TMZ Sports - Page 50

Ex-Georgia football coach Mark Richt -- a college football analyst for ESPN -- says he suffered a heart attack Monday morning and would have been "at peace" if he died.

"I am assuming word travels fast," the 59-year-old said in a statement ... "So I wanted to be able to inform everyone that I did have a heart attack this morning."

"I am doing fine."

But, Richt admits he thought about his own mortality during the health scare -- saying, "As I went through the experience I had peace knowing I was going to heaven but I was going to miss my wife."

Despite the incident, Richt says, "I plan to be at work this week."

Richt was the head guy at the University of Georgia from 2001 to 2015 -- winning 6 SEC Eastern Division titles and 9 bowl games during his run.

After Georgia, Richt took the head coaching job at the University of Miami from 2016 to 2018 -- but after a strong start, Richt retired following a disappointing 2018 season.

He's been working as a college football analyst for ESPN and ACC Network ever since.

Big break in the Andre Emmett murder case ... Dallas PD says they have identified and obtained warrants to arrest the two suspects in the shooting death of the ex-NBA and BIG3 star.

As we previously reported, 37-year-old Emmett was shot and killed on September 23. Surveillance footage showed Emmett sitting in his car in front of his house around 2:30 AM when he was approached by 2 men at gunpoint. Emmett tried to run but was shot dead.

After nearly a month-long investigation, detectives identified 29-year-old Michael Lucky and Keith Johnson, 32, as prime suspects ... and obtained capital murder arrest warrants for both men.

Johnson was booked in Dallas County Jail on Friday -- and he's still behind bars. Lucky has not yet been arrested.

Emmett -- the 35th pick to the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2004 NBA Draft -- was the 2nd leading scorer in the 3-on-3 league this past season while playing for 3's Company.

CC Sabathia just wrote a goodbye letter to his New York teammates and the sport of baseball altogether ... and we gotta say, it's getting a little dusty in here.

With the Yanks getting eliminated by the Astros on Saturday ... the future Hall of Famer's career is now over -- and he took some time to reflect on it on social media Monday.

"Through the ups and downs, baseball has always been my home," 39-year-old Sabathia wrote ... "From Cleveland, to Milwaukee, New York, and everywhere in between, I'm so thankful to have experienced this journey with every teammate past and present."

Sabathia tried to pitch through injuries to get the Yanks past Houston and into another World Series ... but he couldn't quite finish the run, reinjuring himself in Game 4.

Still, the pitching legend got a huge ovation from fans when he walked off the NY mound for the final time last week.

"I'm so proud of this year's team, we fought til the end," Sabathia said, "Love you guys!"

CC added, "I'm going to miss going out there on the mound and competing, but it's time to say farewell. Thank you, baseball."

Pittsburgh Steelers LB Anthony Chickillo spent part of his bye week behind bars ... TMZ Sports has confirmed the 26-year-old was arrested after cops say he admitted to getting violent with his track star GF.

Cops say Chickillo was out at the exclusive Nemacolin Woodlands Resort in Farmington, Penn. when he got into an argument with his girlfriend, Canadian track athlete Alysha Newman, at the resort's casino.

FYI, 25-year-old Newman is a star pole vaulter in Canada. She made the Olympic team in 2016 and won gold at the 2018 Commonwealth Games.

Newman told officers the spat began over table games ... and when the argument carried on into the couple's room, things turned violent.

Newman told cops that Chickillo grabbed both of her arms and threw her against a wall and door. She says the 6'3", 253-pound football player then shoved her to the ground.

Newman also claims Chickillo smashed her $900 iPhone in the altercation ... and says she was forced to lock herself in the bathroom until police arrived to diffuse the situation.

When cops showed up ... they say they noticed "visible redness" to both Newman's right and left bicep areas as well as "bruising beginning to form" -- and say Chickillo admitted to pushing her to the ground.

They arrested Chickillo ... and eventually hit the linebacker with charges of simple assault, criminal mischief and harassment.

Cops also tell TMZ Sports Newman was hit with a summary citation for harassment for her role in the altercation.

