TMZ Sports - Page 50

Magic Johnson is speaking out on the sexual assault scandal at his alma mater -- calling for Michigan State to fire every staffer who knew about the crimes, but stayed silent.

In addition to the Larry Nassar scandal, officials say the NCAA was alerted in 2010 to dozens of reports of MSU athletes sexually assaulting women -- including at least 16 MSU football players.

Instead of trying to change the culture and get to the root of the problem, Michigan State allegedly tried to keep the whole thing quiet.

Now, Magic says anyone who knew about ANYTHING and didn't speak up should go.

"If anyone was aware of the sexual assault happening to women on the MSU campus from the office of the President, Board of Trustees, athletic department, faculty & campus police, and didn’t say or do anything about it, they should be fired."

"Cookie and I stand in support of the victims and their families as they embark on the road to recovery; and I support the movement to hold everyone involved accountable."

"The roles of the new President, Board of Trustees, athletic department, faculty, campus police and students will be to work together to create new policies and procedures to ensure this never happens again."

MMA Fighter Sergio da Silva just pled not guilty to robbing a NYC bank over the summer ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Officials say Silva -- who fought at Bellator 180 -- busted into a CitiBank in Queens on August 24 claiming to have a gun, and threatening to shoot whoever didn't cooperate.

Cops say Silva got away with around $50k in cash.

Silva was arrested, and charged with 2 felony robbery charges ... including 1st degree robbery while displaying a firearm.

SdS's attorney, David Fish, tells us, "We intend to show at trial that he’s not guilty of what he’s alleged to have committed. The allegations are very serious. I think Sergio has a lot of confidence in that the truth will come out at trial."

Silva, who was present in the NYC court, pled not guilty to both charges. He's due back in court in April.

Meek Mill isn't gonna let being behind bars stop him from joining Colin Kaepernick's cause ... becoming the latest celeb to team with Kaepernick on his $10k for 10 days initiative.

You might've heard -- for the final $100k of Colin's $1 million pledge for social justice, Kaep's been partnering with huge names in sports and entertainment to match his individual $10k donations.

So far, Serena Williams, Snoop Dogg, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant have all stepped up.

And now, Colin's second-to-last donation has come from the imprisoned rapper -- who's serving 2 to 4 years for a probation violation Kaep's spoken out against in the past.

"Despite my brother’s current circumstances, he continues to stay involved and connected in the community of his hometown of Philly," Colin said.

"I’ve spoken to Meek several times since his incarceration and during one of these calls, is when he pledged ... we’re both donating $10,000 each for a combined $20,000 to Philadelphia’s Youth Service Inc."

Tom Brady says he's considering ENDING his weekly appearance on WEEI radio in Boston after one of the station's hosts called his daughter an "annoying little pissant."

WEEI has suspended the radio host ... but Brady's still pissed.

Brady has been doing the weekly segment on "Kirk & Callahan" for years -- chopping it up about football and other light topics in his life.

But Monday morning, Brady told the guys he's considering never coming back over comments another WEEI host, Alex Reimer, made on a different show on Thursday.

Reimer was discussing Tom's new Facebook show, "Tom vs. Time" -- which is essentially a docuseries following Tom and his family -- and he put the crosshairs on Tom's 5-year-old daughter.

WEEI suspended Reimer on Friday -- but when Brady appeared on "Kirk & Callahan" on Monday, he made it clear he's not over it.

"I've tried to come on this show for many years and showed you guys a lot of respect ... I've always tried to come on and do a good job for you guys. It's very disappointing when you hear that, certainly with my daughter, or any child. They certainly don't deserve that."

One of the best soccer players alive -- Zlatan Ibrahimovic -- is very close to signing a contract that would make him the next member of the L.A. Galaxy, this according to multiple reports.

Zlatan currently plays for Manchester United -- and though he's established himself as one of the premiere players on Earth, he's been hampered by injuries over the past few years.

Of course, Zlatan is no stranger to Los Angeles -- he's been in Hollywood quite a bit over the years ... and most famously TRASHED the U.S. Men's National Soccer team as a "big joke" back in front of Boa Steakhouse on Sunset Blvd. in 2014.

By the way ... this guy is a one man brand -- he's got his own cologne, his own underwear line ... and once dropped a Top 20 single in his native Sweden.

Forget the "good guy" stuff ... Ronda Rousey should be a HEEL when she opens her WWE storyline, so says big-time wrestling fan, Cedric the Entertainer.

We broke the news to Ced in L.A. on Sunday night after Rousey crashed the Royal Rumble and confirmed she's now a full-time WWE superstar ... you can tell he's pumped about it!

Not only did Ced warn Ronda about the Bella Twins, he also pitched Ronda on why she should start her WWE career as a VILLAIN.

File under: Awww.

If you think you were pumped on Ronda Rousey's surprise Royal Rumble appearance ... peep this video of Travis Browne and her two stepchildren -- who had ZERO clue she had joined the company!!

Travis was PUMPED as soon as he heard Rousey's music hit ... but it took the boys, Kaleo and Keawe, a few seconds to figure out what was up.

Once they do ... their reaction is priceless.

It's official ... Ronda Rousey is a WWE superstar!

The UFC legend flew back from shooting a movie in Colombia to make a surprise (not really a surprise) appearance at the end of the Royal Rumble in Philly on Sunday night ... and the crowd went wild.

