4:08 PM PT -- Some of Shula's players from his historic coaching career shared their memories over the years ... including first impressions at practice, legendary speeches and life lessons.
UPDATE
The video interviews are powerful ... with Bob Griese, Larry Csonka, Dick Anderson, John Offerdahl and more discussing Shula's impact on their lives.
Don Shula -- the NFL coaching legend who famously led the Miami Dolphins to a perfect season in 1972 -- has died at 90 years old.
"[Shula] passed away peacefully at his home this morning," the Dolphins said in a statement.
A cause of death was not immediately known.
"Don Shula was the patriarch of the Miami Dolphins for 50 years," the team said.
"He brought the winning edge to our franchise and put the Dolphins and the city of Miami in the national sports scene."
"Our deepest thoughts and prayers go out to Mary Anne along with his children Dave, Donna, Sharon, Anne and Mike."
Shula is one of football's all-time greats ... after a playing career as a defensive back in the NFL in the 1950s -- he went on to become a Hall of Fame coach.
Shula, the head man in Baltimore from 1963 to 1969 and then in Miami from 1970 to 1995, owns the record for most wins by an NFL coach EVER ... piling up 347 in his 33-year career.
Shula also won two Super Bowls as the coach of the 'Fins ... and is still the only man to ever coach an undefeated NFL team.
Don was elected into the Pro Football Hall of Fame in 1997.
RIP
Shula had a major impact on a ton of famous people. Some of them are posting tributes on social media including:
NFL commish Roger Goodell -- "Don Shula will always be remembered as one of the greatest coaches and contributors in the history of our game. He made an extraordinarily positive impact on so many lives."
"His iconic legacy will endure through his family and continue to inspire generations to come."
The Cleveland Browns -- who drafted Shula in 1951 -- shared the team's condolences ... saying, "We're proud of the fact that his football foundation was built in Ohio, starting at Harvey High School in Painesville, playing collegiately at John Carroll and then being drafted by the Browns."
"Coach Shula's contribution to our game are unmatched. Our heartfelt condolences go out to the entire Shula Family."
Magic Johnson -- "RIP NFL Hall of Fame Coach and 2X Super Bowl champion Don Shula! My prayers go out to his family."
Andrea Kremer -- "My deepest condolences on the passing of Don Shula... As a professional I worked w/ him & got to know him well, even naming my dog Zonk, just like he did. RIP Coach."
Gov. Ron DeSantis -- "Coach Don Shula leaves behind an incomparable legacy as the NFL’s winningest coach and as the one who put Miami sports on the map."
Bill Cowher -- "We lost one of the most iconic men in the history of NFL coaching in Don Shula. His leadership and wisdom helped to guide me and many others who have made a life in coaching football. Thank you Coach Shula. May your spirit and legacy live on forever."
Michael Jordan did NOT want to sign with Nike back in the day. Not even close.
He WANTED to sign with ADIDAS IN 1984 ... but they didn't want to make him a priority.
TALK ABOUT A BILLION DOLLAR MISTAKE!!!
MJ explained the whole thing in episode 5 of "The Last Dance" ... admitting his mom FORCED him get on a plane and take a pitch meeting with the Swoosh just to hear what they had to say.
"Did you have a shoe company that you wanted to go with?"
"My mother said, 'You're gonna go listen. You may not like it, but you're gonna go listen,'" Jordan said ... "She made me get on that plane and go listen."
At the time, MJ thought Nikes just weren't a top-flight shoe. He was more into the Adidas.
But, when a very young MJ met with Adidas, they made it clear he would NOT be pushed as their premiere athlete and they weren't open to giving him his own shoe.
Converse -- the other top sneaker company at the time -- had Magic Johnson and Larry Bird on their roster and also didn't see him as their top guy.
So, Jordan took the Nike meeting -- and the rest is history.
"Go into that meeting not wanting to be there, and Nike made this big pitch," Jordan said ... "My father said, 'You'd have to be a fool not taking this deal. This is the best deal.'"
Nike was working on their "Air" technology -- which they built into MJ's shoe and called "Air Jordan."
