TMZ Sports

Jaguars legend Jimmy Smith says his former squad should NOT have given Colin Kaepernick the same opportunity it gave Tim Tebow ... telling TMZ Sports, "We don't need Colin Kaepernick on our team."

Smith says his reasoning is simple ... telling us he has a fear that Kaepernick could "divide our locker room."

"We need a guy like Tim Tebow," the ex-Jacksonville wide receiver says, "who's a hometown hero who has love for the city anyway."

Urban Meyer and his Jags squad have come under heavy criticism this week after it was reported they're going to sign Tebow (who's now a tight end) to a 1-year contract, despite the former Heisman Trophy winner not having played in a regular-season NFL game since 2012.

Big names like Eric Dickerson and Dez Bryant have openly questioned the move ... wondering out loud why Jacksonville was willing to sign Tebow after his long NFL layoff, but not Kaepernick.

Smith tells us there's nothing racist or sinister about the decision ... explaining he believes Tebow's just quite frankly a better fit for the team's young locker room.

"He's going to be a great support for Trevor Lawrence," Smith said of Tebow. "Whatever capacity that is, it's going to be a positive rather than a negative."

Smith continued, "I pray that he makes the 53-man roster, because we need all we can get."

A U.S. Senator is accusing LeBron James of promoting extreme violence in America -- the NBA superstar's controversial "You're Next" post was a hot button issue Wednesday in a Senate hearing.

Sen. John Kennedy called out LeBron during the hearing on domestic violence extremism, referencing his infamous tweet about the cop who shot and killed 16-year-old Ma'Khia Bryant in Columbus, Ohio.

As you know ... LeBron published and then deleted the tweet last month, but not before explaining that he meant the officer should be prosecuted like Derek Chauvin. His explanation fell on many deaf ears, as he's catching heat from politicians, like Sen. Tom Cotton, former President Trump ... and now Kennedy.

The Senator from Louisiana asked the Secretary of Homeland Security, Alejandro Mayorkas, if LeBron's post "contributes to domestic violence in America." Mayorkas balked at the wording of the question, but eventually gave Kennedy an answer.

LeBron's tweet came on the heels of a violent incident outside a home in his native Ohio. Body cam footage showed Bryant in a physical altercation, and it appears she was trying to lunge with a knife at another girl. The officer shown in LeBron's post pulled his gun and fired 4 shots, killing Bryant.

Sen. Kennedy's beef seems to be LeBron's words promoted violence against police before all the facts of the case came out. Kennedy said, "All we had at the time was the video, and we had nothing else."

Kurt Warner says even though it's been nearly 5 years since Colin Kaepernick last threw a pass in the NFL ... he still believes the ex-49ers star deserves a shot at an NFL roster.

"I do," the Hall of Famer told TMZ Sports out at LAX on Wednesday. "I think that he should have an opportunity."

Kaepernick has not played a down since the 2016 season -- claiming he's been blackballed ever since due to his kneeling demonstrations during the national anthem -- and Warner clearly believes it's time for that layoff to end.

"When he got out of the game," Warner said of Colin, "he was as good as a lot of quarterbacks in this league. And, that's the bottom line."

Of course, the discussion is all coming back to the front and center of NFL talks this week after it was reported that Tim Tebow would be signing a contract with the Jaguars, despite not playing in a regular-season NFL game since 2012.

Several of the league's most notable names -- including Eric Dickerson -- have scoffed at the move, wondering why Kaepernick isn't getting the same opportunity.

Warner isn't so sure the two players have any correlation to each other -- but he did emphasize Kaepernick should be getting looks from NFL GMs regardless.

"I believe Colin should have had or should have another opportunity," Kurt says.

A couple of firefighters on the scene of the Kobe Bryant helicopter crash are getting their walking papers for snapping photos of crash victims ... so claims Vanessa Bryant's lawyers.

Vanessa's attorneys filed legal docs about scheduling the trial in her invasion of privacy lawsuit against L.A. County -- and, in the process, revealed the L.A. County Fire Department was mixed up in the photo taking and sharing.

In the docs, obtained by TMZ, VB's legal team says they received paperwork from the fire department's own internal investigation and found that they'd sent 2 firefighters "intention to discharge" letters because they'd taken pics at the scene.

One of the firefighters, according to the docs, was just a safety officer there to secure the scene that day, but he took graphic shots of the victims' remains. Both firefighters apparently shared the pics with an L.A. County Fire media relations officer ... who then proceeded to send it around to other firefighters.

The media relations officer was reportedly sent a suspension notice. It's unclear if the firefighters have been fired yet ... L.A. County Fire isn't commenting.

