Linda Hogan -- Wes Welker's Wife Broke the Athlete Wife Code

Wes Welker's wife should NEVER have said a peep about Ray Lewis ... this according to another famous (ex-)wife of the sporting world ... Linda Hogan ... who tells TMZ, it's never okay for an athlete's lady to be such a sore loser in public.

In case you missed it ... Wes' wife -- Anna Burns Welker -- went off on Lewis via Facebook after the Ravens dashed the Pats' Super Bowl chances. She later apologized ... but not before the personal jabs were already delivered.

Now Linda -- a former athlete's wife herself (kind of) -- is dishing out some jabs of her own ... calling Anna's outburst "way uncool."

According to Linda, Anna can say whatever she wants behind closed doors ... but "in a public situation, [athletes' wives] don't really have a place to make an opinion."