TMZ Sports - Page 50

Johnny Manziel has signed on to play full contact football again -- as a quarterback in the upcoming "Spring League."

The league kicks off on March 28 in Austin, TX -- and during the 2017 season, several NFL scouts attended games to check out some of the players.

Previous Spring League players include Greg Hardy and Kellen Winslow Jr.

Manziel issued a statement saying, "The Spring League has provided me with a great opportunity to play ball again, and ultimately, that is all I want to do."

"I miss the competition. I'd like to thank Brian Woods and The Spring League staff for this opportunity to play the game I love. I've made my share of mistakes, but I'm 25 years old and I know my best football is ahead of me."

The Spring League had previously made 2 conditions for Manziel to play -- nightly check-ins with a team staff member at 9:30 PM AND he must pass a USADA drug test on the first day of the league.

No word if those conditions still apply.

Shaun White says he's "truly sorry" for referring to his sexual harassment case as "gossip" -- saying, "It was a poor choice of words to describe such a sensitive subject in the world today."

The snowboarding legend appeared on the "Today" show early Wednesday to address the comments he made during Tuesday night's post-Olympic media conference ... where he was asked about the graphic sexual harassment suit filed against him in 2016.

TMZ Sports broke the story back in August 2016 ... White was sued by his female bandmember, Lena Zawaideh, who claimed White would text her penis pics, sex videos involving fecal matter and forced her to style her hair in a way that appeased him during her 7-year run with the group.

White denied the allegations -- but ultimately settled the case with Zawaideh in May 2017, the terms of which were not disclosed.

But Tuesday night in South Korea -- right after White won gold in the men's halfpipe -- he was asked by an ABC reporter to address the allegations. White said he was there to talk about the Olympics, not "gossip."

A second reporter wanted to ask follow-up questions about the case, but was shut down by the moderator.

Golf star Bill Haas -- a 6-time PGA tour winner -- was injured Tuesday night when a Ferrari he was a passenger in rolled over and crashed in Pacific Palisades, CA -- killing the driver.

Luke Wilson's car was involved in the wreck -- but he was not injured.

The crash occurred right near Riviera Country Club -- where O.J. Simpson famously used to golf back in the day (he was banned after the murders). In fact, he golfed there with a famous movie producer the morning of the killings.

35-year-old Haas was rushed to the hospital where he was treated for pain and swelling in his legs. He suffered no broken bones and is expected to make a full recovery.

The driver of the car is a 71-year-old man. Cops have not released his name or said why they believe the Ferrari crashed in the first place.

Why did WWE superstar Shelton Benjamin fear his life was in danger when he found a LOADED GUN in the glove compartment of his Budget rental car?

"Me being a big black guy in a car with a gun in it? There's no way that scenario ends well for me if the cops come."

Yeah, that REALLY happened to Shelton last week in Kansas City -- where he discovered a loaded Ruger pistol with a spare clip that somebody else had left in the glove box.

Shelton says his mind raced when he first saw the gun -- wondering if it was used in a crime and if cops would wrongly think it belonged to him.

But Shelton handled things the right way -- saying he called police immediately and explained the situation ... and cops were cool when they came to collect the weapon.

In fact, cops told Shelton they see similar situations with guns left in rental cars "all the time."

Yeesh.

We reached out to Budget for comment -- so far, no word back.

Hopefully, Shelton gets some free rentals out of the situation ...

Here's another episode of "Playing It Coy," starring Tim Tebow ... who says he really doesn't know whether he'd consider signing with the XFL.

Tebow was gentlemanly as ever when we got him at LAX on Tuesday -- but when the topic of Vince McMahon's XFL offer got brought up again, he gave us the ol' Heisman stiff-arm.

"I don't know -- that's a long way from now."

He does have a point. The XFL doesn't launch til 2020.

Timmy did give us a clear answer when our photog -- a Chicago guy -- asked about him potentially playing for the Cubs.