Mike Tyson and his family are going to bat for 100 women who spent time in prison ... starting a charitable organization aimed at helping the former inmates reenter society.

Tyson's mother-in-law, Dr. Rita Ali -- along with Tyson and his fam -- created We 2 Matter ... designed to "empower 100 formerly incarcerated women and offer them reentry resources and support."

W2M -- who teamed up with Van Jones' prominent prison reform group, Dream Corps/Cut50 -- will provide a variety of different services to the women.

The program also aims to educate the general public on the challenges mothers face as they attempt to rejoin society.

The Tysons celebrated the We 2 Matter with a fancy Mother's Day brunch over the weekend ... inviting 10 Los Angeles-based mothers who were recently behind bars (and their kids) to Mike's Tyson Ranch in SoCal.

It's a topic that's near and dear to Mike's mother-in-law's heart. Dr. Ali was formerly convicted of a crime (she maintains her innocence) ... and says she knows how difficult it can be for a woman leaving prison.

In addition to the good work that Tyson's non-profit is doing ... the party was also pretty awesome.

Before Kobe Bryant's 33,643 points, 18 All-Star games and 5 NBA titles, he was a star high school hooper at Lower Merrion HS in Philly ... and now the jersey Mamba rocked just hit the block.

... and the auction house selling the threads believes it could sell for over $200K!!

Kobe was an absolute stud in high school in the mid-'90s ... playing varsity as a freshman, and winning just about every award for a high schooler as a senior -- including the Naismith and Gatorade player of the year awards, as well as earning a spot on the coveted McDonald's All-American team.

It's unclear which games Bryant actually wore the white and maroon, size 44 jersey.

Of course, Bryant -- who had offers from Duke and a bunch of other top schools -- followed Kevin Garnett's lead and made the jump from HS to the NBA.

Kobe was selected by the Charlotte Hornets with the 13th pick in the 1996 NBA Draft ... before being traded to the Lakers.

So, who's selling this piece of basketball treasure?? Leland Auctions -- the auction house behind the sale -- says the consignor is actually a former NBA player who got the jersey from Kobe's former sports agent.

We're told the player wishes to remain anonymous.

The jersey is currently on the auction block ... and the minimum bid is $50K.

The auction ends at the beginning of June.

A Florida fisherman is lucky to be alive today ... 'cause the guy was nearly attacked by a giant alligator during an outing in the Everglades last weekend -- and the terrifying scene was all caught on video!!

The drama unfolded on Saturday -- when 22-year-old Tommy Lee was hunting for some tarpon on a large body of water's shoreline.

You can see in the footage ... the dude was minding his own business casting his reel -- when suddenly, a big-ass gator head emerged from the water!!!

Lee knew right away he needed to be alert -- his GoPro camera captured him saying, "You got to be careful here" -- and that's when the scariness began.

The gator climbed out of the water and took off after the guy ... and when it got within feet of Lee, he accidentally fell backward!!

Fortunately, the 11-foot-long animal stopped charging ... and after an intense standoff, it eventually retreated.

Lee was clearly excited to leave the area without gator teeth in his body ... saying on camera, "And I am outta here. Screw that!"

Trey Lance will DEFINITELY be poppin' bottles for his 21st birthday this week -- 'cause E-40 just gifted the new 49ers rookie QB with a TON of his signature booze!!!

FYI -- the Bay Area rapper is a HUGE Niners fan, and was stoked when S.F. selected the former North Dakota State star with the 3rd overall pick in last month's draft.

So much so, in honor of Lance joining the squad -- and to celebrate his 21st birthday on Sunday -- E-40 hooked him up ... BAY STYLE!!!

TMZ Sports has learned the 53-year-old delivered NINE bottles of his own booze to the new S.F. rookie -- including 3 bottles of his E. Cuarenta tequila, 3 bottles of his Earl Stevens Selections Wine and 3 bottles of his Tycoon Cognac.

As for why 3 each ... we're told the number just felt right given Lance was the #3 overall pick.

E-40 even wrote a personalized note to Lance to pair with the drinks ... writing to the rookie, "Welcome to the Bay and happy birthday King."

"Know this is a big moment for you, so wanted to send over some bottles from my brands for you and your family to celebrate!"

"Best of luck this season. Go Niners!"

Conor McGregor wasn't stopped by COVID or a Dustin Poirier loss, 'cause the UFC superstar was the world's highest-earning athlete in 2020 ... reportedly raking in $180 MILLION!!

The 32-year-old earned a whopping $22 million for his UFC 252 2nd-round TKO loss to Diamond, but according to Forbes annual list of the World's Highest-Paid Athletes ... it was the whiskey money that carried McGregor to the top spot on the list.

