TMZ Sports - Page 50

Warren Moon is doling out some seriously high praise on Michael Penix Jr. ... telling TMZ Sports the Washington quarterback straight up "throws as pretty a ball as mine!"

The former Huskies signal-caller didn't stop the compliments there, however ... telling us he believes the current UDub QB1 could end up being the No. 2-ranked quarterback behind Caleb Williams when the 2024 NFL Draft officially rolls around in April.

"I watch him throw," Moon said, "and I've watched a lot of quarterbacks throw the football -- and this guy throws as pretty a ball as mine."

"I think once he goes through the scouting process," the Hall of Famer added, "and goes through the combine and people watch him throw and they watch him throw in his Pro Day coming up, I think he's going to really dazzle people with his arm talent."

Moon says that while Penix Jr. put all of that on display against Texas in the Sugar Bowl -- he really expects the college football world to take note when the Huskies kick off against Michigan for the national championship later Monday night.

Moon explained ... he believes that due to UDub's location as well as the Pac-12's TV deal, not many are aware of what the quarterback is really capable of.

"He's had a tremendous two years at the University of Washington," Moon said.

Kickoff for the natty is slated for 4:30 PM ... and it's clear Moon believes his alma mater will walk away from it all with another trophy for its case in Seattle.

Mary Lou Retton is doing her first interview since being released from the hospital last year amid a scary battle with pneumonia -- and now, we're learning it was nearly deadly.

The ex-Olympic champion is set to do a sit-down with Hoda Kotb of "Today" this week, and a teaser clip was released ... which features the images of her we've seen publicly for a long while, and it's somewhat startling to see that she has breathing tubes hooked up to her.

Hoda notes that MLR is still on oxygen, which Mary confirms ... only to then discuss how awkward and difficult it is for her to discuss her health scare in the public eye like this.

She then makes another revelation ... saying she's grateful to be here, 'cause for a while during her hospitalization -- Mary didn't think she'd make it. As she notes here, they were on the cusp of placing her on life support, confirming the seriousness of her condition.

Her family members had been telegraphing this to us at the time ... discussing setbacks during her recuperation, and how scared her loved ones were for her, asking for prayers. Remember, Mary Lou had contracted a rare form of pneumonia -- which took its toll.

Thankfully, Mary Lou was able to fight back to good enough health to be released -- and now, it looks like she continues to be on the mend as she gets to 100% again at home.

Taylor Swift and Travis Kelce both traveled more than a thousand miles to end up in the same city ... but they spent the night apart.

Taylor's in L.A. for the Golden Globes Sunday night, and Travis is in town for Chiefs vs. Chargers around the same time.

Taylor, along with pals Brittany Mahomes and Lyndsay Bell, hit up Wolfgang Puck's Spago in Bev Hills Saturday night, sans Travis. It makes sense ... Travis is getting ready for the game, and a night out would have made the wrong kind of headlines.

They entered Spago from the back alley after leaving from Taylor's Bev Hills estate.

The lowdown from inside the restaurant ... nothing spectacular. They laughed, they talked, they ate. She apparently, was a bit preoccupied on her phone ... hmmm, wonder who she was texting?

It's highly unlikely Taylor will attend the game ... the red carpet starts at 3:30 and Travis's game starts around 2 hours earlier ... that is, unless she goes to the Golden Globes in a Chiefs jacket!

As for the girls' night out ... it was a long one. They arrived at 7:30 and left at 11.

If J.J. McCarthy's able to pull off the win vs. Washington on Monday night, he will go down as the best Wolverines quarterback EVER -- at least, that's according to Ty Law.

The Pro Football Hall of Famer and former Michigan star made it clear to TMZ Sports that all McCarthy needs to do from here in order to claim the title of UM G.O.A.T. is simply just beat the Huskies.

"If he pulls this off," the ex-defensive back said, "you know what, he's going to stand alone being the only undefeated quarterback in the history of the program."

