TMZ Sports - Page 50

Michael Irvin says Aaron Rodgers' Week 1 struggles can be pinned on his offseason thoughts of quitting football ... telling TMZ Sports the QB's retirement talk played a role in his bad day against the Saints.

"This game is too hard," Irvin said at Dulles International Airport on Friday. "That's why you hear people say, if you're talking about or thinking about retiring, you're already retired."

"So," Irvin continued, "Aaron was was thinking about not playing. And it showed up, man."

The good news -- at least for Packers fans -- Irvin certainly seems to believe it's all reversible ... telling us, "I expect him to play much better."

"That's not something he would be doing all the time."

Rodgers had maybe the most interesting offseason of any player in the NFL -- he feuded so hard with the Packers over his contract and personnel decisions ... he legit pondered leaving the game despite having an MVP season in 2020.

In fact, Aaron stayed away from all of Green Bay's offseason practices and workouts while disgruntled -- and instead, traveled the globe with his fiancee, Shailene Woodley, and hosted "Jeopardy!"

Irvin clearly believes all of that played a big role in his 133-yard, 2-interception day against New Orleans ... but he still thinks Rodgers will rebound soon.

"You've got to hope that he is ready," Irvin said, "because there's nothing that you can say."

The woman who appeared to start the violent altercation at the Steelers vs. Lions preseason game in August has been hit with a criminal citation, TMZ Sports has learned.

A spokesperson for the Pittsburgh Police Dept. tells us after launching an investigation into the Aug. 21 melee ... cops cited the woman for disorderly conduct.

Per the spokesperson, the woman will likely now have to pay a fine as a result of the ticket.

The spokesperson added that no other citations or charges have been handed out as a result of the fight ... though a probe is still ongoing.

As we previously reported, the fight happened at some point during the Steelers' win over Detroit at Heinz Field ... and, as you can see in the footage shot by a bystander, it was chaotic.

The clip shows the woman getting in the face of a man seated one row in front of her ... before she eventually slapped him.

The physical touch set the guy off -- 'cause you can see in the video, he then swung on both her and the man sitting next to her.

It's unclear what started the whole thing ... but, fortunately, other fans were able to separate the combatants before things got even worse.

Everson Griffen will miss the Vikings' game this weekend ... after he injured himself attempting to swerve out of the way of a deer in the road on Thursday.

Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer explained the situation to reporters Friday ... saying Griffen crashed his car while trying to avoid the animal.

Zimmer said the 33-year-old pass rusher was later diagnosed with a concussion ... and is now out of action indefinitely.

"Swerved to miss a deer," Zimmer told media members of the incident. "Got in a car accident."

We've reached out to law enforcement for more information on the wreck ... but so far, no word back yet.

Griffen -- who played for Minnesota from 2010 to 2019 -- re-signed with the Vikings just a few weeks ago ... and played in the team's opener against Cincinnati last Sunday.

Giants' Darius Slayton ain't the one to blame for missing a crucial wide-open touchdown pass during Thursday night's game, according to O.J. Simpson, who says it was Daniel Jones' fault.

If you missed it, the G-Men were trying to add to their 3 point lead with 6:25 left in the game against the Washington Football Team.

The Giants QB threw a would-be TD pass to a wide-open Slayton ... but it bounced off his fingers. A TD likely would've sealed the game (though, never underestimate the Giants finding a creative way to lose) ... but they didn't score, and ultimately lost (after more mistakes), 30-29.

Fans have been goin' at Slayton for droppin' the pass ... but, Simpson straight-up says they're blaming the wrong guy.

"I heard somebody say Slayton dropped that long pass in the 4th quarter, no! This was simple," Simpson said on Friday.

"Danny Dimes totally missed a guy who was as opened as any wide receiver has ever been open in the history of football."

Simpson also called out Jones for not calling an audible when WFT's safety came up to the hole after the defense read the running play for Saquon Barkley.

"The Giants still ran the ball to that hole," Simpson said about the 3rd quarter play.

"Even the announcer said Saquon had no chance of gaining yards. The defense knew what was coming. Why Danny Dimes didn't audible out of that play, I don't know."

Simpson says if he was Barkley, he would have went off on Jones.

Not that there was a lack of chewing out Jones on the sideline ... newly signed Giants WR Kenny Golladay was seen ripping DJ in the 2nd half.

After the game, Jones said KG was just "frustrated at the situation. We're all good."

With the Giants' loss (0-2) to the WFT (1-1), Simpson says he knows who will win the division ... and it ain't the Cowboys.

Did you know Patrick Mahomes is a great quarterback AND sick hype man?!?!

It's true -- 'cause the Kansas City Chiefs star took the stage at a Kane Brown show Thursday night ... and his antics had fans losing their minds!!!