Conor earned $158 million outside the Octagon ... and an overwhelming majority of that cash came from his sale of Proper 12 Irish Whiskey.

This marks the first time McGregor -- consistently one of the highest-paid athletes -- has topped the list.

In 2018, The Notorious came in 4th ... earning $99 million -- largely from his superfight with Floyd Mayweather.

Speaking of Money Mayweather ... Floyd -- who didn't fight in 2020 -- failed to make the list.

As far as the remainder of the top 10 ... there are 3 international soccer players, 2 NBA players, 2 NFL QB's, a race car driver and a tennis player.

2️⃣ Lionel Messi $130 mil.
3️⃣ Cristiano Ronaldo $120 mil.
4️⃣ Dak Prescott $107.5 mil.
5️⃣ LeBron James $96.5 mil.
6️⃣ Neymar $95 mil.
7️⃣ Roger Federer $90 mil.
8️⃣ Lewis Hamilton $82 mil.
9️⃣ Tom Brady $76.
🔟 Kevin Durant $75 mil.

What's funny ... back in 2016, Conor joked with then highest-paid athlete, Ronaldo ... telling the soccer superstar that he was coming for the #1 spot.

Took a few years ... but, mission accomplished!

Eric Dickerson is straight-up PISSED Tim Tebow is getting an NFL job before Colin Kaepernick ... calling the whole situation "bulls***."

The Hall of Fame running back was asked about it all outside of Catch in L.A. on Tuesday night ... and he didn't mince words when expressing his dismay for it.

"Oh, man, come on," the Rams legend said. "You know what I think about that. That's bulls***. That's bulls***."

While the Jaguars have not officially signed Tebow (who's now a tight end) ... a one-year contract is expected to come for the former Heisman Trophy winner despite him not playing in a regular-season game since 2012.

The impending move clearly bothers Dickerson ... because even though the Jaguars have had plenty of quarterback and roster troubles over the last few years -- they never signed Kaepernick, but seem to have no issues signing Tebow now.

"That's bulls***," Dickerson repeated for a third time. "That's how the NFL is. You know, it's different for us. I'll say that."

ED says he believes the whole thing boils down to race ... adding, "Of course [Kaepernick] is getting punished. He's black."

"It's a different league for us. It's the truth and we know it. And I hate that because it's wrong."

Heartwarming moment in the NBA on Tuesday ... Giannis Antetokounmpo hand-delivered his kicks to an 8-year-old fan who was celebrating a birthday -- and the gesture was AWESOME.

It all went down after the Milwaukee Bucks finished beating the Orlando Magic ... when the Greek Freak noticed a kid with a really cool sign.

"Giannis," the big note read. "Today is my 8th birthday. Wanna trade shoes?"

Antetokounmpo raced up several rows at the Fiserv Forum to hand off his sneakers -- and the little boy was pumped!!

Check out the footage ... the kid could barely hold Giannis' size 16 Nike Zoom Freak 2s -- they were damn near as big as his body!!

Of course, Giannis didn't take the kid's shoes in the deal ... so, total win-win for the fan, right??

The gesture is not unusual for the 26-year-old, two-time MVP ... he's been known to give out game-used stuff to young fans following games no questions asked.

Michael Jordan is still so torn up over losing Kobe Bryant ... he says he can't bring himself to erase the final text messages he received from the Lakers legend just days before his death.

The NBA's G.O.A.T. revealed this week his last talks with Bryant went down on Dec. 8, 2019 ... just 49 days before Kobe and his daughter, Gianna, were killed in a helicopter crash.

Jordan told ESPN's Jackie MacMullen the convo was simple ... Kobe complimented his new tequila, asked about his family, and commented on coaching Gianna's girl's basketball team.

"This tequila is awesome," Jordan said Kobe texted after he had sent over a bottle.

"Thank you, my brother," Jordan says he responded.

"Yes, sir. Family good?" Kobe replied.

"All good. Yours?"

"All good."

Jordan continued ... "Happy holidays, and hope to catch up soon. Coach Kobe??!"

"Ah, back at you, man," MJ says Kobe wrote back. "Hey, coach, I'm sitting on the bench right now, and we're blowing this team out. 45-8."

Jordan says the messages -- particularly the one about dominating with Gianna's team -- mean a lot to him -- explaining, "I just love that text because it shows Kobe's competitive nature."

Jordan added, "I don't know why, but I just can't delete it."

As we previously reported, Jordan was picked by Vanessa Bryant to present Kobe at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame ceremonies this Saturday in Massachusetts.

