TMZ Sports - Page 50

Roddy Piper's kids were downright emotional when talking about how much Ronda Rousey means to their family ... and what a special moment it was to see her wearing the WWE legend's jacket.

TMZ Sports spoke with Colt Toombs and Ariel Teal Toombs about the plan to let Ronda wear Roddy's trademark fashion accessory at the Royal Rumble ... and the backstory might make you cry.

Of course, Roddy passed away in 2015 ... and both Colt and Ariel tell us Ronda personally vowed to them that she would do everything in her power to keep his legacy alive.

FYI, Ronda has always said Piper was her inspiration ... and she had personally asked him for permission to use his nickname back in the day. He obliged.

Now, Roddy's kids say she's doing a damn fine job keeping his spirit alive and they support her 100% moving forward.

Infighting at the White House ... and it's all over Super Bowl LII!

Don't worry, it's all in good fun -- but Kellyanne Conway says she's got an enemy at 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. for the next week ... Trump's chief of staff, Gen. John Kelly!

Turns out, Kellyanne's a lifelong Eagles fan (she grew up outside Philly) and she's picking the Birds to beat the Patriots on Sunday.

Gen. John Kelly is a South Boston guy ... he's ride or die Tom Brady.

The big question ... who's Trump rooting for?

He's been tight with Bob Kraft for years but had a falling out with TB12 in 2017.

As if us average bros need more reasons to be jealous of Chris Pratt ... here he is lockin' up with UFC Hall of Famer Randy Couture at Jay Glazer's MMA gym -- and holding his own!

So, why didn't Couture ragdoll the "Guardians" star like an MMA wannabe?

1) Pratt was actually a stud wrestler back in the day, and 2) Pratt says Couture took it "very easy" on him.

Fun fact: this was actually a reunion! Chris says Randy coached him at a college wrestling camp 21 years ago, and he still remembers it like it was yesterday.

"He invited teenage me to come up and demonstrate the three throws we’d learned that day ... it was such an honor."

NY Jets star Robby Anderson has pled NOT GUILTY to several felony charges stemming from his January arrest ... in which the officer claims the WR threatened to find his wife, "f*ck her and nut in her eye."

As we previously reported ... cops say Anderson was clocked doing 105 mph in a 45 mph zone in the early hours of Jan. 19 in Broward County, FL ... and cussed out cops like a maniac during the stop.

At one point, cops say Anderson threatened to sexually assault an officer's wife -- and described it in graphic detail.

Anderson was hit with 9 criminal charges including 3 felonies (harming a public servant, fleeing and eluding and reckless speeding).

Harming a public servant charge carries a maximum 15 years in prison.

But according to court records, Anderson's attorneys appeared in court on his behalf on Monday and pled not guilty to all of the charges.

Anderson is now demanding a jury trial -- though it's still possible (likely) the two sides hammer out a plea deal before it ever gets to a jury.

The mother of Joe McKnight's 8-year-old son tells TMZ Sports ... the man who shot the ex-NFL running back is a cold-blooded killer and is begging the court to keep him locked up for LIFE.

We spoke with Michelle Quick -- who dated Joe back in the day and stayed on close, good terms with him over the years as they co-parented their son, Jaiden.

In fact, Michelle attended Ronald Gasser's trial every day and strongly believes he should have been convicted of 2nd degree murder instead of the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Gasser is facing up to 40 years in prison for shooting and killing McKnight in Dec. 2016. The sentencing phase of the case is set for March 15.

"He never needs to walk the streets ever again," Quick tells us ... "I think the proper sentence is life in prison. He never needs to be out in society."

Gasser is 56-years-old -- so the maximum 40-year sentence would essentially serve a life sentence.

McKnight's son Jaiden -- with the permission of his mother -- told us he loves and misses his father tremendously and in our video he explains why his dad was the best ever.

Move over, Wale -- there's a new WWE superfan rapper, and his name is Desiigner!

Want proof? Check out the "Panda" M.C. at the Royal Rumble in Philly Sunday night ... losing his damn mind with pretty much every Rumble entrant.

The highlights ...

-- Hollerin' at "sexy ass" Torrie Wilson (can't blame him)

-- EXPLODING when Rey Mysterio hit his signature "619"

-- Imitating his friend, Paul Heyman, introducing Brock Lesnar

Fun fact: Desiigner performed at Heyman's son's bar mitzvah a few months back.

Lonzo Ball's international rap career just got the seal of approval from a pretty big rap star ... 'cause Tyga says he 100% supports Zo's upcoming Lithuania show.

Remember -- Lonzo video'd in during Lithuania's equivalent of the Grammys last week, and revealed he's planning a summer concert in the tiny country where his bros are ballin' out.

Seemed like a weird spot to hold his first live set ... but Tyga doesn't think so.

Chris Long says he's ready to stick it to Donald Trump AGAIN -- stating he will NOT attend the White House visit if the Eagles win the Super Bowl.

Backstory -- Long boycotted the trip in 2017 when he was invited to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. as a part of the New England Patriots championship team.

Now, he's on the other side ... telling the Barstool Sports podcast, "Pardon My Take," straight-up -- "No, I'm not going to the White House. Are you kidding me?!"

The Cleveland Indians are finally retiring their controversial Chief Wahoo logo -- saying it's "no longer appropriate for on-field use."

The Indians have been using the logo since 1948 -- showing a grinning Native American sporting a feather in his hair. The image has been under fire by some groups who say it's a racist depiction of Native Americans.