Mahomes and his fiancee, Brittany Matthews, hit up the country concert in Kansas City for a date night one day before Patrick's 26th birthday ... and at one point during the evening, the signal-caller was pulled on stage.

And, it didn't take long for him to get the audience into the show ... because as soon as started pumping his arms, everyone went crazy!

The song choice, meanwhile, was perfect for Mahomes' entrance ... it was Brown and Chris Young's smash hit, "Famous Friends."

The lyrics? "When I go back home I've got some famous friends, yeah, I do."

Fitting, right?!

As for the rest of the night ... Mahomes and Matthews clearly seemed to enjoy it all, taking selfies and singing along to all the songs.

Valentina Shevchenko -- the UFC's #2 ranked pound-for-pound female fighter -- tells TMZ Sports she is definitely down to scrap with Amanda Nunes for a third time ... in what'd be one of the biggest fights in the history of women's MMA.

We talked to the 33-year-old flyweight champion days before she's scheduled to fight Lauren Murphy at UFC 266 on September 25, and while Bullet clearly wants to continue dominating 125 pounds, she also knows another fight with the Lioness would be huge.

"I think if destiny puts this fight in front of us, most of us gonna do it. I'm kind of focused very much on my flyweight division and I just want to be better fight," Valentina says, adding, "and when [the third fight's] gonna happen, I'm here."

Of course, Shevchenko and 33-year-old Nunes previously fought twice -- in 2016 and 2017 -- in two tightly contested match-ups.

The first fight was at UFC 196 (McGregor vs. Diaz) ... where Nunes won by unanimous decision.

Valentina and Amanda rematched at UFC 215 (they were the main event) ... and Nunes again won -- this time by split decision -- in a razor close fight.

In fact, there are many people who believe Shevchenko won the second fight, and should've been crowned champ.

The 2 losses are Valentina's only defeats since late-2010. She's won 7 straight fights.

We also talked to Shevchenko about her future inside and outside the Octagon (she's got a movie coming out with Halle Berry and wants to continue acting).

L.A. Sparks hooper Erica Wheeler continues to do her opponents dirty with her filthy crossover ... and Atlanta Dream guard Odyssey Sims was her latest victim, getting dropped Thursday night.

... and Wheeler did it in front of the ATL fans.

The Sparks played the Dream in College Park, GA Thursday night ... winning 74-68 in a must win to keep their playoff hopes alive.

Brittney Sykes and Nneka Ogwumike led the Sparks with a combined 32 points -- but the highlight of the game was Wheeler's nasty crossover on Sims.

The 5-foot-7 guard sent Sims flying across the court after a nasty step back and finished it off bankin' in a wide-open jumper.

And, Wheeler recently did the same thing to Sue Bird ... one of the greatest WNBA players ever!

EW broke her ankles Sunday ... sending the Seattle Storm guard to the floor, nearly smacking her head on the hardwood.

Sheesh!!

The Sparks need all the momentum they can get ... they're fighting to make playoffs -- sitting in the ninth spot -- half a game behind Washington Mystic.

New York Giants star Nick Gates suffered a horrific leg injury Thursday night ... and it was so bad, he said afterward that he "snapped that s*** in half."

The offensive lineman -- who had just been named a Giants captain for the season -- was attempting to block for Daniel Jones in the first quarter of NY's loss to Washington, when his leg got rolled up on from behind.

In footage of the play, you can see a WFT defender landed right on the back of his leg ... causing it to completely break.

The injury was so bad ... NFL Network did not show a replay of the play.

Gates screamed out in pain for several moments, before trainers and doctors took him off the field and into the locker room on a cart.

Nick is expected to undergo surgery in the D.C. area Friday morning ... and will almost certainly miss the rest of the season.

The good news -- if there can be such a thing with this kind of injury -- Gates was upbeat after it all, with his agent, Jonathan Perzley, saying Nick "laughed on the phone and said 'I snapped that s*** in half.'"

"He will be back," Perzley added. "It would take a lot more than a broken bone to stop that man."

Gates also posted a statement on his social media, promising to return better than ever.

"Going to be a hell of a comeback!" he said.

Peter Dante -- you've seen him play goofy roles in just about every Adam Sandler film -- is in serious trouble after cops say he threatened to kill his neighbor over construction noise.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ ... cops showed up at Peter's L.A. area home Wednesday morning after he allegedly went berserk on a neighbor. Cops say Peter was upset about loud noise from construction work at a neighbor's house.

Apparently, it set Peter off ... cops say the actor ended up confronting his neighbor in a big way. Officers say they were told the confrontation escalated to the point Peter threatened to kill the neighbor and harm his wife and their kids.