Chickillo -- who had his arraignment hearing in Pennsylvania on Sunday -- was released on $10,000 bail ... but is due back in court next week.

The Steelers -- who were on a bye this past week and are set to play the Dolphins next Monday -- released a statement, saying, "We are aware of an incident involving Anthony Chickillo last night and are still gathering information. Until we have further details we will not provide any further comments."

Tyron Woodley did NOT take kindly to Kelvin Gastelum calling for a rematch -- and has this message for the middleweight fighter, "I will f*ck you up right now."

Remember, Gastelum came into the TMZ newsroom earlier month for the "UFC Roundtable," and told us he would love another crack at Woodley, after losing to Tyron in 2015.

"Ever since then we've gone back and forth," Gastelum said ... "I've called him out multiple times. But, ultimately we respect each other. I think it's more of a competitive rivalry, nothing personal."

Well, clearly Woodley doesn't feel the same way, because when Tyron was asked about the comments on "The Hollywood Beatdown," the Chosen One WENT OFF!

"Kelvin Fatselum? The one who fought me at middleweight when I was a welterweight and got his ass whooped when I broke my foot? The one I gave him his money back and now he's talking sh*t?"

FYI, Gastelum came in 10 pounds overweight for their fight at UFC 183 and was fined 30% of his purse. Tyron says he sent the money back to Kelvin because he felt bad for him.

But, Tyron also broke his own foot in that fight and still got the victory via split decision -- and now, he's firing back at Kelvin.

"Why you wanna get your ass whooped again? You got beat on one foot, I played games with you. You didn't land one punch. You missed weight by 10 pounds. I gave you your money back."

Tyron also takes issue with the fact Gastelum now refers to himself as "The Middleweight King."

"You have never fought for a middleweight title and won my man. What are you the king of? You the King of Qdoba. You the King of Chipotle. That's what you the king of."

"I don't have no love for you G. I ain't got no pity for you," Tyron continued.

"I was respectful, I didn't bash you when you missed weight. And, now you wanna talk sh*t about me? I will f*ck you up right now. I will f*ck you up in the Octagon. You garbage, your whole squad is garbage."

Brian Bosworth says he's actually on the NCAA's side when it comes to the controversial Calif. bill that would help athletes get paid ... telling TMZ Sports it's a BAD idea!!

"When you're in college," Bosworth says, "you're going to college to get an education."

Of course, the Boz is the LAST guy we expected to have this take ... remember, at Oklahoma, he famously blasted the NCAA by wearing a "National Communists Against Athletes" shirt at the 1987 Orange Bowl.

But, when we got the ex-LB out at Reagan Airport over the weekend ... he told us he's now on the org's side in its fight against a bill that would force it to stop punishing athletes who get paid.

"You got some guys on the team that have star status, and other guys on the team that are going to feel shafted," the Boz says. "I don't think it's a good idea to put levels like that on the team."

Instead, Bosworth's solution to the whole problem is simple -- just give athletes in both women's and men's sports the same stipend ... and let that be all the pay they need.

"Everybody gets the same thing across the board," Bosworth says.

Stefon Diggs was one happy man on Sunday -- he and his team beat the Lions at home ... all while wearing a pair of cleats that the Clown Prince of Gotham would greatly approve of.

The Vikings wide receiver turned heads out at Ford Field, not just because he was playing like a stud -- 7 catches and 142 yards by the end -- but probably more for his footwear ... a pair of custom "Joker" cleats,  with Joaquin Phoenix's mug painted on the side.

There was also a recurring theme from the hit movie written in as well ... "Put On a Happy Face."

What makes these Adidas even cooler is the fact that Stefon had them colored in to match the Joker's actual costume from the flick -- when he finally transforms, that is.

BTW, Stefon has a bit of a history of rockin' pimped out cleats -- literally wearing themes from Starbucks to-go cups to SpongeBob memes and almost everything in between. Props to his cleat guy ... always up to date on the latest trends, and with a nice touch.

NFL safety Su'a Cravens got into a crazy fight with Denver Nuggets guard Malik Beasley in an apartment lobby ... and TMZ Sports has the insane video.