Jordan says the honor is huge -- and he promised he'd be emotional remembering his good friend during the evening.

"It's like standing up for a family member," Jordan said. "He paid me the highest respect by trying to emulate certain things I did."

Lamar Odom is looking GOOOOOOOD ... new sparring footage obtained by TMZ Sports shows the ex-NBA star is really getting the hang of boxing ahead of his bout with Aaron Carter.

The 41-year-old has been training like a mad man for his June 11 Celebrity Boxing tilt against the pop singer at the Showboat Casino in Atlantic City ... and it's clear the former hooper has hands!!

Check out the footage ... Odom -- who by the way is looking svelte and in shape -- is stringing together combos and moving around the canvas like a pro.

The power might not be there just yet -- but, hey, it's still a month away from fight night!!

As for Aaron, he's been taking the scrap seriously too ... getting in training sessions constantly and hitting the mitts as well.

In fact, we've also obtained some clips from one of Carter's recent sparring sessions ... and he ain't looking half bad either!!

We know ... it's not exactly Anthony Joshua vs. Tyson Fury here -- but the event is still shaping up to be some must-see TV.

Plus, we're told Ice-T will be on the broadcast providing color commentary!!

Urban Meyer says Tim Tebow looked SO good during his recent tryout with the Jaguars, his staff told him the former Heisman Trophy winner "looks like he's 18 years old!!"

The new Jacksonville headman revealed the inside info to Cris Collinsworth this week ... saying Tim absolutely blew the doors off of his recent workouts with Meyer's assistants.

"He was in the best shape of his life and asked to see if he could work out with a couple of our coaches," Meyer said of Tebow.

"I wasn't even there. And they came back to me and said, 'Wow, this guy's in incredible shape.'"

Meyer says his staff actually worked out Tebow multiple times in recent weeks ... and afterward, each time, they could not stop complimenting the ex-quarterback.

"They come in and they said, 'Wow. You know, this guy's ball skills,'" Meyer said. "'He's a great athlete. He looks like he's 18 years old, not whatever he is, 33.'"

Urban says the team has still NOT yet made a decision on whether they'll sign him to a deal ... though reading the tea leaves here sure makes it seem like Tim's reported 1-year contract will be official sooner rather than later.

"I said, 'Guys, you don't understand,'" Urban said. "'Now this guy is -- he's the most competitive maniac you're ever going to talk to. And let's give it a shot.'"

Wayne Gretzky's California mansion has a new owner (again) -- the Great One just sold his awesome pad (again) for $17.6 million ... resulting in a whoppin' $4 million straight to his pocket!!

As we previously reported, the hockey legend listed the Thousand Oaks property for $23 million back in October 2020 ... marking the second time he put the mansion on the market.

Of course, the history behind this gem is a bit wild, so follow along:

Gretzky built the 6-bedroom, 8-bathroom house back in 2002 ... and sold it to ex-MLB star Lenny Dykstra 5 years later.

But, Lenny's time with the baller crib came to an end after he filed for bankruptcy in 2009 ... with the home going to a new owner at a foreclosure auction in 2010.

Gretzky turned around and re-bought the insane mansion in 2013 for $13.5 million ... before deciding to move on from the 13,300-square-foot estate for good this month for $17.6 million, according to reports.

The lucky buyers -- Eric and Joanna Miller -- are getting all the bells and whistles -- a screening room, gym, game room, office, championship tennis court, outdoor entertainment area, wood-burning pizza oven, wood and gas barbecue, and formal gardens, according to the listing from Arvin Haddadzadeh of The Agency.

"In order to eradicate anti-Blackness, we must also abolish the police" -- Colin Kaepernick.

That's the core message of a new book being published by the NFL quarterback -- who's arguing for the abolition of policing and prisons.

The book -- titled "Abolition for the People: The Movement for a Future Without Policing & Prisons" -- is set to drop in October and features 30 essays, including one from Colin himself.

Colin also served as editor on the project -- which we're told will be available in hard copy, audio book and e-book.

“The omnipresent threat of premature death at the hands, knees, chokeholds, tasers, and guns of law enforcement has only further engrained its anti-Black foundation into the institutions of policing," Kaepernick states.

"In order to eradicate anti-Blackness, we must also abolish the police. The abolition of one without the other is impossible."

One person familiar with the book says the conversation Colin wants to have with his readers is essentially this ... how do we reimagine and reenvision keeping communities safe without a militarized police presence?

Of course, Colin first took a knee during the national anthem back in 2016 to shine a spotlight on racial injustice and police brutality ... particularly in regards to incidents affecting the Black community.