UM has had some historically great signal-callers over the years -- the list includes Tom Brady, Chad Henne, Elvis Grbac, Jim Harbaugh and a whole lot more -- but Law says McCarthy's resume will top them all if he's able to bring the CFP trophy back to Ann Arbor.

Of course, there might not be that many people who would argue against Law ... after all, McCarthy is 26-1 as a starter -- and is perfect against Ohio State.

Harbaugh certainly wouldn't be one who would fight Ty over the issue -- he said following Michigan's Rose Bowl win over Alabama that McCarthy is already the Wolverines' best ever.

A swimmer who won gold during the 1972 Olympics shortly after suffering from a collapsed lung has his collection of medals going up for auction.

Steve Genter's set of gold, silver, and bronze medals from the '72 Summer Games in Munich are estimated to go for more than $50K during RR Auction's Olympic-themed auction.

The American athlete risked his life to compete in the games ... after undergoing minor surgery for a partly collapsed lung just one week before competing -- which was said to have been brought on by a persistent cough from bronchitis and altitude changes during the cramped plane ride to Munich.

Steve went on to win the gold medal in the 4 x 200-meter freestyle relay, silver in the 200-meter freestyle, and bronze in the 400-meter freestyle.

Steven Genter told the auction house...  "For most of my life, the medals represented a defining moment in time. Each medal is uniquely intertwined with the Olympic experience, making those memories lifelong. I get goosebumps every time I recall those moments."

Steve gifted the medals to help someone whom he cares deeply about, who wished to remain anonymous. This person will pocket the proceeds. The winning bidder will also get a one-on-one call with Steve.

Bobby Livingston, executive vice president at the auction house, gushed of the extraordinary narrative behind the medals ... saying they didn't just symbolize winning ... but the character and heart that defines a true champion.

Lamar Odom says LeBron James and the Lakers can make it out of their current slump, they just gotta get into shape -- well, one in particular to be exact -- telling TMZ Sports L.A. needs to bring back the triangle offense!!

The Purple and Gold have struggled to keep it together after being crowned the In-Season Tournament champions last month -- they're currently sitting in the bottom half of the Western Conference with a record below .500.

We spoke with the two-time Lakers champ about his former team's woes ... and he said head coach Darvin Ham should take a page out of Phil Jackson's book and implement the offense that helped his squad rack up championships back in the day, as well as the legendary Chicago Bulls teams led by Michael Jordan.

In fact, he even suggests his own lineup that could flourish under that strategy -- Jarred Vanderbilt, Rui Hachimura, Austin Reaves, Anthony Davis and, of course, LeBron.

Robert Nelson Jr. -- a former Arizona State Sun Devils football star who spent three seasons in the NFL -- was arrested in Los Angeles last month for allegedly illegally possessing a gun ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Law enforcement tells us the arrest happened in Burbank back on Dec. 22.

We're told Burbank Police officers were patrolling a local mall parking lot at around 9 PM when they observed Nelson's vehicle in a handicap spot without a placard.

Cops say when officers looked into the car, they noticed a loaded handgun sitting in plain view on the floorboard. They later located Nelson and threw him behind bars.

Court records show Nelson was charged with one count of carrying a loaded firearm on/in person vehicle ... and was arraigned on Dec. 26. He's now due back in court in late February for another hearing on the matter.

Nelson Jr., a defensive back, played for ASU from 2011 to 2013 and became a star for the Sun Devils in his senior year, recording First-Team Pac-12 honors after logging six interceptions.

He went unpicked in the 2014 NFL Draft ... but still managed to latch on with several NFL teams -- earning playing time with the Browns, Texans and Jets from 2014 to 2017.

3:49 PM PST -- The Palm Beach Sheriff's Office tells TMZ ... Cindy's roommate called cops to their Lake Worth Beach home on Dec. 30, 2023 -- saying she returned home from a holiday trip, knocked on Cindy's door in their residence ... but got no response.

The roommate told officers she smelled a strong odor emanating from inside and called 911, noting the last she'd seen CM alive was on Dec. 19. Cops went in and found Cindy dead in her room ... with no foul play suspected. An investigation is underway.