It all went down at an upscale apartment complex in Denver on August 9 -- and you can see 22-year-old Beasley pacing the lobby without a shirt while wearing his Nuggets shorts.

We're told Beasley was heated over a situation involving a mutual female friend -- Instagram model Montana Yao -- and had called out Cravens to settle things once and for all.

You can see in the video, Cravens -- who was a member of the Broncos at the time -- enters the lobby and is immediately confronted by Beasley.

One thing quickly leads to another and the fists begin to fly.

The 2 pros trade blows for a minute before Su'a takes Beasley to the ground and appears to be winning the fight from the top position.

You can see Yao and a male friend of Beasley's jump in and removed Cravens. The NFL player eventually backs away from the scrum.

Yao is seen trying desperately to hold Beasley back -- using all of her strength to keep him from continuing the fight. After literally forcing herself in between the two combatants, she eventually throws herself to the ground and appears to be sobbing.

Meantime, we're told Cravens continued to taunt Beasley -- and invited him to "step outside" to continue the fight. Beasley DID go outside, but we're not sure what happened next.

What we do know ... Cravens went to Snapchat after the fight and bragged about beating Beasley up.

"I just had to beat a n***a ass that just tried me," Cravens said while wearing the same cloths from the brawl ... "Scratched my face, but I f*cked that n***a up, ol bitch ass n***a."

We're told law enforcement was NOT called about the fight ... and both parties have tried their damnedest to keep the incident under wraps.

Cravens was a star at USC before getting selected by the Washington Redskins in the 2nd round of the 2016 NFL Draft. He signed with the Broncos in 2018 but was cut on August 30 2019. He's currently a free agent.

Beasley played one season at Florida State before going to the Nuggets with the 19th overall pick in 2016.

We know you're wondering ... so here's the tale of the tape.

Su'a is 6'1", 224 lbs. Beasley is 6'5", 195 lbs.

We've reached out to Cravens', Beasley's and Yao's reps ... so far, no word back.

Move over Ed Reed and Troy Polamalu ... ex-Packers star Nick Collins says HE was the best safety of his era -- and he tells TMZ Sports he DEFINITELY belongs in Canton!!

"I think of my 7 years of playing I think I was the best safety in that era," Collins says. "My numbers show it."

Collins played for Green Bay from 2005 to 2011 (he was in the same draft class as Aaron Rodgers) ... and he racked up 21 INTs in 95 career games.

And, even though his career was cut short due to injury ... the Pro Football Hall of Fame still named him one of 122 finalists for 2020.

When we spoke with the 36-year-old this week, he told us he has ZERO doubts about his candidacy, telling us straight-up, "I do think I belong in Canton."

"Not knocking nothing that the guys before me or the guys gon’ be after me," Collins says, "but I just think I brought a new dynamic to the game with speed, a lot of versatility."

Nick made 3 Pro Bowls in his time in the league ... and says he would have made so many more if he didn't hurt his neck that he'd be considered one of the game's greatest ever today!!

"I think you, right now, can say I would be the number one safety in the NFL right now."

Ex- NFL star Tamba Hali says Liberia's education system is so poor he "could barely read and write" when he arrived in America as a kid ... and he tells TMZ Sports that's why he's building a school in his home country.

Hali -- a sack machine on the field who made 5 Pro Bowls over his 12 season NFL career -- says the education system in Liberia badly needs help.

"Going back, interacting with the people, the elders, the young people. You can tell because of the civil war and all the negative things that's happened," Hali says.

"The country is way behind when it comes to education,  what my kids are learning, kids there that are 14, 15 years old cannot even do. Kids can't even add, can't even multiply. You wonder what the [education] system is like. In my looking at Liberia, it's to try to create a better Liberia for the future."

But, starting a school ain't easy ... or cheap.

"We're starting small. So we want to know we can do it on a very small level. Our goal is to just raise hopefully maybe $300,000, and start from 1st grade," Hali says.

"We're not trying to do something above and beyond. We'll start with the youngest because they're the ones that are gonna make a difference in 20 years from now in the community there."

Tamba -- who's currently looking for a location to build the school -- says he plans on starting with 1 facility ... but won't rule out building multiple schools.