Rousey didn't participate in the 30 woman tourney -- but entered the ring after the Rumble to a wild ovation and pointed to a Wrestlemania sign. Clearly the plan is to have her in either the main event or a very prominent match during the biggest WWE event of the year in April.

As TMZ Sports previously reported, Rousey had been in talks with WWE for a while -- with Triple H flying in to meet her in California earlier this month to seal the deal.

Obviously, he got the deal done -- we're told she's a full time WWE superstar now.

Rousey told ESPN the deal is for several years -- and she passed on other opportunities that could have paid more because she realized wrestling in the WWE would make her the happiest.

"This is my life now."

GET 'EM, ROUSEY!!!

Liz Carmouche -- the UFC's first openly lesbian fighter -- says public perception has come a long way since she came out ... and the UFC is finally ready to accept a gay male athlete.

"I do actually believe that a man could come out as openly gay and he could rise to the top," Liz told TMZ Sports.

You might remember ... Liz broke the glass ceiling back in 2013, when she fought Ronda Rousey in the UFC's inaugural women's title fight.

Back then, Carmouche had serious doubts about a man following in her footsteps ... but says she feels differently now after experiencing how LGBTQ fighters are treated in MMA gyms like her own (San Diego Combat Academy).

Liz -- who recently partnered with HempMeds -- also told us why she thinks the UFC's at a place where it can let its fighters smoke weed ... even though she's way more of an advocate for CBD oil.

Oscar De La Hoya has set the over/under for how long Floyd Mayweather would last in a UFC fight ... and Floyd's not gonna like it.

We got Oscar heading into Staples Center for a Lakers game the other day and asked him how his former boxing rival would fare in MMA.

De La Hoya's prediction -- "Tapped out in 10 seconds."

Ouch.

FYI, Floyd says he probably ain't gonna test his skills inside the Octagon ... but money talks, so don't rule it out.

Speaking of money fights, Oscar updated us on his quest to do business with Dana White ... a couple weeks after TMZ Sports got his initial pitch.

MLB legend Frank Thomas -- also known by his intimidating nickname from his playing days -- is making damn sure nobody else tries to take it from him ... at least for merchandise.

The Hall of Fame first baseman -- known as "The Big Hurt" for crushing baseballs throughout his career -- has the term 'Big Hurt' trademarked for t-shirts, sport shirts and baseball caps ... according to legal docs obtained by TMZ.

Thomas filed the paperwork a few years after hanging up his cleats, and has had 'Big Hurt' for his own since May 2015.

Frank's been a busy businessman since retirement, too -- he founded a record label, opened a Chicago brewpub, put out a cookbook, joined "MLB on FOX" as an analyst and became a spokesman for Nugenix.

Paige VanZant just got engaged to her MMA fighter boyfriend ... and her last name ain't gonna change all that much.

The UFC figther posted a photo Sunday of her guy, Austin Vanderford, getting on one knee to propose, with the caption ... "I said yes!!!"

The couple's been going out since at least this past summer, when she posted a photo of the two of them together in August with the caption "Mine."

Mine, indeed. Congrats to the future VanZant-derfords!

Nick Saban will do what it takes to get a top recruit to come play football at Alabama ... even if it means putting on his dancing shoes.

The Crimson Tide head coach went out Saturday night to pay a visit to Eddie Smith -- a three-star high school cornerback out of Slidell, Louisiana. What might've started out as a convo about committing to 'Bama eventually turned into a boogie fest.

Saban was recorded doing the Electric Slide in the family's living room. He also apparently got in on a little number called the Wobble -- with which he seemed a bit less familiar.

Jay-Z thinks it was a huge setback for race relations when Donald Sterling was booted as owner of the Los Angeles Clippers because of his racist comments ... because it sends racists the wrong message.

Jay appeared on Van Jones' news CNN show Saturday night and explained his thoughts ... that when Sterling was thrown out of the franchise, it sent a message to racists to just continue that hateful thoughts, comments and actions on the QT.

Jay-Z said, "Once you do that (boot him from the franchise), all the other closet racists just run back in the hole. You haven't fixed anything. What you've done was spray perfume on a trash can."

The mogul also took aim at Trump in an interesting way, saying even if the African American community is benefiting economically now, saying, "Treat me really bad and pay me well. It's not going to lead to happiness ... Everyone's going to be sick."

Zion Williamson is gonna be great at Duke ... but we gotta pump the breaks on hailing him as the next LeBron -- so says Grant Hill.

We got the Duke legend at LAX a couple days after Zion committed to the Blue Devils ... and Grant was pumped on Coach K locking down yet another elite prospect.

"I hope the rims are ready in Cameron," Hill told TMZ Sports.

But Grant says that even though Zion's got the tools to be a king -- athleticism, size, explosiveness -- expecting him to become THE King is too much, especially this early (remember O.J. Mayo??).

Fair enough, but the kid definitely passes the eye test ...

Terrell Owens has some savage Super Bowl advice for the Eagles before his former team squares off with Tom Brady and the Patriots.

"Don't ever think you got 'em beat -- gotta put your foot on the throat," Owens told TMZ Sports.

T.O. knows what he's talking about ... the 6-time Pro Bowler balled out against the Pats at Super Bowl 39, but the Eagles let the game slip away after a back-and-forth battle.

So, when their big day arrives ... Owens -- who played his Super Bowl on a broken leg -- says they gotta go in with the mentality to kill or be killed.