3:22 PM PST -- A county rep confirms to TMZ that Cindy died of "natural causes."

Cindy Morgan -- famous for her role in "Caddyshack" -- has died ... TMZ has learned.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office confirmed the actress' passing in the area, but no further details about when she died or under what circumstances were immediately available. We've also confirmed her body is currently at a local funeral home there in Florida.

Morgan will likely best be remembered for playing Lacey Underall in the famous 1980 comedy opposite Chevy Chase, Bill Murray and Rodney Dangerfield -- portraying the country club owner's hot niece who captures the attention of pretty much every male character.

She had quite a few scenes in there ... and was memorable as the key temptress in the flick. There's one notable scene she shared with Chevy, where she tried seducing him at a party.

While she was great in "Caddyshack," Cindy had actually starred in several other big films throughout her career ... specifically, in "Tron" -- where she played 2 big roles, Lora and Yori. In addition to this, she also starred in "Galaxis," "Silent Fury," "Up Yours" and other movies.

Her TV resume was even more impressive ... CM had roles on hit shows like "The Love Boat," "CHiPs," "Bring 'Em Back Alive," "The Fall Guy," "Falcon Crest," "Matlock," "Hunter," "The Highwayman," "Manusco, FBI," "The Larry Sanders Show," "Under Suspicion" and more.

Cindy's resume included 37 acting credits, and it looks like she'd been active as recently as 2022 with a voice role in an indie flick. We've tried reaching out to her team ... but haven't had any luck in tracking down someone who currently reps her.

She was 69.

RIP

Ryan Garcia had a little good news/bad news sitch on his hands this week -- first, he's a father to a new baby ... plus, he's apparently leaving his wife who just delivered said baby.

The lightweight boxing phenom made shocking back-to-back announcements Friday evening, almost instantaneously ... namely, breaking happy news that he and his partner, Andrea Celina, had recently welcomed a boy into the world ... whom they named Henry Leo.

Within the hour of posting pics of his new kid -- which is actually his second with AC -- RG threw up a downer of a post ... in which he declared he and Andrea were getting divorced.

Ryan's birth post was jubilant, reading ... "Honored To announce my Beautiful First Born SON PRAISE THE LORD. I am so thankful, I love him so much already. He is so fast already haha. Took him just 8 min to arrive You know where he got that speed from lol. GOD DID! And GOD WILL ... THANK YOU LORD I LOVE YOU."

In a since-deleted IG post that went up almost immediately after the baby announcement, Ryan said he and Andrea were ending their marriage ... which was eye-popping for a couple different reasons. For starters, no one seemed to know they were already hitched.

Of course the bigger reason is ... it was literally the very next thing he posted.. Ryan wrote in part, "As I step into a new chapter in my life, it's with a heavy heart to share that Drea and I have decided to divorce." He goes on to say that they remain committed to co-parenting their two children, etc. Now, it's a bit unclear if he and Andrea are on the same page here.

Andrea herself did not post the divorce statement, and Ryan's now scrubbed it from his page -- even though it was publicly up for well over 12 hours. Andrea has since posted some cryptic messages of her own on her IG Story ... perhaps suggesting she's mad at him.

It's a strange turn of events ... especially considering they've been together since 2019. Now that Ryan's taken down his divorce announcement -- we're not quite sure where things stand.

The contract isn't yet signed, but Michael Chandler says he's fighting Conor McGregor on June 29 in Las Vegas ... and he's totally cool with the scrap going down at 185 lbs!

37-year-old Chandler joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs weekdays on FS1) ... where he broke his silence on the highly anticipated fight, days after The Notorious broke the news on social media.

"The last year has been a nice little hiatus and it looks like we're finally gonna be getting this fight moving forward," Chandler said.

"Now it looks like we got ourselves a date, we got ourselves an opponent, and seemingly a weight class a little bit above what we thought it was gonna be!" ... Mike added with a big smile.

Of course, Chandler's referring to the fight going down at 185 pounds -- technically a middleweight fight -- a full 30 pounds over the lightweight limit where both men have been two of the best in the world.