A 7-year-old battling cancer got the surprise of a lifetime Sunday ... John Cena visited the boy for an epic early birthday present -- coronavirus pandemic be damned.
The WWE superstar flew out to Odessa, FL to see the child ... with Cena wearing a mask and gloves to help prevent the spread of COVID-19 while there.
The trip turned out to be an awesome pick-me-up for David Castle, who's battling Wilms tumor, a type of cancer that attacks the kidneys -- because his mom tells WFLA Cena's presence brought the child to tears.
FYI -- Castle's family says the boy's been through A TON since his diagnosis in Oct. 2019, saying, David's "undergone very painful tests, surgery, and long days and nights at the hospital."
But, Cena did his best to take the boy's mind away from his fight ... gifting David with his own personal WWE belt and a bunch of other swag, including autographed T-shirts and armbands.
By the way, Castle's birthday is next week ... which makes Cena's trip an even sweeter one!!
Of course, John's been doing cool visits like this for YEARS ... the guy holds the record for most wishes granted to Make-A-Wish -- with more than 600 total!!!
Two cops smashed Darren McFadden's car windows and later pointed both a gun AND taser at the ex-NFL RB during his 2019 arrest ... and the intense standoff was all captured on new police video obtained by TMZ Sports.
The former Dallas Cowboys star was found asleep at the wheel of a Whataburger drive-thru in McKinney, Texas on January 21, 2019 ... and you can see in the video, cops did everything they could to wake him up.
One of the officers beats on the windows of McFadden's 2019 GMC Yukon repeatedly with his fist and flashlight ... before he eventually decided to rock the car back and forth.
But, the motion caused McFadden's foot to slip off the brake and onto the gas pedal ... and that's when things took a scary turn.
McFadden's ride nosedived into the side of the fast-food restaurant ... and in an effort to get Darren to wake up and stop the car, officers smashed the hell out of his windows.
Eventually, the officers were able to bust through and get the car to stop ... but that's when 32-year-old McFadden became combative -- and fought the cops.
In the video, you can see Darren got in a big-time struggle with THREE different officers ... before they eventually pointed both a gun and a taser at him to stop him from advancing.
Thankfully, before the taser or gun was fired ... McFadden gave up and was taken to the ground and handcuffed.
The former NFL player eventually got jail time over the incident after prosecutors hit him with charges of resisting arrest and DWI with a BAC of greater than or equal to .15.
As we previously reported, McFadden agreed to a deal in February 2020 in which he pleaded guilty to drunk driving in exchange for having the resisting arrest charge dismissed.
McFadden was ordered to spend 4 days in jail, although he did receive credit for 1 day of time served. He was also forced to pay fines and fees ... and his driver's license was suspended for 90 days.
Darren -- the former No. 4 overall pick in the 2008 NFL Draft -- rushed for 5,421 yards in his 10-year NFL career, scoring 28 total rushing touchdowns.
Stacey King -- who won 3 NBA titles with the Chicago Bulls -- says his older brother has died from COVID-19 ... and he's begging for people to take the pandemic seriously.
"I lost my older brother [Edward Lamoyne King] yesterday morning to this deadly coronavirus," Kings said on Sunday.
"This disease cares nothing about your race, your religion, if you're rich or if you're poor or your standing in your community! This disease effects us all! It's for real and until it takes a loved one or someone close to you we tend to not take it as seriously as we need too."
"So please wear mask, gloves, continue to practice social distancing and stay inside as much as you can because Covid 19 is REAL!"
Lamoyne was only 60. RIP.
53-year-old Stacey King was a 1st-round pick back in 1989 -- selected 6th overall by the Chicago Bulls.
He went on to win rings with the Michael Jordan and the Bulls in '91, '92 and '93 before being traded to the Minnesota Timberwolves in exchange for Luc Longley.
After his NBA playing career wrapped up, Stacey got into broadcasting and currently calls Bulls games for NBC Sports Chicago and WGN.
Girl dads everywhere should take a cue from this proud papa -- who's helping his daughter stay sharp in cheerleading during quarantine ... something Simone Biles digs a lot.
