TMZ Sports - Page 50

Miami Dolphins star cornerback Xavien Howard is off the hook in his domestic violence case ... TMZ Sports has learned his battery charge was dropped Thursday.

Howard's attorney, Michael C. Grieco, says it was announced at a short hearing in a Broward County courtroom that the case against the NFL player has been dismissed.

It's huge news for the 26-year-old, who was facing jail time after his fiancee alleged he roughed her up after an argument at their Davie, Fla. home on Dec. 29.

In the police report, obtained by TMZ Sports, the woman says Howard grabbed her, pushed her against a mirrored wall, and when he let her go, she fell on one of his crutches.

Cops say in the report they noticed visible scratches, redness and an abrasion on the woman's body ... and arrested the 6-foot-1, 200-pound cornerback.

What's worse ... in 911 audio from the incident, the woman -- who has three children with Howard -- insinuated the NFL player had repeatedly abused her in the past.

It's unclear what prompted the state attorney's office to not pursue charges this week ... we're working on it.

Howard -- who made the Pro Bowl in 2018 -- is still subject to NFL discipline under the league's personal conduct policy.

Kyler Murray touchdown pass to ... Antonio Brown?!?!

AZ Cardinals safety Budda Baker tells TMZ Sports he would not hate seeing that one bit in 2020 ... saying he and his Cardinals squad would welcome the troubled receiver with arms wide-open.

"I feel like a lot of teams can use Antonio Brown," Baker tells us. "He's a great player ... Hopefully he can get back to the league because the league is definitely better with AB."

A Brown signing would make the Cards pretty damn elite on offense -- there's Murray, Larry Fitzgerald, Kenyan Drake, Christian Kirk and others -- and when we brought that possibility up to Budda, he loved the idea.

"That would be crazy!" he said.

The problem with the vision? It's unclear if the NFL will ever let Brown play again.

AB is currently in the middle of civil cases and a criminal investigation ... with rape allegations from his former trainer and assault accusations from a moving truck driver hanging over his head.

The NFL is probing all of the claims ... and when commissioner Roger Goodell was asked about all of it earlier this week, he said the league is working to make sure AB is healthy off the field first and foremost.

Patrick Mahomes and even Paul Rudd firing up clubgoers

It's good to be the CHAMPS ... just ask Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce and the rest of the Chiefs who all got the super-VIP treatment at the Post Malone concert.

Post -- a HUGE football fan -- invited the Super Bowl champs to his Kansas City show at the Sprint Center on Wednesday where the QB, TE and others players got a special roped-off section all to themselves.

And get this ... Malone -- a hardcore Dallas Cowboys fan -- even paid tribute to the Chiefs by rocking a Mahomes jersey on stage! You can see in the clip, Patrick LOVED it!

Before the show, Post invited the guys and their gals backstage for a private dance party and some beer pong action!!

The most impressive part ... the Chiefs had been drinking HARD since like 10 AM on Wednesday because of the Super Bowl parade in K.C. Mahomes and Kelce were pounding beers on the parade bus like it was water!!!

So, to keep it up for more than 12 straight hours ... man, that's good stuff.

Hopefully they can beat a hangover like they beat those 49ers!!

Here's what you get for the man that has everything ...

Cristiano Ronaldo was surprised by his smokin' hot GF with a brand-new Mercedes for his 35th birthday ... and TMZ Sports has learned the whip cost nearly $1 MILLION!!

The insane present was given to Ronaldo after a dinner date in Italy on Wednesday night ... and CR7 -- a dude who's worth a BAJILLION dollars -- seemed legit stunned by the gift!!

The ride -- reportedly a 1-of-10 vehicle -- was draped in a red bow ... and Ronaldo's friends helped him celebrate it by dousing him in confetti and a rendition of "Feliz Cumpleanos."

Ronaldo's longtime GF, Georgina Rodriguez, said of the present in Spanish, "Congratulations to the man of my life! I can't wait to transport our love with your gift."

The ride is seriously insane ... it's got 800 horsepower, goes 0-to-60 in 2.9 seconds, and reportedly costs around $875,000!!!

Of course, Ronaldo is a huge car collector ... the dude reportedly owns around 20 super fancy rides -- so Georgina definitely won this bday.

Dennis Rodman says he's heartbroken over Kobe Bryant's death -- calling the guy "a mini-Michael Jordan" -- but he tells TMZ Sports the NBA should NOT change its logo to honor him.

"That's a tough one," Rodman said outside of Staples Center on Tuesday ... "Kobe has the charisma for the signature of a logo, but I'm holding my vote on that one."

Of course, tons of people have been in favor of the change -- celebs from Snoop Dogg to Julian Edelman have tweeted their support for it -- and an online petition earned more than 3 MILLION signatures last week.

On top of that, Paul Pierce recently told us he's all for the league making Mamba the logo and retiring both of his jersey numbers.

