TMZ Sports - Page 50

Greg Hardy isn't just down to fight during a global pandemic ... he literally wants to MOVE to "Fight Island" and take on every badass heavyweight from Francis Ngannou to Stipe Miocic.

TMZ Sports talked to the 31-year-old heavyweight ... who tells us his contract to fight at UFC 249 in Florida on May 9 is signed, sealed and delivered.

But, Hardy has bigger plans than just 1 fight against 33-year-old, 6-0 MMA fighter Yorgan De Castro.

"I'm saying it right now Dana, man, listen, if you got [living] quarters," Hardy says ... "If you have quarters, I'll stay on the island, bro. I'm not ashamed to move in. We can fight every couple of weeks, dude."

"With all seriousness. Let's run it."

Hardy says he'll shatter a record he set last year ... when he became the 1st heavyweight fighter to fight 5 times in a calendar year.

And, Greg's not looking to just fight tomato cans ... we asked him for his ideal matchup, and uhhh, he's goin' big game hunting.

"This is my dream scenario" ... Hardy says.

"After this fight, I come back, get this knockout [against De Castro]. Remind everybody who it is. I think the UFC [rankings] starts at top 15. I think we start with 15 and go down the line."

"15 fights later I knock out the guy holding the belt, whoever it is."

The names of some of the guys currently in the top 15?

Daniel Cormier. Derrick Lewis. Francis Ngannou. Stipe Miocic.

But, Hardy ain't shook ... "We do it the G. Hardy way. Eliminate everybody 1 by 1, on the island."

Willie McGinest tells TMZ Sports he understands why Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski left the Patriots for the Bucs ... saying straight-up New England is a GRIND!!!

"You work your ass off," the former Pats superstar says. "In that system, in that organization, you work hard. And, there's a lot of pressure put on you."

Don't get it twisted ... Willie says that's why the Patriots are so damn good -- they treat every player the same way and expect results all across the board.

But, the Pats legend tells us that can be taxing ... and he gets why Brady and Gronk wanted to see a fresh perspective down in Tampa Bay at the end of their Hall of Fame careers.

"It's a tough atmosphere because there's a lot of pressure on winning," Willie says. "Everybody is held accountable."

As far as any animosity between Bill Belichick and his former superstars over the way things ended ... Willie says there's no hate there, telling us the guys still have a ton of respect for each other.

"What they did in New England together, as a duo -- as a trio," McGinest says, "will never be duplicated ever in football history again."

Willie tells us he expects Gronk and Brady to be at Patriots reunions as soon as their careers are over ... and even says ceremonial retirements in New England for both dudes are on the table.

Washington State Cougars football player Bryce Beekman died from an accidental overdose of fentanyl and promethazine, officials say.

The 22-year-old defensive back was found dead in his apartment back on March 23 and people were baffled about the cause of death.

But now, the Whitman County Coroner's Office in Washington says an investigation shows "the cause of death was acute intoxication due to the combined effects of fentanyl and promethazine."

"The manner of death was accidental."

FYI, fentanyl is a powerful pain killer. Promethazine is mostly used to treat allergy symptoms.

As we previously reported, Beekman was a star on the WSU football team.

He started all 13 games at safety in 2019 and was one of top players on the WSU defense. He was 5th on the team in tackles last season.

That's a PUNTER?!?!?!

Meet Jamie Gillan -- aka "The Scottish Hammer" -- a former rugby player turned kicker for the Cleveland Browns!

AND HE'S MORE JACKED THAN HIS QUARTERBACK! (No shade, just facts).

The 22-year-old is a beast in the gym -- and clearly he's been packin' on the bulk after a pretty impressive rookie season.

Gillian was an undrafted free agent in 2019 -- but earned his spot on the Browns roster after blasting a 74-yard punt in a pre-season game. He went on to make the Pro Football Writers Association All-Rookie team.

Now, with the COVID-19 pandemic keeping him off the field, he's been locked in his home gym -- making some serious gains and flexing on the kicker community.

"Do pull-ups help me punt? Absolutely not," Gillan said ... "Do they help me look like a football player? Kinda #pintsandpunts."

The Scottish Hammer got his nickname because he grew up in -- you guessed it -- Scotland before coming over to the States in high school. After a life of rugby, Gillan took up American football and even played some college ball at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (The Golden Lions, not the Razorbacks).

Gillan's been keeping his followers entertained during the global pandemic ... showcasing his crazy talent in the process.

The NFL Draft had a record-breaking audience when Joe Burrow and Chase Young heard their names called Thursday night ... with an average of 15.6 MILLION people watching!

The league just announced the crazy numbers from Night 1 of the 3-day event ... touting a huge 37% increase from 2019.