Check out this sweet video of a guy practicing a pretty advanced cheer routine within the confines of their home. The kid can't be more than maybe 4 or 5 years old -- if that -- but she's got some killer moves ... which her dad was more than happy to coach her through.
Frankly, this feels like something you might see Navarro College athletes practicing in preparation for Daytona -- and this teeny little girl sorta has it down to a tee already.
Her pops starts out by throwing her into the air, where she does a full body twirl and lands on his hands perfectly. She then balances on one leg while lifting the other one up near her head. The daughter then falls into her dad's arms for a cradle and up they go again.
It's incredible to watch -- and the way the father-daughter duo interact is pretty precious too. Of course, it would seem this clip has caught an Olympian's eye, 'cause Simone -- who does similar stuff to this on her own mat -- liked the video from her official page.
Just goes to show that life indoors can still be as productive as regular times. Take note, people!
Here's Jennifer Lopezgiving Shakira a "SHAKE THAT ASS" lesson during a private Super Bowl halftime rehearsal ... and it's amazing!!!
"I do it with my knees," J Lo tells Shakira mid-gyration ... "If you shake your knees, your butt goes.
"My mother taught me that ... when I was four!"
WELL, THANK YOU, MRS. LOPEZ!!!
It's all part of newly released video Jenny from the Block decided to share with the world ... showing all of the hard work the team put in to make that INCREDIBLE halftime show from SB LIV back in February.
Former Oakland A's pitcher and "Real Housewives of Orange County" star Matt Keough has died.
His former team made the announcement that Matt passed on Saturday. The team did not reveal the cause of death.
Matt pitched for Oakland for 7 seasons. He received some notable awards ... 1978 All-Star rookie, 1980 American League Comeback Player of the Year. In addition to Oakland, Matt pitched for the Cardinals, Cubs, Astros and Yankees.
Matt was on the cover of Sports Illustrated in '81 with the other "Five Aces" ... 4 other members of the A's.
After baseball, Matt ventured into reality TV with his then-wife, Jeana ... they were cast members on "Real Housewives of Orange County." They married in 1984 and separated 20 years later. Despite the separation, they continued living together during the early seasons of "RHOC."
Matt had his share of legal trouble. He racked up 2 DUI's ... the second of which earned him a 1-year jail sentence. Interesting ... Jeana testified on Matt's behalf, even though their marriage was over, asking the judge to give him probation.
It's especially tragic for the family ... a few weeks back their daughter, Kara, had a son who died during childbirth from complications ... shoulder dystocias and a compressed umbilical cord.
Kara posted a tearful message ... "Daddy, please take care of my son. Teach him the circle changeup and how to find forever friends. You're on grandpa duty in heaven now. Xoxo, Hammerhead."
Mark Cuban is challenging the federal government to rejigger the economy NOW ... by hiring some of the millions of people who are out of work and retraining them to become useful in fighting the coronavirus pandemic.
Cuban demanded answers ... "Explain to me why in the midst of 50m people unemployed or underemployed, the gov isn't hiring and training MILLIONS to do Tracking/Tracing, Caring/Supporting at risk populations and sanitization work? And now is the time to train/pay stay at home parents/caregivers as well."
It's an idea that was obliquely hatched during the Democratic presidential debates, by folks like Andrew Yang and others ... to scramble the economy and find new ways of supporting an increasingly struggling workforce.
We talked to California Governor Gavin Newsom on "TMZ Live" a couple weeks ago about his new program -- Californians For All -- encouraging young people to volunteer to help. We asked if this could be the start of something like FDR's New Deal, where programs like the Work Progress Administration put out-of-work Americans to work to help the country. Newsom seemed all about it.
This is actually an opportunity to restructure things ... to plan not just for the balance of 2020, but for the future, because lots will change and, frankly, lots would have changed anyway as technology develops and tastes change as well.
Asante Samuel says playing for Bill Belichick and the Patriots was NOT fun ... and he tells TMZ Sportshe believes the reason Tom Brady bolted was 'cause he just couldn't take it anymore.
