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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.

Anderson Cooper has officially split from his longtime boyfriend, Benjamin Maisani.

Cooper released a statement Thursday confirming that he and Maisani, a night club mogul, had "separated as boyfriends some time ago." He added, "We remain the best of friends, and will continue to share much of our lives together."

The two were spotted together earlier this week leaving the home they still share in Manhattan, so it seems they're still on good terms. They were together for nine years.

Rumors the two had broken up began to surface after several photos of Cooper with Dallas doctor Victor Lopez made their way onto social media over the past few months.

Cooper has not confirmed or denied if he and Lopez are dating, but all signs seemingly point to yes.

Cops just released video showing the deputy who was allegedly cowering outside Marjory Stoneman Douglas High when the shots started flying.

The video shows Deputy Scot Peterson outside the school at 2:22 PM EST ... about a minute after Nikolas Cruz opened fire inside the school. Peterson and an apparent staffer at the school knock on a door, but then quickly turn in the other direction. You can see Peterson on his radio as they quickly walk away and get in a golf cart.

Peterson has claimed he thought the shots were coming from outside the building -- but critics, including some investigators, think surveillance footage proves he knew it was inside.

Peterson's been reamed by everyone, including President Trump, for failing to engage Cruz. The Broward Co. Sheriff says Peterson was outside the building for "upwards of four minutes" while the shooting happened.

Peterson, who's been labeled the so-called "Coward of Broward County," was initially suspended without pay, but eventually resigned 8 days after the shooting.

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.

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.

Justin Verlander is going OFF on woman-beating baseball player Danry Vasquez -- essentially saying he's a piece of trash who doesn't deserve to play baseball ever again.

"(Middle finger emoji) you man," Verlander posted on Twitter ... "I hope the rest of your life without baseball is horrible. You deserve all that is coming your way!"

There's a connection here ... Verlander currently plays for the Astros and Vasquez was a member of the Houston farm system at the time of the 2016 attack.

As we previously reported, Vasquez repeatedly brutalized his girlfriend in the stairwell at Whataburger Stadium in Texas while a member of the Corpus Christi Hooks ... Houston's AA minor league team.

The 'Stros organization released Vasquez right after the arrest. But he was picked up by another team in Pennsylvania which JUST fired him this week when the beating video went public.

Vasquez only got a slap on the wrist from prosecutors -- he was only ordered to complete anger management (which he did) and his case has since been dismissed.

But Verlander isn't the only Astros star who's pissed about the Vasquez situation -- Houston pitcher Lance McCullers says the guy should have been thrown behind bars.

Clyde "The Glide" Drexler is the NEW man in charge of Ice Cube's BIG3 basketball league -- replacing Roger Mason Jr. ... who got the ax earlier this week.

As we previously reported, Mason and BIG3 are in the middle of a legal war -- so BIG3 removed him from the top spot and had Ice Cube fill in while they searched for a new Commish.

But, the search is over ... BIG3 tells TMZ Sports the 10-time NBA All-Star has signed a 3-year deal to be the new Commish.

"As Commissioner he will help lead the BIG3’s basketball operations as well as executing the league’s long-term strategy on all fronts," the league said in a statement.

55-year-old Drexler was the coach of Team Power during the 2017 season -- so he's familiar with how the league runs.

"Clyde is a consummate professional, revered businessman, and indisputably one of the greatest players to ever play the game of basketball," said league Co-Founders and Co-CEOs Jeff Kwatinetz and Ice Cube.

John Skipper is finally opening up about his shocking exit from ESPN -- and admitting the "substance addiction" that led to his resignation was with cocaine.

"I did get some therapy. I did go through treatment," Skipper told The Hollywood Reporter.

"I thought the best thing to do was to take the time to check myself into a facility, and I was able to understand a bit more about substance use and to think about how it intersected with my life."

Skipper is adamant he never had a problem with alcohol, heroin or opioids -- it was strictly cocaine.

"At ESPN I did not use at work, nor with anyone at work, or with anyone I did business with. I never allowed it to interfere with my work, other than a missed plane and a few canceled morning appointments."

But, Skipper says he knew he had to come clean about his coke habit in December when someone he bought cocaine from tried to extort him.

The dealer is described in the article as a "strange source."

Skipper also claims rumors of alleged sexual misconduct contributing to his resignation are false.

United Airlines says its flight attendant did not hear or understand the woman whose dog was placed in an overhead bin -- but it's taking new steps to avoid a repeat disaster ... TMZ has learned.

United tells us by April it will start issuing "bright colored bag tags to customers traveling with in-cabin pets." The idea is the visual tag on a pet carrier will help flight attendants know for sure when someone's traveling with an animal.

The airline says that's exactly what didn't happen in the case of Catalina Robledo and her French bulldog, Kokito. United says after speaking to passengers and crew members, it believes Catalina did tell the flight attendant she had a dog in her tote bag carrier -- but the flight attendant "did not hear or understand [Catalina]."

Donald Trump (45) won't do one ... but Barack Obama (44) is still filling out his March Madness bracket -- and he's picking Michigan State -- a 3 seed -- to win it all!!!

"Just because I have more time to watch games doesn’t mean my picks will be better," Obama wrote ... "but here are my brackets this year."

So, who's he got? There are some upsets in there including Loyola-Chicago (11) over Miami (6).

He also has Texas (10) over Nevada (7).

Obama also has Syracuse (11) beating Arizona State in the playoff game and then beating TCU (6).

His Final Four -- Virginia (1), North Carolina (2), Villanova (1) and Michigan State (3).

The official tournament starts Thursday.

