TMZ Sports - Page 50

O.J. Simpson insists his 'If I Did It' TV special was NOT a confession to murder -- and says the people on the show were all "a bunch of haters."

Simpson gave his first sit-down interview since leaving prison to the Buffalo News -- and gave his own take on "O.J. Simpson: The Lost Confession?"

"When people want to make money or get ratings, they're going to pimp me. I'm going to get pimped."

Simpson says his friends had been teasing him about the show and whether or not it was a REAL confession.

"Listen, if I confessed 12 years ago, you would have heard about it 12 years ago!"

When asked if he's watched the FOX special, Simpson replied -- "I watch nothing of me."

"I didn't watch the [FOX special] because I knew they were all haters, and people will say things that are just not true, and there's nobody there to challenge them, and that would piss me off."

Golf legend Fred Couples says the old, dominant Tiger Woods is here to stay -- and he thinks it's FREAKIN' AWESOME.

"Oh, Tiger's back ... I love it," 58-year-old Fred told TMZ Sports at LAX. "I have a great opinion on Tiger."

You'd think Couples would be a little threatened by his resurgence ... but Fred's so happy to see vintage Tiger crushing the green, all he could do was gush about him.

Of course, we had to ask Couples the question on everyone's mind -- can Tiger end his Majors drought and collect his 5th green jacket?!

Stan Lee needed a real-life superhero to find and return his lost dog. Enter the immortal football legend, Jim Brown, who proved not all heroes wear capes.

Sources close to Stan tell TMZ ... the comic book legend's Mini Pomeranian, Charlotte, went missing last week, though it's unclear how she got loose. In any case, Stan's peeps canvassed the Hollywood Hills neighborhood where he lives and his business partner Keya Morgan posted "Lost Dog" flyers everywhere.

A few days passed, but the posters garnered zero leads ... leaving Stan resigned to the idea Charlotte was gone for good. But, not so fast.

We're told the NFL Hall of Famer and his wife, Monique -- who live about a mile away from Stan -- found Charlotte in their yard ... scared with no collar. The couple sprung into action ... first firing off an email to a bunch of their neighbors, but that fetched no clues.

The Browns were undeterred, and brought Charlotte to a vet, who found a microchip planted near her neck, but, again, no luck there either because the chip wasn't registered.

The Browns then went old school and canvassed several neighborhoods and BAM ... they saw the posters, called the number and just like that, Charlotte was reunited with Stan.

No word on whether Jim gets a reward!

WWE superstar Lana wasn't satisfied with your average Thursday night out ... so, she hopped on stage at an iconic L.A. gay bar and put on a POLE DANCING CLINIC.

And yes, there was plenty of twerking.

The Ravishing Russian hit The Abbey in West Hollywood yesterday ... and showed off all her best moves in a pair of extra-stretchy denims -- shakin' her hips and droppin' it low like her life depended on it!!

No sign of her pro wrestler husband, Rusev ... guessing this was Ladies Night based on all the screaming chicks in the front row.

Fun fact: Lana was actually a backup dancer for huge stars like Nelly, Usher and Jason Derulo before she crossed over to the WWE.

We like this better.

Ivan Drago -- the Russian murderer who beat Apollo Creed to death -- is now training his son to a be a human killing machine, too ... and he's getting the boy in shape on Rocky's home turf.

Dolph Lundgren was spotted out at the famous Rocky statue Thursday in front of the Philadelphia Museum of Art ... shooting a scene with Florian "Big Nasty" Munteanu -- the boxer who's playing his son in the sequel.

Of course, the museum steps and statue are part of the Rocky legend -- it's where Balboa proved to himself that he had the heart, the will and the EYE OF THE TIGER in multiple 'Rocky' movies.

Drago famously trained in a high-tech Russian lab (while doping his face off) before he got his clock cleaned in "Rocky IV" -- but now it seems he's using Rocky's methods to train up his kid.

Why? Maybe the Russians took the loss harder than we thought and kicked his ass outta there.

R.I.P. Creed.

Josh Norman is already getting behind his new QB -- telling TMZ Sports he feels Alex Smith is "underrated" for everything he's done in his career.

We spotted the Washington Redskins star cornerback in Atlanta and asked how he felt about the big quarterback moves in the NFL ... including his old QB Kirk Cousins getting an $84 million deal with the Vikings.