FYI, Sean Strickland (6'1"), Israel Adesanya (6'4"), and Alex Pereira (6'4") are the last three MW champs ... and those guys are huge.

We asked him about fighting at a much heavier weight.

"I'm cool with whatever weight. The way I see it, Conor and I are within a couple of pounds of each other. So it doesn't matter if we cut weight all the way down to 155, we fight at 170, or we fight at 185."

"We're the same size guys. I don't need to bulk up to 200-something fans to get down to 185, it's just not how I would operate in this training camp. So I'm excited about it if it is 185."

Fans are excited, too.

After all, it's a fight that's been in the works forever ... since Mike and Conor served as coaches on "The Ultimate Fighter."

There's a bunch more with Chandler ... including whether he'll return to the lightweight division after the Conor fight.

We also asked him if he was concerned Conor was clean ... as many people have speculated 35-year-old McGregor might be taking something to bulk up (the former champ-champ has never failed a drug test).

The Dawg Pound is rallying behind Joe Flacco with their wallets amid the Browns' surprising winning streak ... with fans rushing to buy the backup-backup-backup QB's jersey!!!

The former Super Bowl winner's journey back to the gridiron has been one of the biggest storylines of the season -- he went from sitting on the couch on Sundays to leading the Browns to a 4-1 record after Cleveland lost Deshaun Watson and rookie Dorian Thompson-Robinson to injuries.

TMZ Sports has learned ... No. 15 threads have been a hot commodity since Flacco took over under center in December.

Fanatics -- the league's official e-commerce partner -- tells us Flacco is among the top 20 most popular jerseys in the NFL ... and is currently the top-selling Browns player.

In fact, we're told the sales spiked more than 400% during the span of his first victory on Dec. 10 to his playoff berth-clinching performance on Thursday Night Football against his former New York Jets team on Dec. 28.

FYI, Flacco has led the Browns with 1,616 yards and 13 touchdowns in just five games ... which is more than he had when he played for the Jets in TWO seasons.

It's been quite the feel-good story after Flacco tried to find a new home for the past five seasons. Remember, Joe signed with the Denver Broncos, Jets and Philadelphia Eagles after spending 11 years with the Baltimore Ravens.

He won Super Bowl XLVII with the Ravens in 2013, their second in franchise history.

Lamar Odom says ketamine has been a successful tool to help him combat his addiction problems ... this after it was revealed it was in Matthew Perry's system when he died.

We got Lamar outside Oxy Dental, which Lamar owns, in Lomita, CA on Thursday, and talked about the controversy surrounding ketamine treatment therapy following the coroner's report on Matthew's death.

Lamar says Matthew's therapy was similar to his ... and according to him, it works -- but there are serious strings attached. For starters, users should not drive cars.

Ketamine has been used for depression and anxiety but is more commonly used as an anesthetic in operating rooms.

As we reported, Matthew was found in his jacuzzi in October and was declared dead. The L.A. County Medical Examiner claimed he had high levels of ketamine in his system, rendering him unconscious.

Dr. Zaid Fadul, who has prescribed ketamine to his patients, joined us on "TMZ Live," last month ... telling us why the coroner pointing fingers at the drug was misleading.

If Jim Harbaugh does indeed leave Michigan following this week's national championship game ... Tyrone Wheatley is making it clear he'd love to be considered for the gig, telling TMZ Sports the role is his "dream job."

Of course, rumors have swirled for weeks that Harbaugh might be looking to make a jump back to the NFL after finding so much success with the Wolverines since 2015.

It's unclear if there's any validity to the chatter -- though if it does ultimately end up being true, Wheatley said he sure wouldn't mind filling in.

"To play there, to come back now to be the head coach, goodness gracious," the ex-Wolverines running back said, "to check that off the bucket list, that'd be awesome."

Wheatley certainly has the résumé to be a candidate for the opening if Harbaugh bolts ... he's had a ton of coaching experience since he wrapped up his 10-year NFL career in 2004.