"He probably just got fed up with it at the end of the day," the former New England cornerback says.
Samuel played with Brady and Belichick from 2003 to 2007 ... and he had a TON of success -- but he tells us he had ZERO fun along the way.
"It worked out for me, man. It made me a better man, but it's not something I enjoyed," Samuel says.
As for why Samuel says playing for The Hoodie is a grind ... it's because of the coach's strict rules and no-mercy personnel decisions.
In fact, Samuel says it was so tough ... he believes that's why Brady will head into the 2020 NFL season with a Buccaneers jersey on.
"He probably just got tired of it," Samuel says of TB12. "He probably got tired of some inner-circle things that he wanted. Maybe, he wanted receivers and tight ends to stay there with him and maybe Bill tried to trade them. Who knows what happened?"
Don't get it twisted, though ... Samuel still seems to respect the hell out of what Bill did for his career -- telling us he just didn't love the route it took to get there.
By the way, Asante -- who's from Ft. Lauderdale -- says he's got a Florida-themed gift for Tom as soon as COVID-19 lockdowns end ... and it's a pretty hilarious present!!
Ron Jaworskiis going to bat for his Eagles ... telling TMZ Sports Philly did NOT screw up the Jalen Hurts pick -- saying the QB could be used like Lamar Jackson!!
"The guy has too much talent to have him sit on the bench," Jaws says. "You could create that package for him just like Lamar Jackson had when he first came to Baltimore."
Of course, Jaws' opinion ain't shared by too many in Philadelphia ... the team was blasted all week for taking the Oklahoma star in the 2nd round despite having 27-year-old Carson Wentz on the roster.
Jaws admits he doesn't know exactly how the veteran QB will respond to the draft choice ... but he says Doug Pederson will find a way to get them both on the field at the same time regardless.
"You fit him in, you teach him, you groom him, and eventually you've got a player!" Jaworski tells us.
But, Ron made it clear, there will NOT be a QB controversy in Philadelphia ... as long as Wentz stays healthy.
"It's Carson's job I believe for a number of years," Jaws says.
Here is a 23-year-old version of the professional footballer showing off his fresh face during a Chelsea v. Manchester United match back in 1998 (left) ... was the same year Beckham received a red card for kicking Argentinian captain Diego Simeone, during the World Cup countdown.
And, 22 years later ... The father of four is spending this weekend celebrating his 45th birthday. He was last seen modeling his good looks for the cameras during a taping of 'The Tonight Show' earlier this year (right).
Secretariat pulled ahead of Citation in the final stretch of the Kentucky Derby Saturday -- and if you're wondering what year it is ... don't worry, it's still 2020.
This weekend would've marked the opening day of the 146th annual horse racing event down at Churchill Downs over in Louisville -- which was postponed for the first time ever since WWII -- and while they couldn't get real thoroughbreds on the track, the crafty minds working the event created a virtual simulation race instead with Triple Crown Winners past.
Watch it again! The 13 Triple Crown winners face off in a virtual race under the Twin Spires of Churchill Downs.
That included legendary horses like Secretariat, Citation, War Admiral, Seattle Slew, Affirmed, Assault, Sir Barton, Whirlaway, Omaha, Count Fleet and more recent racers like American Pharaoh and Justify. All spanning different decades dating back to the early 1900s.
The way it works is that programmers entered each horse's stats into a computer system -- which took into account their odds as well -- and then it spits out a random number to assign to each horse. So, while Secretariat was the 7-2 favorite to win ... it didn't necessarily mean he WAS going to, even though he actually did in the end. Go figure!
It was a fun experiment, but it also proved why the proverbial G.O.A.T. of horse-racing is the king. BTW, if you're wondering why lil' Seabiscuit (who defeated War Admiral once upon a time) wasn't included -- it's 'cause he never competed in any Triple Crown races.
He probably could've held his own though ... at least we think so, anyway.
The Mountain from "Game of Thrones" just broke an almighty weightlifting record that once belonged to his archrival ... and now, he wants to break the dude's face in the ring.
