcome wasn't worse.

They went on, "There have been a number of instances this season in which Dion has engaged in conduct detrimental to the team. Accordingly, he will be suspended without pay for 10 games, including the Lakers game last Friday, and will be eligible to return" Nov. 29.

The Heat continued ...  "We are proud of how our players have started the season. We expect all of our players, including Dion, to conduct themselves in accordance with the highest standards, and to show professionalism and respect for their teammates, the team, the fans and the NBA community." The Heat lost Friday's game, BTW ... they're 6-3 now.

In case you hadn't heard, Dion had a medical emergency while flying from Phoenix to L.A. on Thursday with the rest of his teammates. He was found unconscious when the plane landed, and when he was finally woken up ... he reportedly had a seizure.

According to ESPN, Waiters had consumed edible gummies that were infused with THC.

Adding insult to injury, he had already been suspended for several games prior to this latest disciplinary action. According to reports, he got into it with head coach Erik Spoelstra.

This latest suspension could hurt Waiters more than he might realize ... affecting his bottom line. He's reportedly gonna miss out on a $1.2 million bonus written into his contract if he missed 9 more games than he already had. He signed a $52M contract extension in 2017.

Dan Bilzerian says he's running for president in 2024 -- acknowledging he might just have to campaign against a fellow celeb in Kanye West ... who might have a better shot.

We got the playboy gambler Saturday at STAPLES Center -- where he caught the Logan Paul fight -- and asked about some of the craziest poker games he's been in and which players were involved. He says he's thrown down cards with Kevin Hart ... not Jay-Z though.

Our camera guy followed up by asking what Dan thought of Ye reaffirming his decision to make a run at The White House in a few years ... with a new name at that.

He says Kanye's better than Hillary Clinton, for sure -- seems he's not a fan of HC -- but then drops a bit of a bomb on us with an announcement of his own ... he wants to run himself.

It's unclear if he's kidding or not, but we'll take him at his word and count this as an official presidential proclamation -- DAN BILZERIAN FOR POTUS 2024. Time will tell, we suppose. Then comes an interesting question ... who gets President Trump's endorsement???

Logan Paul took an L Saturday night in his fight against KSI ... but it was not without controversy.

Logan lost to KSI in a split decision at the Staples Center in L.A. ... in a highly-anticipated boxing rematch. They went toe-to-toe for 6 hard rounds.

KSI did the early damage with some ferocious body shots, but things started to turn for Logan in the 3rd round when he started landing body punches of his own.

Paul caught KSI with two huge uppercuts in round 4 that sent him to the canvas, but held his head on the way down and seemed to land another punch. The referee counted the knockdown but took two points away from Paul, changing the course of the fight.

The final round saw KSI get a second wind as he tried to take Paul’s head off.

In the end, the two points cost Paul and KSI ended up walking away with the split-decision win. Had the referee only taken one point away from Paul, this rematch could have ended up in another draw.

Justin Bieber entered the ring after the match -- and even walked out with him at the beginning -- hoping Logan would pull it off. The Biebs didn't take the loss well, saying, "Logan was the better fighter. Period."

Wiz Khalifa was also there with his girlfriend. Also on hand ... Tyron Woodley, DaBaby, Ed Sheeran, Desiigner, Dan Bilzerian and Tana Mongeau.

Complete strangers did everything they possibly could to try to save Pernell "Sweet Pea" Whitaker's life after the ex-boxing champ was struck by a car ... and the frantic scene was all caught on 911 audio.

The 55-year-old was tragically hit by a vehicle while he was crossing a busy street in Virginia Beach on July 14 ... and in 911 recording of the incident, obtained by TMZ Sports, you can hear a woman rallying pedestrians to try to help Whitaker.

The woman says she didn't know Whitaker -- but saw he desperately needed help and vowed to do everything in her power to try and save him.

In the audio, you can hear the woman describe the dire scene, saying, "He is on the ground right now ... I'm not sure if he is alive."

But, when dispatch asks the woman if she's willing to administer CPR ... she doesn't think twice -- and tries to get others at the scene to help her.