Of course, President Obama went to Harvard ... but they suck at basketball and didn't make the NCAA tourney.

Shaq says he has the answer to stopping mass school shootings like the one we saw in Parkland -- placing armed police officers on school grounds.

"The quick fix ... the government should give law enforcement more money," Shaq said on WABC Radio's "Curtis and Cosby" show.

"Give more money, you recruit more people, and the guys that are not ready to go on the streets, you put them in front of the schools. You put 'em in front of the schools, you put 'em behind the schools, you put 'em inside the schools."

"I would like to see police officers in schools, inner cities, private schools."

Shaq says he got the idea from growing up on a military base -- where the cops they had on campus were very effective at stopping any violence that broke out.

What Shaq does NOT want the government to do is ban semiautomatic weapons -- like the one Nikolas Cruz used to gun down 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas HS -- arguing they'll become even more dangerous on the black market.

"There's a lot of those weapons already on the streets. So it's not like, if you say, 'OK, these weapons are banned,' people are gonna go, 'Oh man, let me turn it in.' That's definitely not going to happen."

Here's undefeated boxing champ Oscar Valdez proving even winning hurts in boxing -- showing his totally jacked up fist (and face) following a big win in an absolutely brutal fight this past weekend.

Valdez gutted out a tough victory over Scott Quigg Saturday night in a controversial and dangerous bout -- mostly because Quigg came in overweight for the fight and made it a slugfest.

FYI, Valdez (24-0) and Quigg (34-2-2) were supposed to fight at 126 lbs ... but Quigg missed weight and then ballooned up to 142 lbs on fight night while Valdez DID make weight.

Oscar won on points to keep his featherweight title, but had to have his jaw wired shut after the fight -- and judging by these recovery room pics, dude might have someone opening his sodas for a while.

As for Quigg, he also posted a post-battle photo -- and, although he does look a little like Mr. Magoo, he's not in the hospital. He did suffer a broken nose.

Still wanna be a boxer when you grow up?!

Nick Gordon's girlfriend -- the one he was arrested for beating -- has fired off a letter to the judge saying it was all her fault.

Laura Leal filed docs in Seminole County, Florida ... and they include the letter asking the judge to lift the no-contact order. Laura says she needs Nick's love and guidance and wants to speak to her boyfriend again.

In the letter, obtained by TMZ, Laura says the case against Nick is not accurate, particularly when it comes to her alleged injuries on the night of Nick's arrest. She writes, "Pictures were taken of my face the night of the incident because cops stated my lip was 'bleeding' when in all reality my lips were chapped and dry ... There was no marks on my face."

Laura says she suffers from severe anger issues and the whole thing was a misunderstanding. She wrote, "I am seeking help and determined to take the condition seriously as I have been diagnosed bipolar. He is not at blame, and should not be pushed into any trouble or consequences due to my actions."

This all seems to line up with what Nick said when he called 911. TMZ broke the story ... Nick sounded frantic, and cried as he said he "sounds so lame because I'm getting beat up by a woman."

A professional baseball team in Pennsylvania has cut outfielder Danry Vasquez after a 2016 video surfaced showing him beating the hell out of his girlfriend IN A STADIUM.

Vasquez was arrested for domestic violence in Texas back in August 2016 -- and despite the fact officials had the video showing him backhanding the woman in the face and continuing to beat her while dragging her down a stairwell ... he basically got off with a slap on the wrist.

FYI, at the time of the incident, Vasquez was playing for the Corpus Christi Hooks -- the AA minor league affiliate of the Houston Astros. The team released him days after the incident.

Nueces County District Attorney Mark Gonzalez tells TMZ Sports the victim did NOT want to cooperate with prosecutors and wanted the case dropped.

Prosecutors WANTED to press but felt it was an uphill battle with the victim not wanting to press charges. Ultimately, Vasquez was ordered to complete anger management courses ... and that's basically it.

Gonzalez says Vasquez has now completed the terms of his probation and the case was formally dismissed on March 6.

"At that point, probation checked with us, and he had done everything we asked him to do so I was forced to dismiss the case," Gonzalez told KRIS 6 News.

Vasquez went on to sign a contract with the Lancaster Barnstormers of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball. They have now released Vasquez in the wake of the video being released ... saying, "Upon being made aware of the nature of the incident, the Barnstormers made a prompt decision to cut ties with the 24-year old."

Manager Ross Peeples added, "There is no choice but to sever the relationship. Neither I, nor the Barnstormers' organization as a whole, can condone or associate with that behavior."

Stephen Hawking, the world's most famous theoretical physicist -- celebrated for his black hole discoveries -- has died ... according to his family.

It appears Hawking died early Wednesday. His 3 children released a statement saying, "We are deeply saddened that our beloved father passed away today."

Hawking had suffered from a rare early-onset form of ALS most of his life, which left him wheelchair-bound and almost entirely paralyzed. He could still communicate with the aid of a computer and the muscles in his cheek.

The world-renowned British scientist wrote several landmark books, including "A Brief History of Time." His black hole theories and discoveries were so vast ... the radiation that comes from them is called Hawking radiation.

Stephen guest starred on several TV shows as himself, such as "The Simpsons" and "The Big Bang Theory." He was also written into an episode of "Family Guy," but Seth MacFarlane did the voice.

The 2014 movie about his life, "The Theory of Everything," was nominated for Best Picture, and Eddie Redmayne, who played Hawking, won the Oscar for Best Actor.

Hawking had reportedly turned down Knighthood, and, amazingly, never won the Nobel Prize. He was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom here in the U.S.

Hawking was 76.