Now, it seems the Cleveland organization agrees ... and will put the logo out to pasture after the 2018 MLB season.

The logo has already been scrubbed from all stadium signage -- but the team will continue to sell merchandise with the image until the end of the season.

Vince McMahon called him out by name ... so, when we saw Tim Tebow in L.A. over the weekend, we had to ask if he'd ever consider joining the brand new XFL.

Tim signed autographs and was his usual friendly self on the way out of Craig's in L.A. -- but when the topic came to the XFL, Tim shut down like the Vikings' offense in the NFC championship.

Seems Tim doesn't want to breathe life into the possibility he would leave his baseball career and go back to football. In fact, he talked to us about the Mets when we saw him last week in Bev Hills.

Sorry Vince ...

Magic Johnson is speaking out on the sexual assault scandal at his alma mater -- calling for Michigan State to fire every staffer who knew about the crimes, but stayed silent.

In addition to the Larry Nassar scandal, officials say the NCAA was alerted in 2010 to dozens of reports of MSU athletes sexually assaulting women -- including at least 16 MSU football players.

Instead of trying to change the culture and get to the root of the problem, Michigan State allegedly tried to keep the whole thing quiet.

Now, Magic says anyone who knew about ANYTHING and didn't speak up should go.

"If anyone was aware of the sexual assault happening to women on the MSU campus from the office of the President, Board of Trustees, athletic department, faculty & campus police, and didn’t say or do anything about it, they should be fired."

"Cookie and I stand in support of the victims and their families as they embark on the road to recovery; and I support the movement to hold everyone involved accountable."

"The roles of the new President, Board of Trustees, athletic department, faculty, campus police and students will be to work together to create new policies and procedures to ensure this never happens again."

MMA Fighter Sergio da Silva just pled not guilty to robbing a NYC bank over the summer ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Officials say Silva -- who fought at Bellator 180 -- busted into a CitiBank in Queens on August 24 claiming to have a gun, and threatening to shoot whoever didn't cooperate.

Cops say Silva got away with around $50k in cash.

Silva was arrested, and charged with 2 felony robbery charges ... including 1st degree robbery while displaying a firearm.

SdS's attorney, David Fish, tells us, "We intend to show at trial that he’s not guilty of what he’s alleged to have committed. The allegations are very serious. I think Sergio has a lot of confidence in that the truth will come out at trial."

Silva, who was present in the NYC court, pled not guilty to both charges. He's due back in court in April.

Meek Mill isn't gonna let being behind bars stop him from joining Colin Kaepernick's cause ... becoming the latest celeb to team with Kaepernick on his $10k for 10 days initiative.

You might've heard -- for the final $100k of Colin's $1 million pledge for social justice, Kaep's been partnering with huge names in sports and entertainment to match his individual $10k donations.

So far, Serena Williams, Snoop Dogg, Steph Curry and Kevin Durant have all stepped up.

And now, Colin's second-to-last donation has come from the imprisoned rapper -- who's serving 2 to 4 years for a probation violation Kaep's spoken out against in the past.

"Despite my brother’s current circumstances, he continues to stay involved and connected in the community of his hometown of Philly," Colin said.

"I’ve spoken to Meek several times since his incarceration and during one of these calls, is when he pledged ... we’re both donating $10,000 each for a combined $20,000 to Philadelphia’s Youth Service Inc."

Tom Brady says he's considering ENDING his weekly appearance on WEEI radio in Boston after one of the station's hosts called his daughter an "annoying little pissant."

WEEI has suspended the radio host ... but Brady's still pissed.

Brady has been doing the weekly segment on "Kirk & Callahan" for years -- chopping it up about football and other light topics in his life.

But Monday morning, Brady told the guys he's considering never coming back over comments another WEEI host, Alex Reimer, made on a different show on Thursday.

Reimer was discussing Tom's new Facebook show, "Tom vs. Time" -- which is essentially a docuseries following Tom and his family -- and he put the crosshairs on Tom's 5-year-old daughter.

WEEI suspended Reimer on Friday -- but when Brady appeared on "Kirk & Callahan" on Monday, he made it clear he's not over it.

"I've tried to come on this show for many years and showed you guys a lot of respect ... I've always tried to come on and do a good job for you guys. It's very disappointing when you hear that, certainly with my daughter, or any child. They certainly don't deserve that."

One of the best soccer players alive -- Zlatan Ibrahimovic -- is very close to signing a contract that would make him the next member of the L.A. Galaxy, this according to multiple reports.

Zlatan currently plays for Manchester United -- and though he's established himself as one of the premiere players on Earth, he's been hampered by injuries over the past few years.

Of course, Zlatan is no stranger to Los Angeles -- he's been in Hollywood quite a bit over the years ... and most famously TRASHED the U.S. Men's National Soccer team as a "big joke" back in front of Boa Steakhouse on Sunset Blvd. in 2014.

By the way ... this guy is a one man brand -- he's got his own cologne, his own underwear line ... and once dropped a Top 20 single in his native Sweden.

Forget the "good guy" stuff ... Ronda Rousey should be a HEEL when she opens her WWE storyline, so says big-time wrestling fan, Cedric the Entertainer.

We broke the news to Ced in L.A. on Sunday night after Rousey crashed the Royal Rumble and confirmed she's now a full-time WWE superstar ... you can tell he's pumped about it!

Not only did Ced warn Ronda about the Bella Twins, he also pitched Ronda on why she should start her WWE career as a VILLAIN.