"He's not alive. Okay, we have to roll him over," she says in the recording. "I want to do it!"

You can hear in the audio ... the woman and others try to get Whitaker on his back -- but the scene the woman paints is grisly.

"Oh, there's a lot of blood!" she says, while another man in the audio adds, "There's a whole bunch of f**king blood!"

Even still, the woman presses forward, saying, "Okay, let's do it. Come on! Let's just try it! If there's any way we can help him!"

Despite heroic efforts, the pedestrians were unable to save Whitaker ... and after emergency medical officials arrived, they pronounced the former boxer dead at the scene.

The tragedy hit the boxing world deeply, with Floyd Mayweather paying tribute to Pernell on social media saying, "R I P champ, one of the best fighters to ever do it."

NASCAR driver Angela Ruch will be competing in the most important race of her career next weekend ... and it all has to do with her awesome truck design and the story behind it!

The man who designed the wrap for her #44 truck is her nephew, 19-year-old Eric Erdman, who was diagnosed with advanced brain cancer in 2016.

The condition is terminal -- but Erdman has made the decision to use whatever time he has left to help children battling similar obstacles.

His story is incredible ... and he talks about his life experience in the video below.

Erdman created his own foundation, Give a Child a Voice, to help children dealing with tough medical conditions, bullying and abuse. Through his organization, Erdman has helped renovate several local gyms because he feels physical activity has helped him through the dark times.

Which brings us back to NASCAR Truck Series driver Angela Ruch ... who takes the track for the Ford EcoBoost 200 NASCAR Race in Miami on Nov. 15.

Ruch tells TMZ Sports she wants to do everything she can to help Erdman and his organization -- so she gave him carte blanche to design the wrap for her truck.

Erdman's goal is to raise $300k as part of his "Give a Child a Voice Fitness Center Give-A-Way" (click here for the GoFundMe page) ... and Ruch feels the exposure at the NASCAR race will go a long way.

TMZ Sports spoke with Eric about his aunt getting involved, and he couldn't be more grateful for the gesture.

"It's amazing. I'm shocked and I love her so much," Eric tells us.

"Don't tell my other aunts, but she might be my favorite just to tell you straight," he joked. "It's truly phenomenal what my Aunt Angela's doing, it's unbelievable. I'm speechless."

Doctors told Eric back in August he has 6 months to live ... but says his diagnosis won't keep him from helping as many people as possible.

"Some people may say 'Cancer, it's awful'. I get that. But, my life, cancer has been the best thing to ever happen to me."

Angela tells us she's honored to be able to use her platform to share his message -- saying, "For me, to be able to support Eric in any way, shape or form that I possibly can, I'm all about."

"I'm so thankful and honored that Eric would even look to me to begin this opportunity to even put his logo on the truck at Homestead. I'm so proud of that young man and words cannot describe the tone that he's setting for so many kids growing up."

Angela says she plans to continue to help Eric every step of the way ...even after the checkered flag is waved.

Don't count out a Cris Cyborg vs. Amanda Nunes just yet ... Cyborg tells us she's still down for the fight if her boss at Bellator can work out a crossover deal with UFC.

Remember, Cyborg parted ways with UFC back in August and signed with Bellator the next month. She's set to fight Julia Budd on Jan. 20 in L.A.

But, you can tell Cyborg feels she has unfinished business with Amanda Nunes -- who knocked her out in the 1st round when they clashed back in Dec. 2018.

Now that Cyborg fights for a different promotion, it's highly unlikely the two will ever face off again ... but Cris says there's still hope!

In fact, Cris says she's already asked Bellator boss Scott Coker if he would be open to a crossover fight with UFC and Coker told her that he would be down!

Of course, the issue ... Dana White.

UFC did a crossover event with Pride back in 2003 -- but we can't recall a crossover fight in recent memory involving UFC and another MMA promotion.

The closest thing we've seen is when UFC teamed up with Mayweather Promotions for the Floyd vs. Conor McGregor boxing match in 2017.