Norman looked a little bummed out (why not? he's a good quarterback) but explained, "It's business. Everything is business."'

He also explained why Cousins is worth every single penny.

Floyd Mayweather's protege is gunnin' for the Octagon, too -- and if he gets the chance to cross over, he says he'll beat ANY UFC FIGHTER in his division.

Boxing star Gervonta "Tank" Davis -- the co-headliner for Mayweather vs. McGregor -- has been going back-and-forth with a bunch of UFC guys on social media ... after hinting he'd be down for an MMA fight like his mentor.

We caught up with Tank to see if he's really down -- and he let us know what's up.

"If the opportunity's up for grabs then I'm definitely willing to fight any one of them guys near my weight class," Davis told TMZ Sports. "Dana White, I'm waiting on your call, baby."

FYI, Gervonta fights at 130 pounds -- around the same weight as killers like Demetrious Johnson, Cody Garbrandt and T.J. Dillashaw.

As for Floyd -- Tank told us why he thinks a Conor rematch could be in the cards ...

The owners might be scared ... but virtually all the players in the NFL support Colin Kaepernick and want him back in the league ... this according to Denver Broncos LB Brandon Marshall.

Marshall has been tight with Kaep since college and told the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs tonight on FS1) that he's 100% confident C.K. is ready to compete with the best in the world.

But Marshall doesn't think Kaep's job status has anything to do with his skill -- it's the owners who are too afraid to stand up for the QB.

Billionaire businessman Tom Benson -- who owned the New Orleans Saints and Pelicans -- has died, his family has confirmed.

The 90-year-old passed away peacefully Thursday at Ochsner Medical Center in Louisiana with his wife, Gayle Marie Benson, at his side after falling ill with the flu.

Benson started out as a bookkeeper at a Chevy dealership in New Orleans -- but went on to become a dealership owner and expanded the business into a billion-dollar empire.

Benson bought the Saints in 1985 -- when they weren't exactly winners (remember the Aints?). The team posted their first winning record in 1987 and made the playoffs that year. Of course, they got better and won the Super Bowl in 2010.

In 2012, Benson bought the New Orleans Hornets and changed the name to the Pelicans.

Colin Kaepernick wants everyone to know he's still NFL ready ... and he's showing off his rocket arm during a training session in Houston.

Kaepernick hit the field with Josh Hidalgo -- Head of Sports Performance at William Paterson University -- and threw some darts with a team of pass catchers.

Hidalgo says he's been training Kaep every single day since January 2017 -- adding, "We haven't stopped throwing, training and preparing."

"To say he's dedicated is an understatement ... Even when we’re traveling we put in that work."

Kaepernick hasn't taken a snap in the NFL since 2016 -- before he parted ways with the San Francisco 49ers.

Kaep has said he wants to get back in the league and compete for a starting job again -- and now he wants the world to see he's still got the talent that took him to the Super Bowl.

Ezekiel Elliott's been spotted in the wild for the first time this offseason ... but don't worry, Cowboys fans -- he's out coppin' shoes, not booze.

We got Zeke in Beverly Grove right after the superstar RB and his BFF, Alvarez Jackson, went absolutely HAM at high-end sneaker joint SoleStage.

Elliott wasn't feeling chatty -- but we're guessing he was in a pretty good mood based on his battalion of shopping bags.

FYI, SoleStage's average kicks will run you hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars ... so Zeke was raining stacks, no question.

But, again -- good to see the guy doing chiller activities like this ... especially considering he was PARTYING HIS FACE OFF at this time last year.

Happy almost St. Paddy's Day!!!

The woman who was brutalized by baseball player Danry Vasquez says she regrets not pressing charges against him ... and prays that he's a changed man for the sake of his new wife.

Fabiana Perez spoke with Univision and confirms the two did not break up until months after the 2016 attack. Vasquez got engaged to a new woman in Nov. 2017 and they're now married.

Perez says the two had been together for 6 years and were engaged at the time of the incident.

As we previously reported, Perez was not cooperative with prosecutors and lobbied the district attorney to let Vasquez slide.

Now, Perez says she regrets her actions ... and had this message about Vasquez:

"May God forgive him. He knows what he did. He wronged me, and at the time I forgave him, but if I had the knowledge I have now, I would have made a different decision."