And get this, the league claims the number ballooned to 19.6 MILLION watching from 8:45-9 PM. Wow!

Also worth noting ... the NFL says the top 3 metered markets were from Ohio -- Columbus, Cleveland and Cincinnati.

Obviously, the fact the Cincinnati Bengals had the #1 overall pick -- and selected Ohio-native Joe Burrow had a lot to do with that.

The 2020 Draft completely wrecked the previous record held by the 2014 draft, which brought in an average of 12.4 million.

Rounds 2-7 will go down Friday and Saturday ... and it's safe to say those numbers will be high as well.

Forget boxers vs. briefs ... John Cena rocks a BANANA HAMMOCK in his real day-to-day life because he likes the way it fits.

Yep.

The WWE superstar was doing an interview/photo shoot with Men's Journal when he changed clothes between shots right in front of the reporter ... revealing his "hot pink" banana hammock thong.

As the reporter put it ... "Picture just some poor spandex holding on for dear life."

When the reporter asked 43-year-old Cena if that was his usual underwear (and not some special piece for the photo shoot), John confirmed that he's a hammock man, through and through.

"It is [my underwear] ... More for the fit, less for the color."

Hey, if it works for you!!!

Naturally, we did some digging ... that's what we do ... and found out this wasn't just a one-off.

Cena famously rocked a black banana hammock thong during a WWE segment back in the day ... while admitting he has a "thing" with nudity.

"I really honestly don't know my thing with nudity," Cena said ... "It got to be like a joke. Like, I could use it to ease a situation up. There would be some tension and I would get naked. And, people would be like, 'Alright it's not that bad."

UFC star Nina Ansaroff told us pregnancy wouldn't stop her from training ... and here she is, 19 weeks preggo ... PUTTIN' IN THAT WORK, SON!

Nina is the 5th ranked UFC strawweight contender in a STACKED division that includes killers like Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Rose Namajunas and the champ Weili Zhang!

And since Nina plans on continuing her MMA career after she gives birth, she planned on staying in shape during the pregnancy to help expedite her return to the Octagon.

Take a look at the video ... Nina and her fetus are WRECKING those pads!

Of course, Nina is engaged to UFC champ Amanda Nunes -- and when they came into the TMZ office before the COVID pandemic, they spelled out their fight/baby plans!

"I’m gonna be training throughout my pregnancy," Nina told us ... "I’m gonna stay in shape. I’m not gonna, ya know, just like not do anything and jump in."

Nina said the plan is to take a year off -- but acknowledged, "I’ve never had a baby before. So, I don’t know what to expect."

As for Amanda, she obviously supports Nina -- but doesn't want her to rush back to the Octagon too soon ... a mistake she feels Mackenzie Dern made earlier this year.

The NFL's Draft-A-Thon was more like The Roast of Tom Brady on Thursday ... with the Tampa Bay QB getting all the jokes about his recent goof-up.

We broke the story ... TB12 accidentally entered the wrong house recently when trying to visit his coach, Byron Leftwich. The shocked homeowner could barely believe his eyes when he realized it was Tom Frickin' Brady.

Brady's buddies won't let him live the hilarious mistake down during the league's COVID-19 charity event ... 'cause the NFL Network's Rich Eisen made sure to hit him with a friendly jab about it after Brady tried to rip Russell Wilson for being in his car during the event.

"Tom's in the wrong house," Eisen said. "Tom strolled into the wrong house."

HAAAAAAAAA, good one, Rich Eisen.

Brady hit back with a joke of his own ... saying, "They got Wi-Fi, so I'm cool."

The whole clip is legitimately hilarious ... with Russ dogging Brady for having a zebra-striped chair, Kevin Hart roasting Deion Sanders for looking like Bill Russell, and more.

Tragic news for Dak Prescott and his family ... the quarterback's older brother, Jace Prescott, died suddenly at 31 years old on Thursday, the Dallas Cowboys announced.

No cause of death was given.

Dak had been super close with Jace, the oldest of the Prescott brothers ... and had even just filmed a national Campbell's Chunky Soup commercial with him in 2019.

At the time, Dak said Jace and his other older brother, Tad, meant the world to him ... especially after he tragically lost his mom to cancer in 2013.

"My brothers have always been champions," Dak said. "Them along with my mom ... So now, not having my mom and just having them two, they mean even more."

Dak added, "Family is everything. It's what keeps me grounded when everything else is changing around me I know that's one thing that's always consistent and certain. I'm thankful for them."

Jace was a former football player himself ... he played offensive live for Northwestern State in Louisiana from 2008 to 2010, starting 11 games in his final season.

"The loss of Tad and Dak's brother is devastating," the Cowboys said in a statement during Thursday's NFL draft.

Added team owner Jerry Jones, "We are so saddened that Dak has lost his brother. We want to help him get through this time."