But, Rodman says Jerry West has just meant too much to him and too much to the game to pull him off the Association's iconic trademark, telling us, "I'm a good friend of Jerry West."

"He's been a mentor of mine for a long, long time," Rodman says ... "[It should] stay the way it is."

Don't get it twisted ... Rodman says he's been torn up ever since he learned of Kobe's tragic helicopter crash on January 26 -- telling us KB was one of "the most" exciting and inspirational people "in the world."

"Miss you so much"

That's Vanessa Bryant posting about Kobe Bryant -- remembering him on social media as a "loving husband" and "The Best Daddy."

Vanessa went to Instagram on Wednesday to post about her husband -- referring to Kobe as "my best friend" and saying she misses all of the funny, sweet little things he would do during their marriage.

"Miss you saying, 'Bonjourno principessa/reina'" Vanessa wrote ... referencing Kobe's ability to speak Italian.

"#mybestfriend #theBestdaddy Miss you so much. #handsome #sweet #funny #silly #lovinghusband ❤️Miss you saying, “Bonjourno principessa/reina."

Vanessa also posted a clip from a recent "Extra" interview in which Kobe was asked to name his best friend -- and he responded, "My wife."

Just a few days ago, Vanessa posted a painting of her daughter Gianna Bryant dressed up in Lakers gear -- and wrote, "Seeing my babygirl smile and happy again with a basketball 🏀 under her arm, wrapped in 💜💛love just warmed my heart."

"Thank you for this. @_vivalareina thank you!! My Gigi.❤️ #Mambacita."

Kobe and Gianna passed away January 26. We're told the Bryant family is working on putting together a public memorial for them but nothing is set in stone yet.

Originally Published -- 9:50 AM PT

Southern Methodist Univ.'s women's basketball coach Travis Mays told his players to kill themselves if they weren't willing to try harder ... this according to former team members.

The first player to go public was ex-player Klara Bradshaw who wrote a blog post saying Mays was so upset with how the team was performing during a 2017-18 season practice, he said the following:

"If y'all don't want to get it together, if y'all don't get together and get connected, you might as well go and commit suicide."

Bradshaw -- who lost her father to suicide 2 years prior -- was so upset by the comment, a team trainer removed her from the workout.

The Dallas Morning News reports Mays -- a 1990 1st round pick in the NBA Draft -- later apologized to Bradshaw for the comment ... but other players also spoke out about the toxic culture surrounding his coaching style.

Ex-player McKenzie Adams recently tweeted the same 2017-18 season was "one of the most mentally traumatic experiences ever."

SMU's athletic director, Rick Hart, condemned Mays' comment to the Morning News, saying "It's absolutely a term that shouldn't be used in any capacity or any form."

Mays addressed the claim in a statement, saying, "It's one of those things where sometimes you can push. And it's our job to push people outside of their comfort zones."

"And sometimes you can say things, whether it's using the wrong verbiage or at the wrong time when you don't need to express some of that."

Chiefs WR Byron Pringle says now that he's a Super Bowl champ, he's the PERFECT candidate to be a rep for Pringles ... and he wants the chip co. to reach out to him ASAP!!

"Once you pop, you're never going to stop. You know?" Pringle tells TMZ Sports.

Of course, 26-year-old Byron's been angling for this sponsorship for YEARS ... he says dating back to high school, teammates and friends have constantly told him he NEEDS to be a rep for the canned chips because of his last name.

And, now that he's about to add some title bling to his finger ... he says he's ready to get into serious talks.

Pringle tells us his demands in the deal are pretty simple ... "some commercials" and "life-long Pringles chips, any flavor" are high on his list.

But, he also says vending machines at his former schools that dispense free Pringles to students would be a sweet add-in as well.

As for his pitch to Pringles and what he'd bring to the company moving forward ... he says he's got star potential on the gridiron.

"Every time I'm in, I'm always making a play," Byron says. "Doing my assignment in the play, for the play."

Jon Jones says he's radically changed his diet for his upcoming fight with Dominick Reyes -- telling TMZ Sports, "About 80% of my meals have gone plant based now."

The UFC superstar has been a big fan of meat in the past -- he even promoted the ButcherBox meat company on his Instagram in 2019.

But Jones tells us he's switching things up for his UFC 247 fight against Reyes -- and decided to cut a bunch of animal protein out of his diet this time around.

"I switched up my diet a little bit, I started eating plant based," Jones says.

"Cardio feels great, I’m lighter than I normally am. Normally I weigh at least 222 around this time. Right now I’m already 215. So I’m ahead of schedule majorly in my weight cut, which just allows me to focus on happiness and relaxation, and I just feel perfect."

Jones says he's laser-focused and ready to fight on Feb. 8 -- and is gunning for a highlight reel-style knockout -- but as long as he gets the "W," that's all that matters.

"It’d be nice to make WorldStarHipHop for some awesome KO, or make TMZ for some awesome KO. But that’s not really my style."