Our sources say after talking to everyone involved ... cops arrested Peter for making felony criminal threats. He was taken into custody but posted bail and was released.

It's not the first time Peter's been accused of making threats. As we reported ... he was arrested back in 2013 and thrown out of an L.A. hotel after allegedly making violent threats and using racial slurs.

UFC fighter Ryan Spann trains at the gym owned by ex-NBA star Deron Williams ... and the light heavyweight contender once sparred with the hooper -- AND GOT HIS BUTT KICKED!!

"Deron whooped my ass one day. I'm dead serious. You can call him and ask him," Spann told TMZ Sports.

Context? We talked to the 30-year-old, 6'5", 205 lb. fighter just days before he's set to face 6th ranked LHW, Anthony Smith ... and we asked the 11th ranked fighter if he ever rolled around with 6'3" Williams at their gym, Fortis MMA in Dallas.

"I was training for a fight, and coach was like, 'Deron, get in.' And, I already knew he hooped, and I knew who he was, but I never got to go with him," Ryan said, "I think it was my 2nd or my 3rd round with a fresh body, and you put Deron in, I was like, 'Oh s**t, nice, I get a round off.' Little did I know Deron used to wrestle. And, he was about 230 at the time."

FYI, Williams was a damn good wrestler as a kid. Long before he starred at Illinois, was drafted with the 3rd overall pick, or made any All-NBA teams, Deron was a state champion on the mats in Texas. He won titles as an 8 and 12 year old ('93 & '97).

So, Ryan and the 3x NBA All-Star sparred. How'd it go?!

"It wasn't until Deron was on top of me and me struggling to get up, and coach gonna look at me and say 'I've been working with him for the last couple of years. You thought you were gonna get this round off?'"

Shocking, on the surface, considering Spann is one of the most dangerous men in the world ... meanwhile DW, surely a good wrestler as a kid and great athlete in general, is a basketball player -- not a fighter.

Then it was time for a little payback ... in the form of a knuckle sandwich.

"He got me, but the next round I hit him with the right hand and he hasn't sparred me since."

So, would Deron -- who's only 37-years-old and hasn't played ball professionally since he was with the Cleveland Cavs in 2017 -- ever take a real fight??

Ryan says Deron was once pitched a fight with Pro Bowl defensive lineman turned UFC fighter Greg Hardy (we actually talked to Deron about this in 2018) ... but unfortunately, the scrap never came together.

UFC fighter Dan Hooker's fight against Nasrat Haqparast is in serious jeopardy ... with the lightweight begging for a visa to make it to Vegas for UFC 266 next Saturday.

31-year-old Hooker -- who is from Auckland, New Zealand -- sent out a public cry for help to the U.S. Embassy’s Kevin Covert on Twitter on Thursday.

FYI -- Auckland is currently experiencing widespread COVID-19 outbreaks ... which has led the government to require folks to stay home and remain in bubbles.

Hooker tweeted at Covert in hopes of getting his situation handled ASAP ... saying, "Hi Kevin, apologies for messaging on here but it’s a last resort."

"My visa is with the US embassy here in NZ as I fight next week in Las Vegas on #UFC266 Update today is it won’t be approved until next week due to lock down which will cancel my fight. Please help."

"The embassy has my passport and all the completed documentation, all I need is it to be processed and returned," he added.

"This is an absolute last resort."

Hooker is slated to fight 26-year-old Haqparast --who is 5-2 since joining the UFC in 2017 -- on September 25.

Brian Ortega vs. Alex Volkanovski and Nick Diaz vs. Robbie Lawler are also on the card.

The embassy responded to Hooker's tweet by asking him to reach out to them directly ... so it seems they may be on the case.

"The Mountain" is looking more like a sculpted rock ... 'cause he's lost a TON of weight over the past two years -- and check out his new bod, he's SHREDDED!!!

Hafthor Bjornsson -- who starred as the big beast on "Game Of Thrones" -- has transformed his body since retiring from strongman competition in 2019 ... moving to the boxing world, and the results are impressive as hell.

Just two days out from his big celeb tilt with arm-wrestling legend Devon Larratt, Bjornsson -- a 3x Arnold Classic and 2018 World's Strongest Man winner -- showed off all the progress he's made with his physique, revealing chiseled abs, pecs and arms.

6'9" Bjornsson told Muscle And Health earlier this month he's down to about 328 pounds -- roughly 120 pounds under the 450-or-so pounds that he used to tip the scales at when he was lifting competitively.

It's all been an effort to dominate in the ring ... with Bjornsson initially setting out to fight fellow strong man Eddie Hall -- his heated rival -- this weekend.

Hall, though, tore his bicep while training in July ... so Bjornsson is now scheduled to fight Larratt -- a dude he once lost to in an arm-wrestling competition.