One of the best basketball players alive says she's sick and tired of having to play overseas to make a decent living -- and she's calling for the WNBA to start paying women like their male counterparts.

Angel McCoughtry was the #1 overall pick in the 2009 WNBA draft and went on to become the 2009 WNBA Rookie of the Year, a 4-time WNBA All-Star and has already won the scoring title TWICE!

Problem is ... the top female players make SQUAT compared to NBA stars. According to a 2017 report, the top WNBA players only make around $100k in annual base salary.

To compare -- Steph Curry is making $34.6 million this season and that goes up to $45.7 mil per season at the end of his contract.

McCoughtry says the top women are forced to play overseas -- where they can make 10 times as much. McCoughtry has played everywhere from Russia to Lebanon to Turkey.

But she's clearly over it ...

"Pay us like you pay the men. I don't want to get paid more overseas. I want to get paid in my country."

In fact, McCoughtry says she sometimes wears the medals she wins in overseas tournaments out in public because people usually buy her a free meal when she does.

How hyped is Rick Ross on Dwyane Wade being back with the Heat??

We asked the Miami rap star on his way outta London Hotel in New York City and he let us know in the most Boss way possible.

"Of course! Dwyane Wade. Wade County. The Spoelstra Nostra. The Heat gang. We goin' back!" he told TMZ Sports.

Rough translation -- D-Wade's back home with coach Erik Spoelstra ... and together, they can take his squad back to the Finals!!

It ain't gonna be easy -- Miami is currently the 8th seed in the Eastern Conference, but they've lost 7 outta their last 10 games.

Wade's reportedly embracing his role as a bench player -- but Spoelstra says he's open to moving Dwyane into the starting lineup if he starts ballin' out again.

America's Olympic Luger Chris Mazdzer says he isn't having any issues in or out of the Olympic village in PyeongChang 'cause Ryan Lochte taught him exactly what NOT to do.

Chris just made history as the first American man to medal in singles luge, and he told us things are going smoothly for U.S. Olympians in S. Korea. A much different story from the disaster Lochte created during the Rio games 2 years ago.

You'll recall ... Lochte was at the center of an international scandal when he was charged with filing a false police report about being robbed at a gas station. He was eventually cleared, but not without a lot of hoopla and intrigue.

John Cena is giving Ford a little attitude adjustment of his own -- telling the car company to take their lawsuit over his old $500,000 supercar and shove it.

We broke the story ... Ford claims it sold Cena a super rare "limited edition" Ford GT supercar -- 647 horsepower, 3.5L EcoBoost V6 engine with an MSRP of $450,000.

Ford claims they only selected a few people for the privilege of buying the car -- and Cena was one of the lucky ones (Justin Verlander and Joey Logano also own the whip).

The caveat, according to Ford, owners CANNOT resell the car during the initial 24 months of ownership. Ford claims Cena broke the rules and flipped his ride for a profit. They're suing Cena for every penny he got from the sale.

But in new court docs filed in district court in Michigan, John says he did nothing wrong -- because the final contract he signed said nothing about a 24-month no-resale clause.

Cena says Ford screwed up by not putting the sale restriction in the final binding contract -- and he shouldn't be punished because they suck at paperwork.

Now, he's asking the judge to throw out the case against him.

How would Golden State Warriors co-owner Peter Guber handle LaVar Ball if Lonzo played for his team?

You're about to find out ...

We spoke with Guber outside Madeo in L.A. and asked about LaVar's newest ultimatum -- that he'll pull Lonzo off the Lakers if they don't sign his 2 other sons LiAngelo and LaMelo in the next 2 years.

"I don't listen to that conversation," Guber said.

He then mouthed a bunch of words he'd like to say to LaVar -- but quite honestly, we couldn't really make out what he was trying to say.

LeBron James is going OLD SCHOOL ... producing a remake of the 1990 classic "House Party" -- and he's tapping Donald Glover's brother to make it happen.

LeBron and his producing partner, Maverick Carter, are spearheading the project through their production company, Springhill Entertainment ... with "Atlanta" writers, Stephen Glover and Jamal Olori, doing the screenplay.