Both Cowboys CEO Stephen Jones and head coach Mike McCarthy also shared their condolences for the QB after the draft.

RIP

Days before the NFL Draft, we spoke with Brett Favre about the possibility Green Bay could take a QB in the 1st round.

Favre told us he had talked with Aaron Rodgers about that -- and insists the QB didn't have a problem with it.

(Remember, Favre wasn't exactly stoked when the Packers drafted Rodgers back in 2005. They've since become friends).

Fast-forward to GB selecting Utah State QB Jordan Love with the 26th overall pick ... and our convo with Favre just got VERY interesting.

TMZ Sports: "What would you tell Aaron if it does happen, if they do draft a quarterback?"

Favre: "You gotta just keep doing what you’re doing. And, Aaron and I watched a lot of extra film together, I had no problems giving him any insight that he asked for if I could, and I think Aaron will do that too.

"Look, no one’s going to replace Aaron unless Aaron chooses to be replaced. There’s no worry for him that he’s going to be ousted. He’s too good of a player."

"It’s funny because Aaron and I were talking about it last year, how he gets how I was when he came in. Because now he’s at that age that I was when he came in, and so it’s getting about time that you start looking at drafting a guy or picking someone up in free agency."

"Not that we think Aaron is at the end of his road, I think he’s got many good years barring injury ahead of him. But, you do have to start grooming the next guy.  And, Aaron gets it."

"You know, I was never upset about it, I used to think every year when they didn’t draft a quarterback early, I thought ‘Well dodged another one.’"

"And, at 37 I realized when they drafted Aaron that that was kind of reality setting in. Not that I thought I was going to be replaced right away, but that it's slowly transitioning out with the old, and in with the new."

CeeDee Lamb's GF says she was NOT trying to snoop through the WR's phone during his draft party Thursday ... claiming she was just simply answering a call for the new Dallas Cowboy!!

If you missed it ... Crymson Rose was ALL OVER the Internet after cameras caught 21-year-old CeeDee snatching his phone from her hands after she had grabbed it and looked at the screen.

Don't miss the bonus side-eye from mom!

Some interpreted the scene as Rose trying to get a peek at Lamb's private info while he was distracted by the Cowboys ... but Crymson set the record straight just minutes after the viral moment.

"His agent was FACETIMING him while he was on the phone with the Cowboys," she said. "I was doing the GF thing gonna answer it for him sheesh."

CeeDee backed up her story ... saying of the incident himself, "y’all really gotta chill wasn’t even like dat."

The two even proved there was no drama at the house ... sharing a kiss on social media afterward!!

It's unclear how long the couple has been dating ... but seems there's no trouble in paradise at all. Which is good for CeeDee ... because have you seen her!?!?

SWAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGG!!!

Jerry Jones drafted Oklahoma superstar CeeDee Lamb on Thursday from a room on his $250 MILLION yacht ... and yeah, it's safe to say the Cowboys owner won the night in every way!!!

With the NFL requiring teams to stay away from their facilities amid the COVID-19 pandemic ... Jerry hit up his super boat to properly social distance.

While Jones didn't want to say after the draft that he was, in fact, on the ship ... you can see from pics, Jones' TV background decor matched the "Bravo Eugenia's" exactly.

As we previously reported, Jones bought the yacht back in December for a quarter of a billion ... and it's got all the bells and whistles fit for the NFL's most famous owner.

The ship -- which 77-year-old Jerry named after his wife, Gene Jones -- is 357 feet long with TWO helipads and a gym. It can fit 14 people and 30 crew members, and it's also got its own steam room AND massage room!

As for how Jerry did making the calls from the yacht ... he CRUSHED it -- most people had CeeDee as a top 10 pick, but Jerry was able to get the WR at 17 overall!!

It sure LOOKED like Mike Vrabel's son was busted on the can during the NFL Draft ... but the Titans coach insists he was NOT POOPING!

Social media blew up when live NFL Draft coverage switched over to Vrabel's home, which was weird from the jump!

Was there a guy wearing a Frozone costume from "The Incredibles"? Yes.

Was there a guy with a blonde mustache and mullet-wearing Vrabel's old Pro Bowl jersey? Indeed.

Is that guy pooping in the background?! Not exactly ...

Vrabel says the alleged dumper is his son, Tyler -- but Coach is adamant he was NOT dropping a deuce with the door open!!!

Mike claims Tyler was simply sitting on a stool -- which makes sense.

Do you REALLY think the guy would do his biz with the door open with a live TV feed running inside the house? Probably not.

Still, what a weird night.

Oh, and did you see when the Titans drafted lineman Isaiah Wilson from Georgia and his mom basically physically removed his girlfriend from his lap?!?!?