TMZ Sports - Page 50

NFL prospect Derrius Guice -- who might hear his name called in the 1st round Thursday night -- just did one of the coolest things ever ... pimping out his car to honor his late father.

Guice was only six years old when his father was murdered ... so he decked out his Hyundai in rememberance of his dad ... with a picture of his pops on the hood with angel wings and an RIP message.

DG is projected by some to go in the 1st round, and it's clear his father is heavy on his mind, 'cause Guice has been tweeting a ton about his dad leading up to his big moment.

BTW -- he didn't stop at the car ... he also has a pair of custom cleats with the same type of tribute to his dad on them, and proudly displayed those for the world to see.

Ronda Rousey believes it is a privilege to hear her speak ... and she means it.

The UFC legend was promoting her movie "Mile 22" when she was asked why she's dialed back her interactions with reporters ... something she didn't used to do when her UFC career was on the rise.

"We live in an age of trial by Twitter,” Rousey said ... "What is really gained by stating opinion on anything? It whittles people down. It gets cut and pasted 10 times and it’s in a headline."

"Why should I talk? I believe hearing me speak is a privilege, and it’s a privilege that’s been abused, so why not revoke it from everyone?"

"I don’t believe public criticism beating you down is the right thing to do.”

Rousey also offered an explanation for why her 2 final UFC losses were so hard for her to handle publicly.

Tekashi69 is now persona non grata at the Barclays Center, so he's been axed from the lineup of a big upcoming event there ... TMZ has learned.

A source connected to Brooklyn's Soulfrito Fest 2018 tells us ... 6ix9ine will no longer be performing at the show due to an ongoing police investigation of a shooting at the venue connected to the rapper's manager.

We broke the story ... the shooting allegedly went down inside the Barclays Center during last weekend's Adrien Broner fight after Tekashi's crew had an altercation with a rival rap crew headed by Brooklyn-based MC Casanova.

6ix9ine's manager, Tr3yway, is a person of interest in the shooting, along with another shooting hours earlier in the streets of Brooklyn.

The Soulfrito show was announced months ago, and Tekashi69 was one of the most highly anticipated acts on the lineup of more than a dozen performers. No word yet if Barclays will offer refunds to disappointed 6ix9ine fans. The venue declined to comment.

Johnny Manziel says Baker Mayfield's drunken arrest shouldn't define him -- because it's just a part of being a star QB in college.

"Look, he got in a little bit of trouble last year but that's just part of being in college," Manziel said on the "Comeback SZN" podcast with Barstool Sports.

Manziel says most star QBs are "gonna go out, they're gonna have some drinks and one night you're gonna drink too much and somethings gonna happen that shouldn't have happened."

"It's just the way that things go."

Manziel is clearly referring to Baker's February 2017 arrest -- when he was arrested for public intoxication, disorderly conduct, resisting arrest and fleeing after Mayfield tried to run from cops.

Manziel doesn't think it's a big deal. We'll see if the NFL teams agree.

The head of the NFL Players Association says NFL owners only care about one thing -- money.

DeMaurice Smith -- executive director of the NFLPA -- was speaking at George Washington University when the issue of Colin Kaepernick and his kneeling demonstration came up.

Smith pointed to the fact Kaep hasn't been hired and said his unemployment shows how players and owners have completely different priorities, according to the GW Times.

"You have Colin fighting for the things he was fighting for, and to tie a loop on it, none of the owners are ever going to be involved in that," Smith said.

"They don’t care. The owners don’t care about anything but money."

Nick Diaz says the Floyd Mayweather shooting was "f*cked up" -- especially because he knows a couple of guys in Floyd's entourage who were in the van during the attack.

"That was my boy that got shot I think," Diaz said before sending a message to the guy -- "I hope you feel better, you got shot."

As we previously reported, Mayweather's longtime TMT bodyguard, Greg La Rosa, was hit in the leg when a gunman ambushed Floyd's crew in Atlanta. Greg is recovering and should be okay.

Diaz said there's really nothing Mayweather's team could have done to prevent the shooting -- explaining, "Sometimes it's just gonna go down."

"When it goes down, it goes down."

This video is pretty great!!!!

Meet Taven Bryan -- a 6' 5", 290-pound defensive tackle from Florida, who's predicted to be a 1st round draft pick! He's also super nice.

He's out in Dallas with his family and we asked how he plans to spend some of the MILLIONS he'll get from his first big contract.

"I might pay off my parents' bills," Bryan said. Sweet, right?

His dad happened to hear that answer and SHOT DOWN THOSE PLANS QUICK!

Why, you ask? You gotta watch.

But, the moral of the story ... the entire Bryan family seems to be looking out for each other and it's pretty cool.

John Cena says he's emotionally devastated after his breakup with fiancee Nikki Bella ... saying, "I love Nicole with all my heart and the split's tough."

The WWE superstar says he was expecting reporters to ask him questions about the split while promoting "Bumblebee" at CinemaCon in Vegas ... and decided he's ready to talk about it.

"It's a tough time but that's life," Cena said ... "We all go through highs and we all go through lows."

"I'm gonna get through it. I love her. I'll always love her."

"The fact that my heart hurts for her ... I know I was in love. So, I'll always have that."

Cena and Bella dated for roughly 6 years and he proposed at WrestleMania 33 in 2017.

Shaquem Griffin is gonna become a millionaire overnight when he gets selected at the NFL Draft ... and his confidence is so high, he's even making a play at his dream woman ... Chanice Chase!!

You know Shaquem -- he's the 1-handed linebacker who blew away all the doubters when he crushed it at the NFL Combine.

Now, he's already locked up a sponsor (J.C. Penny), says he's excited to take on Tom Brady and REALLY wants a shot with Chase!