"I feel like when you go out there and you tell people, ‘I’m gonna knock this guy out right away’ and then you find yourself going into the 4th round and you still haven’t gotten that KO. You start panicking in your head a little bit when your plan is going wrong."

The smokin' hot model tackled on the Super Bowl field while trying to go streaking, claims stadium security roughed her up ... and she says she has injuries to prove it!!!

Kelly Green -- aka Kelly Kay -- tells TMZ Sports ... she's still hurting from her stunt gone wrong, and the bruises covering her arms are from security guards. She claims they manhandled her on the field.

Kelly says her adrenaline was pumping after jumping over a railing and trying to strip ... so she didn't notice the effects of the gang tackle until her adrenaline rush subsided.

The treatment allegedly got worse from there. Kelly claims she was held in a freezing-cold cell in the bowels of Hard Rock Stadium for 8 hours wearing nothing but her skimpy bathing suit ... waiting to be processed.

And, all those stories you hear about intense Super Bowl security are dead-on, according to Kelly ... who says FBI and Homeland Security agents even interrogated her.

STOP THE PARADE .... Patrick Mahomes has to pee!!!!

The Kansas City Chiefs Super Bowl parade came to a screeching halt on Wednesday so the MVP could take an MVPee.

Check out the footage of the special security task force assigned to cover Mahomes at all times ... even during his potty break. PROTECT MAHOMES AT ALL TIMES!!

After the leak, Mahomes raced out of the porta-potty and high fived a bunch of the fans lined up along the parade route ... hoping, praying, guessing he washed his hands first!

It's currently 26 degrees in Kansas City, MO for the Chiefs Super Bowl parade ... and Travis Kelce is staying warm in 2 ways -- a beer blanket and a $20,000 Louis Vuitton coat!!!

Kelce, Patrick Mahomes and the boys are braving the cold to celebrate their big win over the 49ers ... and we're expecting a BUNCH of drunken debaucheries. Hey, they earned it!

Kelce and his stunning GF, Kayla Nicole, got the party started early ... with their group belting out Queen's "We Are The Champions" at the top of their lungs while Trav downed a Budweiser.

But, it wasn't the screeching rendition of the song that caught our attention, it was Kelce's threads -- which, after doing some research, are even more eye-popping.

According to the Louis V website, Killa Trav's coat is worth almost a whopping $20k, with an $18,600 price tag.

Other Chiefs players are already poppin' bottles of Ace of Spades and spraying the crowd!!

Mahomes is already joining Kelce in the beer chuggin' ... doing his best Gronk impression as the parade rolls on.

Among others on Kelce's float are Patrick and his biggest supporter, GF Brittany Matthews ... and we'll be sure to update the post with as much of that great content that's bound to happen.

We can already hear the screaming.

Manu Ginobili has turned into a straight-up SUPERHERO in retirement ... 'cause the NBA legend sprang into action and helped rescue a grandma who fell down a sand dune!

Here's what went down ... Twitter user @almumansi (who goes by AM) says her grandmother was at the beach in Blanca Bay, Argentina when she decided to try to climb a sand dune, but fell.

That's when 2 men -- including 42-year-old Manu -- sprinted to help the lady, picked her up and carried her to safety.

AM says by the time she got to the scene, she noticed her grandma was taking a pic with one of the heroes ... and realized it was MANU FREAKIN' GINOBILI!!!

Of course, Manu is from Argentina and spends a lot of time in his home country during retirement.

Ginobili was a helluva ballplayer during his career ... and is a shoo-in for the basketball Hall of Fame. But, stories like this are much better than any highlight on the court.

Turns out, getting pulled over for speeding with an open bottle of vodka in the car -- and admitting you'd fail a drug test -- does not go over well with your boss.

At least, that's the takeaway from Jimmy Haslam's comments about Kareem Hunt -- with the Cleveland Browns owner ripping his running back over that Jan. 21 police incident.

"What he did was not acceptable. He's got to do better," Haslam said Wednesday ... "It's not good. Kareem knows he's got to do better."

FYI, Hunt is now a restricted free agent -- and after watching the clip, you gotta wonder if the Browns are just gonna cut bait with the guy considering his controversial past.

Haslam said there's still a chance they keep Hunt around for one more season -- but even if they do, he's clearly on super-thin ice.

As we previously reported, Hunt was pulled over for speeding in Rocky River, Ohio -- and during the stop, cops say they found weed and an open bottle of vodka in his ride.

In police footage, obtained by TMZ Sports, you can see the pullover was not the best look for Hunt ... who straight-up admitted he would have failed an NFL drug test at the time of the stop.

Hunt was issued a citation for speeding ... but he was NOT cited for the pot -- and was sent on his way by the officer.

Haslam was asked about the incident during a press conference announcing the team's new GM ... and his disappointment in the 24-year-old was palpable.

"We have and will continue to work closely with Kareem," Haslam said. "But he knows our expectations are higher than what he showed a week or two ago."