By the way, did you know there were actually FIVE "House Party" movies -- including the latest installment, "House Party: Tonight's the Night" which was released straight to DVD in 2013.

No word if Kid or Play will be involved in the Bron remake -- but c'mon, gotta hook 'em up with a cameo right?!

Now watch this dance move that we KNOW you did back in the '90s.

File Under: Snake On a Plane

Scumbag ex-Team USA doctor Larry Nassar got the private jet treatment Friday to fly from Michigan to Tucson to begin his federal prison stint ... and TMZ Sports has the photos.

Nassar boarded the plane at Detroit Metro Wayne County Airport in freezing Michigan temperatures -- the fact he didn't get a jacket makes us smile.

Records show the flight lasted 4 hours and 36 minutes. Nassar appears to be shackled and surrounded by law enforcement officials ... so we're guessing it wasn't exactly a Paris Hilton style private jet flight.

We asked the Federal Bureau of Prisons if it's typical for a high-profile prisoner to fly private but only got this response: "Due to security reasons, we do not share information on methods of prisoner transportation."

The good news ... Nassar has begun his 60-year sentence for child pornography crimes in a high-security federal prison in Tucson -- with roughly 1,500 other inmates.

Rob Gronkowski and his family are raging through New England -- hitting up 3 children's hospitals in less than 24 hours ... in a mission to give away a TON of cash!!

Rob -- along with his bro Dan and father Gordie -- decided today would be the day they distributed the $75,000 they raised by raffling off tickets to the Super Bowl.

The donation spree started off at Boston Children's Hospital -- where the Gronks played games with the kids and then presented a big, ol $25,000 check!!!

Dan tells TMZ Sports the family is en route to Barbara Bush Children's Hospital in Portland, Maine -- followed by Hasbro Children's Hospital in Rhode Island.

And yes, each hospital gets a big $25k check -- and some play time with the Gronks!

It's a bird! It's a plane! No ... it's the cops -- and they busted Elin Nordegren for hauling ass on a Florida highway!

Tiger Woods' ex-wife was popped doing 95 in a 65 in her 2015 Cadillac on February 4 -- but it wasn't your usual speeding stop.

Officials say Elin was spotted by a single-engine Cessna airplane operated by the Florida Highway Patrol which clocked her blazing down the freeway around 3 PM (late for a Super Bowl party, perhaps?).

The fine -- $356.

Here's Olivia Culpo fully nude for the new Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition -- begging one very important question:

HOW MUCH DO YOU HATE DANNY AMENDOLA RIGHT NOW!?

The former Miss Universe (2012) was a finalist for S.I.'s "Rookie of the Year" -- and despite these insane photos, she somehow didn't win.

Culpo's pics were part of a shoot called "In Her Own Words" where models like Hunter McGrady, Sailor Brinkley Cook (Christie Brinkley's daughter) and Paulina Porizkova wrote meaningful words on their body.

SI says the shoot is "a platform that allows the voice, the strength and the passion of these women to be expressed in the rawest form…on the naked body."

Mission accomplished.

The Swimsuit -- er, lack thereof -- issue hit shelves today ... and it's full of insanely gorgeous women who will end up dating Patriots players because that's how life works.

Seriously though ... good for you, Danny.

Super Bowl champ Corey Clement just made a LIFETIME deal with Philly -- as in, he just got the Eagles mascot tatted on his arm!

Clement BEASTED OUT in Super Bowl 52 in Minnesota -- hauling in 4 passes for 100 yards and a key touchdown after only catching 10 passes for 123 yards in the regular season.

So, how do you commemorate the GREATEST day of your life? Tattoos, baby!!!

The 23-year-old running back got some pretty sick ink of an Eagle tearing through his right forearm -- and the letters "SBLII" tatted on his neck.

It might get a bit awkward if Clement ever ends up playing for another team -- especially if the Dallas Cowboys come calling -- but for now, bask in the awesomeness.