"Right now we're focused on one school. If we have success, we'll try to do more. But like my old coach would say, 'take care of the little things.'" .

Andy Ruiz might want to think twice about ditching his fat ... cause "The Biggest Loser" trainer Dolvett Quince tells TMZ Sports he might advise the stud boxer against it!!

"I think the weight that he had on was to his advantage," Quince says ... "Maybe the blows didn't hit as hard."

Of course, Ruiz -- who's got a huge rematch coming up against Anthony Joshua -- doesn't seem to be listening ... he appears to be dropping lbs by the day -- check out this vid he posted earlier this week!!

Right??? Dude's downright skinny as hell now!!!

Quince tells us he's happy Andy is shaping up a bit ... but the famous trainer says he's got at least a little bit of worry that Ruiz's boxing skills could suffer if he gets any thinner.

But, don't get it twisted, above all, Quince is just stoked Andy's getting healthier ... telling us, "From a health perspective, you're doing your thing, man!"

From on-screen stars to singers and directors, celebs from every part of the industry have been able to strike up a deal outside of what they're best known for!

As we head into the MLB World Series, we're highlighting the biggest stars that have been granted the opportunity to play ball!

Stars such as Sophia Bush, Kanye West, Judd Apatow, and plenty more have been able to strike up a deal and pitch to a whole new crowd.

Conor McGregor is reportedly being investigated for a second alleged sexual assault -- although he hasn't been arrested ... and vehemently denies the claim.

The UFC star has been accused of sexually assaulting a 20-something woman in her car last week outside of a Dublin pub, and a complaint has been filed with police there ... this according to the New York Times, citing anonymous law enforcement sources.

The paper says authorities have yet to interview McGregor, and he has yet to be charged as well. McGregor's spokesperson tells TMZ that Conor is often the subject of rumors, adding that his client "emphatically denies any report accusing him of sexual assault."

Of course, this comes months after McGregor was reportedly arrested and questioned for another alleged sexual assault that an accuser says happened in December of last year. The Times reports he was taken into custody back in January of this year, but got released pending further investigation ... which is standard there in the Republic.

Again, McGregor has NOT yet been charged in that case either ... and vehemently denied the Times's account at the time, while also denying the investigation is why he retired.

The timing of this second accusation of sexual assault probably couldn't have come at a worse time, considering McGregor is already facing charges in his native land for allegedly roughing up an old-timer in an Irish bar, of which TMZ got surveillance footage.

He was just in court this last week -- looking sharp too -- where he was told he'd have to either enter a plea or request a trial date at his next hearing on Nov. 1.

Tom Brady makes an eyebrow-raising cameo in Paul Rudd's new TV show, but he absolutely denies it was a shot at Robert Kraft ... and he may have a point.

Here's the deal ... the Patriots quarterback makes a brief appearance in Netflix's new comedy series, "Living with Yourself," which just debuted Friday. In an out-of-context clip that's going viral, Tom strolls out the front doors of a massage parlor called "Top Happy Spa."

Rudd's character meets Brady as he pulls up and internally debates whether he wants to go in or not. At that moment, TB walks out and asks Rudd, "First time?" Rudd says yes, and asks it back to Brady ... he tells Rudd, "Six," before getting into an SUV and driving off.

Obviously, with Kraft's prostitution case ... folks are wondering whether Brady's participation was a dig at his boss, or if this scene was shot before Tom knew about it. As it turns out, the show's creator says Tom shot the scene after the Kraft scandal became public.

But, Tom's calling BS, telling reporters Saturday that the scene was written 4 years ago, and that he had no idea that his character would be exiting a spa when he shot his cameo earlier this year ... adding that there was a green screen behind him while on set.

TB said, "It's unfortunate that people would choose to think I would do something like that about Mr. Kraft." He continued by saying the similarities were just a coincidence.

What added fuel to the fire prior to Brady's comments was the fact that the show's creator, Timothy Greenberg, previously told media outlets that, as noted above, Brady had shot the scene AFTER Kraft's scandal went public ... the implication being TB knew what he was doing.