Hafthor Bjornsson -- who played The Hound's brother on the hit HBO series -- set a new world record Saturday by deadlifting 501 kilograms (about 1,104 lbs) and staying standing upon releasing the massive weight, while he was getting gassed up by his squad nearby.
It's an incredible feat, and before this ... his muscle-man foe, Eddie Hall, held the record at 500 kg from just a few years ago when he deadlifted at the World Deadlift Championships.
It should be noted that Eddie went down in utter exhaustion after his lift, BUT ... he did hold the bar up longer than Thor did. In any case, The Mountain's got him beat with this latest show of strength, but the feud's not over ... 'cause the guy wants to settle this once and for all in the ring -- as in boxing. He said as much in a post-interview, where he challenged Eddie to a fight in the ring, during which he says he wants to dole out a KO.
Welp, Eddie has already responded to the call ... saying he will "1,000 percent sign those papers" while going on to explain it's not for money or glory, but to teach The Mountain a lesson after he apparently called Eddie a cheat at a competition they were both in once upon a time.
EH also makes a point to say he was never naive enough to think no one would ever beat his record -- but it sounds like this bitter rivalry will, in fact, end up with gloves on.
Carmen Electra's appearance on "The Last Dance" left some fans wanting more of her, uh, content, this week ... which translated to some HUGE search numbers on one of the world's biggest XXX sites.
Of course, the former Baywatch bombshell and Playboy model popped up on the uber-popular ESPN doc to discuss her relationship with Dennis Rodman ... which included an infamous mid-season vacation to Vegas.
Oh, yeah ... and the time Michael freaking Jordan barged in on them in bed together. Good stuff.
Electra's appearance on the doc was pretty memorable for several reasons ... which inspired some eager viewers to do more "research" on the sex symbol.
Pornhub (SFW link) tells TMZ Sports ... demand for Electra was ENORMOUS this week ... with more than 1.7 MILLION searches for videos related to her.
To compare ... there were just 14,796 searches the day the show aired ... and then they shot up to 393,000 the day after.
But, the biggest day came on April 28, with more than 588,00 searches!!
Shout-out to Carmen Electra for still dominating the game at 48.
P.S. -- Remember to clear your browser history, folks.
WWE superstar Becky Lynch is blowing up outside the ring -- even scoring a role on "Billions" ... and tells TMZ Sports she's getting help in Hollywood from some wrestling pals who have been in her shoes!
Lynch's popularity has exploded over the years -- in fact, she's gotten so big, "Billions" creator Brian Koppelman rocked a Lynch t-shirt during a huge media event in 2019.
At the time, Koppelman said he was such a fan, he offered her a standing role on the show if she was interested.
In fact, Lynch says she's always been interested in an acting career -- she earned a degree in theater back in Ireland -- and believes WWE is the PERFECT launching pad!
Guess what?! She was right ... and when she followed up, he kept his word!
"You never know if people are gonna come through with these things, but he did and they did. I'm on the season premiere," Lynch tells TMZ Sports.
"When you're in WWE, everything is one take. You're live in front of the entire world and you don't really have the time to mess up and if you do mess up, you have to make the best of it."
"It's like this crazy amazing improv where you're also kinda the director, producer, actor, writer of your own character. So, I think it really just sets you up with a skill set that's unprecedented in any other field."
She's not wrong ... wrestlers like The Rock, John Cena, Dave Bautista and others have credited WWE with helping them blow up on the big screen and Lynch says they've gone out of their way to help her make the jump too!
"[The Rock has] actually he's been very helpful in guiding me," Lynch says.
"He's just being very giving and I think they all are because they've all been there and they're all ready to look after the next generation."
"Cena's also been so great to me and so generous with his time and his advice, checks up on me on what I'm doing now. I think everybody wants to see the next generation move to where they've been, ya know?!"
Lynch says she's got some huge projects in the pipeline -- some super-secret stuff -- but don't worry about her bolting from WWE any time soon.
"Look, I just love performing. I love being able to get it out there, but I also love a crowd. So, as long as I can wrestle, then I'm going to be doing that."