The 51-year-old has had stops as an assistant with the Buffalo Bills, the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Denver Broncos ... and he was even an RBs coach for Harbaugh a few years back. He's now working as the head coach of Wayne State.

While Wheatley is adamant he's focused on his current role -- it's obvious, there will always be a piece of his heart in Ann Arbor.

"It would be crazy for me not to say that's my dream job, right?" he said.

Wheatley told us coaching for his other former team -- the Raiders -- would also be considered a "dream" gig for him.

As for if he has any insider information on whether Harbaugh is staying or going -- he doesn't, telling us, "I'm not sure at this point he knows."

How's this for a sports lover's dream ... the vacation home custom-built by the late Lakers owner Jerry Buss, and visited by some of the greatest hoopers to ever grace a basketball court, is now on the market, and could be yours if you've got $12 million!

TMZ Sports has learned the 9,792-square-foot property, located on a 3.18-acre lot in Rancho Santa Fe (about 100 miles outside L.A.), recently hit the open market for $11.85 million. The land was purchased by Dr. Buss in 1994 for less than $300k, and the house, known as the "Dream Ranch," was built to his exact specifications to resemble the Rosewood Miramar Beach Resort in Montecito.

We're told Jerry wanted a place outside of Los Angeles that felt far enough away from the hustle and bustle of the city ... all while being close enough to the arena where his team played.

Buss often had company ... and they were some of the most famous athletes in the world like Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, and Shaquille O'Neal.

In fact, Jerry installed an extra-long driveway (it fits 25 cars!) to accommodate the stars' stretch limos.

The mansion features eight bedrooms and 10 bathrooms (8 full, 2 half) -- five in the main house and three in the guest house -- with the master suite, clad in marble, overlooking a rose garden.

There's also a 3-stall barn, two putting greens, a swimming pool with a pool house, a basketball court (of course), and a tennis court where none other than Andre Agassi once played.

Buss passed away in 2013 ... and the home was ultimately sold years later in 2022. The new buyers renovated the home, transforming it into a modern mansion.

Britney Spears decided she'd give Sin City another shot ... celebrating the holidays there 5 months after enduring a slap from Victor Wembanyama's security in a bizarre exchange.

Sources tell TMZ, the singer returned to Vegas over the holidays ... staying for a few days, though it's unclear if she spent Christmas Day among all the lights and excitement.

We're told Britney had a room at Resorts World and another at Aria. Video emerged on social media of Britney walking around the casino floor at The Wynn holding a beer and flanked by a few security guards.

The source tells us she was at The Wynn to watch the show "Awakening" and dined at their swanky seafood restaurant, Lakeside.

Her Vegas schedule was jam-packed -- she also took a tour of the brand-new Fontainebleau property, briefly checked out LIV, and spent time inside their members-only club, Poodle Room.

Basically, we're told her time in Vegas was super chill and inconspicuous -- nothing like last time when she was slapped by basketball player Victor's security when she beelined behind him after running into him in a hallway.

Video of the moment went viral ... and upon watching it, Britney said her reaction to the slap was "priceless."

Ice Cube has entered the Katt Williams chat days after the comedian shook up showbiz with his "Club Shay Shay" interview ... and, he's looking to clarify the allegation he tried to make light of a rape scene.

Katt accused Rickey Smiley of lying about being the OG pick for his "Money Mike" role in "Friday After Next" -- and also claimed he saved the character from a bathroom rape scene involving Terry Crews' ex-con character, "Damon."

Cube agreed that Rickey lost the part after Katt embodied the pimp schtick to make "Money Mike" an unforgettable character, but denies he ever wrote a rape scene for the film -- he says that's just not his style.

Cube says the main goal of the scene was to cancel out Katt and Terry's characters, as the film had 3 main villains, including the "Santa Claus" role Rickey ended up filling.

The hip hop legend also took some time out to address the ingrates who've groused over the years about their salaries in the 'Friday' franchise.

Cube explained actors aren't the only ones who need to get paid for movies -- producers, stagehands, even the coffee runners have to get paid every day, while most of the actors he employed were done with their scenes after a couple of days.