Granted, Greenberg says they'd discussed Tom's involvement before the scandal broke, but when it finally came to light ... he for sure thought TB would pull out. To his surprise, the G.O.A.T. didn't ... and Greenberg says he never understood why, and didn't care to find out.

What's still unclear, though, is if Tom had actually been told what exactly the scene entailed and if he'd been given a copy of the script beforehand. Based on what he said Saturday, it makes it seem he was in the dark as to the context of the scene.

Presumably, if he'd known he was leaving a massage parlor, he might not have done it ... at least that's what we can glean from what he told reporters.

Now, for the real context of the scene ... it's not what you may think based on this one clip. In the minutes leading up to the scene, it's revealed that Rudd's character has impotence issues with his wife, and is looking into options to help him -- fertility clinics, etc.

At a bar, a friend of his tells him about a day spa he went to that rejuvenated him and his libido -- which Rudd initially scoffs off as just a place to get a "h*** j**."

The friend tells him otherwise though, saying it's not like that ... and that the spa gives you a full makeover, which might be able to help Rudd's situation. The friend tells him it's a highly exclusive place, with only VIP clients that pay a fortune for a session.

The Hong Kong protests migrated to the U.S. Friday, where demonstrators tore into the NBA and LeBron James during the Raptors/Nets Game in Brooklyn.

The demonstrators were holding signs that read, "Human Rights Matter! Here + There!" and "NBA Stand for Freedom" while wearing T-shirts that read "Free Tibet" and "Stand With Hong Kong."

One sign read, "Tsai & LeBron: Morey was right - NBA: Stand for freedom” and “Don’t let China buy our silence, people are dying to be free”.

Protesters continued chanting until they were escorted out of the arena by security. They vowed to continue appearing at NBA games.

Tensions between the NBA, the Chinese government and pro-Hong Kong protesters intensified over the last week. It started when Houston Rockets GM Daryl Morey tweeted in support of Hong Kong.

MLB superagent Matt Sosnick -- whose agency reps huge stars like Pete Alonso -- was arrested for domestic violence for allegedly choking his wife in front of their young daughter ... and now she has a restraining order against him.

FYI, Sosnick is a big deal in Major League Baseball ... his powerful SCK Sports agency reps All-Stars like 2018 AL Cy Young winner Blake Snell, and Mets slugger Pete Alonso ... as well studs like Jay Bruce, Mitch Haniger and Blake Treinen.

Matt initially gained notoriety in the early 2000s for repping ex-Marlins star Dontrelle Willis, who actually got Sosnick's agency's logo tattooed on his arm during his pitching days.

But now, Matt's wife, Erica Sosnick, has filed for divorce from the 50-year-old -- alleging he roughed her up during an Oct. 8 incident.

We've confirmed Matt was arrested by the Danville PD in Northern California on Oct. 8 for domestic violence and misdemeanor child endangerment.

We've also learned Erica filed court docs requesting a temporary restraining order against Matt, which was granted almost immediately.

According to court docs obtained by TMZ Sports, Erica claims Matt "grabbed my neck and squeezed" and told her, "I will destroy you." Erica then says he threw her across the room -- where she crashed into a table, all while their 9-year-old daughter watched.

Erica says their daughter called her former nanny and told the woman, "Daddy is yelling at mom. Mom is hurt."

Erica says in court docs she suffered injuries in the attack -- including bruising and swelling on her arm and red marks in the shape of handprints around her throat ... and she says things took an even worse turn the next day.

Erica claims on Oct. 9, she received text messages from Matt saying he was going to kill himself ... telling her, "I've already decided ...Saying goodbye to kids" and "My death is on you."

Erica's request for a temporary restraining order against Matt was granted -- and the next day, officials say Matt VIOLATED the order ... so he was arrested again on Oct. 9.

Now, Erica is asking the court for a more permanent restraining order. Records show she also got a move-out order against Matt, requiring him to leave the family residence. She's also filed divorce docs seeking to end their 11-year marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.

Matt -- who was reportedly named 1 of the 5 most influential young people in baseball by Forbes in 2008 -- is currently one of the biggest agents in the MLB.