Urban Meyer ain't the only one shutting down USC rumors -- so is Kansas City Chiefs' OC Eric Bieniemy ... telling reporters Thursday, "I am focused on the task at hand."

The first question at Bieniemy's press conference wasn't about his teams week 2 game against the Ravens ... but the rumors about him being a candidate for USC's head football coaching vacancy.

EB immediately laughed at the reporters inquiry ... saying, "You know me."

"You guys know me. I am where my feet are. So, when it’s all said and done with, I am focused on the task at hand."

Bieniemy added, "I’m not worried about anything like where my name is being mentioned. My job right now is to make sure that we’re preparing for this weekend’s opponent.”

Another reporter followed up, asking *hypothetically* what Eric would do if USC hit him up, and again, Bieniemy shut down the question.

"If USC reached out to me right now, my answer would be, ‘I am preparing for this team to play against the Baltimore Ravens.’ That’s how I roll. You guys know that."

"My job is to make sure we’re ready to play a complete, sound, 60-minute football game where we can come out and win the game."

Honestly, it'd be hard to blame EB if he had interest in one of the premiere college football jobs ... after he was passed up for several head coaching gigs in the off-season.

But, it certainly appears Bieniemy is committed to sticking with KC this season.

Tee Higgins' days in the #85 jersey are officially numbered ... the Bengals star just told media members he's switching to #5 next season -- and it's all 'cause of Chad Johnson.

The second-year NFL wideout said he's tired of being compared to Chad and being called "Ochocinco 2.0" -- so he's moving on from the digits as soon as the 2021 season ends.

"I just want to make a name for myself," the 22-year-old said. "I keep seeing on Twitter that, 'Ochocinco 2.0.' I don't want to be a 2.0."

"No disrespect to Chad," Higgins continued. "He's a great receiver, this and that. I just don't want to be a 2.0 for myself, man."

Higgins has done a great job reminding Bengals fans of their past superstar ... in just 15 starts for the team, he has 71 catches for 966 yards and 7 TDs.

But, Higgins clearly ain't down for the comparison game anymore -- even if it's to a legend like Johnson -- saying Thursday, "I want to be Tee Higgins, 1.0. #5."

Higgins added he believes it's only a matter of time before the Bengals retire the #85 for Johnson anyway.

"I just got a good feeling that his number is gonna get lifted one day," he said.

An Eagles victory this weekend could be VERY costly for ex-NFL star Bart Scott ... 'cause the former linebacker guaranteed he'd shave off one of his eyebrows if Philly beats the 49ers!!

The 41-year-old made the promise during ESPN's "Get Up" show on Thursday ... saying he's that confident San Francisco will come away with a win over the Eagles on Sunday.

"Can we have a one-shot on me and [former NFL player Damien Woody]?" Scott asked during a fiery segment breaking down the Eagles vs. 49ers matchup.

"Listen, I bet you that if the 49ers lose to the Philadelphia Eagles, I'll shave my eyebrow off. What say you?!"

The bet is not exactly an insane one ... the Niners are favored to win by 3 despite being on the road in Philadelphia.

But, still, the Eagles looked really good in their win over the Falcons last Sunday ... with star quarterback Jalen Hurts performing like a potential MVP.

When will Tom Brady retire?! No time soon ... 'cause the 44-year-old Bucs quarterback says he can play until he's 50 years old.

It's one of the NFL's most asked questions ... and in an episode of "Tommy & Gronky," the 7x Super Bowl champ addressed his future, specifically, if he can QB until 50.

"Seems to be a really hot question lately. Can Tom Brady play until 50? Like 50 years old?" Brady told Rob Gronkowski.

"I don't find it so difficult. And plus, Florida is sorta a retire-y state, so I feel like I can play and then just guide into retirement. I think I can. It's a yes."

Tom's latest answer represents a slight change in position ... in fact, it was only June when TB12 refused to commit to playing until his Golden birthday.

At the time, the G.O.A.T. said ... "50? That’s a long time. Even for me, that’s a long time."

He continued ... "I’ve always said 45 was the age that I wanted to reach and that was my goal. This year I’ll be 44, so next year I’ll be 45. I got a two-year contract."

But, just a few months later, and after his awesome Week 1 performance against the Cowboys (379 yards, 4 TD's), Brady has obviously changed his tune.

FYI, Tom just celebrated his 44th birthday on August 3 ... meaning there's 6 more seasons (including this year) until he'll turn 50.

If he balled as a 50-year-old ... that'd mean 7 more seasons of TB12.

For some context, the oldest quarterback ever was George Blanda, who retired as a 48-year-old in 1976. Future Hall of Famer Drew Brees retired this off-season ... at the age of 42.