FYI, Chanice Chase is an Olympic sprinter from Canada who competed in the 400m hurdles at the 2016 Games in Rio.

She's also MAD HOT!!!!!!

Best of luck to Shaquem in all he pursues ... and Chanice, if you're seeing this -- HIT HIM UP!!

7:09 AM PT -- Allen spoke with ESPN's Stephen A. Smith -- fessed up to the tweets and explained he was "young and dumb."

Smith says Allen insisted the "If it ain't white" line was a reference to an episode of "Modern Family" -- and was not meant to be racist.

Allen also claims at least one of the N-word tweets was a reference to a Rick Ross song.

Allen told Smith there's no excuse for the tweets and he understands posting that stuff was wrong -- but says his teammates know he's not a racist person.

Josh Allen -- one of the top QBs in the NFL Draft -- is apologizing for dropping the n-word on Twitter years ago ... saying he was "young and dumb."

The tweets surfaced Wednesday night ... one day before the draft -- and Allen had posted them to his real, authentic account back when he was in high school.

Some of the tweets ...

"i dont think you n**gas want a troubled son!" -- June 14, 2012

“N**gas Trying To Get At Me" -- February 12, 2013

"Bout to show up these N**gas at pong" -- February 26, 2012

Deontay Wilder tells TMZ Sports he's offered CRAZY money to Anthony Joshua to make their mega-fight happen, and if Joshua passes, it's proof the Englishman is a COWARD.

Joshua had previously said he'd have no problem fighting Wilder for $50 million dollars upfront ... a demand so crazy that some thought it was his way of backing out of the fight.

It might have backfired, because when we got Deontay at LAX he told our guy they put the money together, and sent over a deal to Joshua's promoter Eddie Hearn.

"I just sent them what they wanted. They said they wanted 50 mil ... and he'll fight, you gotta be a man of your word."

Wilder says the fight would take place in the United States -- after all, his side is putting up all the money -- and insisted the ball is now squarely in Joshua's court to take the fight or not.

"I'm just ready to do what I got to do."

San Francisco 49ers linebacker Reuben Foster might be off the hook soon for felony domestic violence charges ... because his ex-girlfriend just recanted her story.

Elissa Ennis released a statement through her lawyer Wednesday, essentially taking back her accusations against Foster stemming from a February incident.

Ennis reportedly claims Foster "did not strike her, injure her or threaten her," and adds that her injuries were "the result of a physical fight with another woman, and that Foster tried to end his relationship with Ennis after he learned of the fight."

She also claims there's video of the fight that proves Foster is innocent of the charges against him. Her lawyer adds that Ennis "was extremely upset and told him if he broke up with her she would 'trash his career.'"

As we reported, Foster was charged with felony domestic violence for allegedly dragging Ennis by her hair, physically throwing her out of the house, and punching her in the head 8 to 10 times ... which hospitalized her.

Blake Griffin is adamant he does not owe his baby mama any money ... after she accused him of abandoning her and their kids for Kendall Jenner ... in courts docs obtained by TMZ Sports.

We broke the story ... Brynn Cameron -- Blake's former fiancee and the mother of his 2 kids -- filed a lawsuit in February claiming the Pistons superstar left her only a week before their wedding.

Brynn claims that she and Blake had an agreement ... where she would take care of the kids so he could concentrate on basketball. She says Blake promised to take care of her financially.

But Cameron says Griffin bolted ... and didn't live up to his end of the bargain.

The woman who claims Gareon Conley raped her at a Cleveland hotel last year has filed a lawsuit against the Raiders player ... claiming she was mentally and physically hurt during the alleged incident.

FYI, Conley -- 22 years old -- was never arrested or charged with a crime ... and adamantly denies any wrongdoing.

In the lawsuit -- filed earlier this month in Cuyahoga County Court in Ohio -- the accuser alleges Conley "physically touched and engaged in the sexual contact" and "sexually assaulted, battered and raped" her after meeting and partying at a nearby bar.

As a result, the suit alleges the woman "sustained serious physical, psychological, emotional and mental injuries."

In addition to Conley, his management group and the hotel have also been named as defendants in the lawsuit.

Steve Scalise wishes he could be out on the baseball field with his GOP pals almost a year after he was shot at the Congressional baseball team practice -- and he also has advice for Kanye West on his future run for Prez.

We got the Republican House Majority Whip Wednesday at Reagan National Airport, and asked what he thought of Sen. Jeff Flake and other members of the GOP holding their first practice since a gunman opened fire. Scalise suffered severe internal bleeding from a gunshot to his hip.

Steve, who was walking with minor support from crutches, said he's glad Congress is keeping up the tradition and hopes to get back out there himself soon.

In regards to Kanye -- who's publicly reaffirming his love for President Trump -- Scalise sounded excited to have West's backing.

He did have one request for Kanye though ... IF the rapper's serious about getting into politics, himself. It has do with his timing, and it seems like 'Ye is fully on board with Rep. Scalise's plan.

Reggie Bush says Saquon Barkley's gonna waste no time dominating the NFL ... telling TMZ Sports the ex-Penn State star is more pro ready than he was coming out of USC.

We saw Bush -- regarded by many as the top player in the 2006 NFL Draft -- and asked who was more NFL ready heading into the draft ... him or Barkley.

"I think Saquon is more ready, prepared, going in. Just because his running style to me translates right now to the NFL," Bush -- the #2 overall pick in '06 -- tells us ... "For me, my first year in the league there was a learning curve of how to run between the tackles at the NFL level."

"There was an adjustment period for about 2 years, I would say. Before I really got comfortable running between the tackles" ... RG says.

But Saquon ... Reggie says he'll be ready to go from the jump.