As for people who criticized her for staying with Vasquez after the attack, Perez had this to say:

"It’s true what they say: you need to walk a mile in someone’s shoes to know how you’d feel in their situation. People don’t know the stuff that I lived, people don’t know the fear that I suffered."

Talk about swift justice ... boxer Vinny Paz already had his day in court after being arrested for domestic violence Thursday morning ... and he got off relatively easy -- avoiding any jail time.

Paz was arrested this morning in Rhode Island after cops say V.P. refused to exit his house after allegedly beating up his GF ... forcing cops to bust down his garage door.

Less than 10 hours after being charged with 2 misdemeanor domestic violence counts -- Paz appeared in front of a judge and immediately copped a plea ... pleading no contest to domestic violence simple assault.

The other charge was dismissed.

Paz won't spend time behind bars ... but he ain't free and clear. The judge ordered him to take domestic abuse and substance abuse counseling, participate in a mental health program, and give up his guns.

Drake broke the Internet this week by hopping on a computer game with its most popular player -- but the virtual appearance wasn't a planned plug ... Papi's just a big fan.

Sources over at Fortnite -- the battle-royale type combat game that's super popular on the streaming platform, Twitch -- tell TMZ that Drizzy's Wednesday night sesh with Ninja was not a sponsored event or a pre-planned gimmick ... on the contrary, it happened organically.

We're told Drake personally reached out to Ninja last week on Instagram to set up a mutual time to nerd out and blow stuff up on Fortnite. Apparently, he's a big fan of the game ... following its accounts on social media and even having his own profile -- TheBoyDuddus.

Our sources say Drake and Ninja did not signal they'd be online together Wednesday, and that the pairing came as a complete surprise. But, the love didn't go unnoticed (or unappreciated) ... we're told Fortnite's sending Drake a bunch of swag as a thank-you.

Fortnite's also in the process of setting a celebrity NBA-style "Party Royale" gaming event in mid-June with around 50 celebs and 50 pro gamers. We imagine Drake will get an invite -- Travis Scott and Steelers player Juju Smith, too ... who also played with D&N last night.

Eagles star Brent Celek is taking a line from "Terminator" in his heartfelt farewell to Philly -- telling fans not to be sad about him getting released 'cause, "I'll be back."

Brent -- who missed only 1 regular-season game in 11 SEASONS with the team -- says he's not 100% on continuing his playing career ... but no matter if it's on the field or off, he's gonna fly with the Super Bowl LII champs in the future.

"One day I'll be back with the Eagles in some capacity," Celek told TMZ Sports.

"When -- who knows? But, I love that organization ... I owe it to 'em."

Brent's also got nothing but love for Philly and its hardcore fans -- saying they've been great to him since he got drafted by the team in 2007.

Case in point -- the standing O they gave him at the 76ers game on Tuesday ... just hours after he was released.

Brent described everything it meant to him ... and you're gonna need some tissues.

The man who shot and killed ex-NFL RB Joe McKnight could be spending the rest of his life in a prison cell.

Ronald Gasser, 56, was just sentenced to 30 years behind bars ... less than 2 months after he was found guilty of manslaughter in a Louisiana courtroom. The maximum sentence he faced was 40 years.

Gasser was originally charged with 2nd-degree murder, but the jury elected for the lesser charge of manslaughter after more than 7 hours of deliberation back on Jan. 26.

McKnight -- who played for the Jets and Chiefs from 2010-2014 -- was gunned down by Gasser during a road-rage incident on Dec. 1, 2016, which ended when Gasser shot McKnight 3 times through his passenger side window.

Joe was only 28.

McKnight's mother, Jennifer, gave a victim impact statement before the sentencing, saying -- "That day, you didn't have to do that. That didn't have to happen. It hurts. It's going to hurt a long time."

Michelle Quick, the mother of Joe's 8-year-old son, also addressed Gasser before leaving the courtroom in tears.

"It will be my life's mission to make sure my son, Jaiden, doesn't grow up with hate for you. Not because you don't deserve it, but because he should not have hate in his heart."

FYI, Gasser's lawyer's filed a motion for a new trial before the sentencing -- claiming he was clearly acting in self-defense -- but the judge rejected their proposal.