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The Legends Football League -- made up of women playing in lingerie -- have taken an official position on the national anthem ... "WE STAND"!

The LFL just issued a video statement on the issue taking over the country -- saying the flag, "symbolizes all the blood, sweat and tears that have been shed so that we as Americans can raise our flag across our nation."

"The LFL salutes all those who make this the greatest the country in the world, and we stand in salute of our flag."

10:06 AM PT -- University of Louisville interim president Greg Postel says Rick Pitino has technically been placed on unpaid administrative leave, effective immediately.

Rick Pitino has just been fired by Louisville, according to multiple reports ... marking the first big-name head coach to get the ax after the FBI corruption sting that rocked NCAA basketball on Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors say an Adidas executive worked with basketball coaches from Louisville in an illegal scheme to pay high school recruits to ultimately attend the University.

Neither the University nor any Louisville coaches have been formally accused of wrongdoing ... at least not yet. However, the Adidas exec has been arrested.

Pitino has maintained his innocence since the allegations came to light ... with his lawyer, Steve Pence, promising "a bare-knuckle fight" should the university choose to fire him.

"These allegations come as a complete shock to me," Pitino said in a statement.

"If true, I agree with the U.S. Attorney's Office that these third-party schemes, initiated by a few bad actors, operated to commit a fraud on the impacted universities and their basketball programs, including the University of Louisville."

"Our fans and supporters deserve better, and I am committed to taking whatever steps are needed to ensure those responsible are held accountable."

Eric Decker says playing for the sucky NY Jets made him long for the days when he was a Denver Bronco.

Cameras were rolling on the WR the day after he was cut by the NY Jets back in June -- and now his reaction is a part of his E! reality show, 'Eric & Jessie' (airs Wed. at 10 PM).

"It's weird, I was fired," Decker says ... while discussing how it sucked not making the playoffs during his 3-year run in NY.

Jessie asks where he wants to play next -- and Eric replies, "I do wanna go somewhere where I have a good chance to get back to the playoffs because I think I took for granted how (great it was)."

"We did it almost every year in Denver and ... I thought it was the norm."

College hoops icon Dick Vitale is taking the NCAA to task ... blasting the league for having a dirty underbelly and calling for the jobs of any coaches found guilty of corruption.

"There’s a cesspool that’s existing in college basketball and on the scholastic level," Vitale said -- taking aim at NCAA eligibility requirements and AAU basketball.

Dicky V says he's "crushed" over the FBI corruption sting that came to light this week ... where 4 CBB coaches were arrested and charged with federal crimes.

The legendary analyst tells us to reserve judgement until the coaches have their day in court ... but stresses that these allegations cannot be taken lightly now that the feds are involved.

Steven Seagal says the NFL protests are "outrageous" and "disgusting" and it makes him sick to his stomach to watch.

And he said this all while sitting in a chair in Moscow.

Seagal joined Piers Morgan on "Good Morning Britain" on a satellite feed from Russia (he was granted Russian citizenship in 2016) and went off on the kneeling demonstrations.

"I believe in free speech. I believe that everyone's entitled to their own opinion. But I don't agree they should hold the United States of America and the world hostage by picking a venue where people are tuning in to watch a football game and imposing their political views."

"I think it's outrageous, I think it's a joke. It's disgusting."

Seagal -- who's worked with various law enforcement departments in Arizona, Louisiana and New Mexico -- continued, "I respect the American flag and I myself have risked my life countless times for the American flag and I don't understand or agree with this kind of behavior. I think it's an outrage."

Seems Donald Trump wasn't too bothered by the Dallas Cowboys' pre-national anthem kneel -- 'cause POTUS says he spoke with Jerry Jones and everything is gravy, baby.

"Spoke to Jerry Jones of the Dallas Cowboys yesterday. Jerry is a winner who knows how to get things done. Players will stand for Country!"

Jerry -- who owns the Cowboys -- locked arms with his players and took a knee BEFORE the American flag was unfurled for "The Star-Spangled Banner" on Monday Night Football.

Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett says the team had talked over their plan for days and the players agreed on how they would demonstrate.

Gotta wonder if this new tweet will have an effect on the team moving forward.

Miami Dolphins WR Jarvis Landry will NOT face criminal charges for an alleged domestic violence incident involving the mother of his child, officials in FL have confirmed.

The Ft. Lauderdale PD was looking into an April 1 incident in which Landry allegedly got physical with the woman. Both Landry and the alleged victim later denied he ever struck her.

The case was kicked over to the Broward County State Attorney's Office -- which ultimately decided not to move forward with charges.

Landry issued a statement through his reps saying, "I am very thankful that this matter is over and my family and I can put this behind us now."

"I greatly respect and appreciate the Broward County State Attorney’s Office for their hard work and thorough investigation into this matter and I am thankful that they were able to come to a conclusion that reaffirms the true facts that no crime was committed."

USC says it has already launched an internal investigation into its basketball program after Asst. Coach Tony Bland was arrested ... and the Trojans have hired an ex-FBI director to lead the charge.

As we previously reported, Bland was arrested as part of an FBI sting into corruption and bribery in college basketball. Officials believe he illegally took bribes to put student athletes in touch with financial advisors.

USC says Bland has been placed on administrative leave -- and they've brought in Louis Freeh and his firm to conduct the internal investigation "so that we can take action quickly and appropriately."

An NCAA (Div 2) university in Colorado has banned its student-athletes from kneeling during the national anthem ... saying the demonstration shows "disrespect towards our country."

A spokesperson for Colorado Christian University tells TMZ Sports ... "all athletes must stand for the National Anthem and prayer before a game or sporting event."

CCU has several varsity teams which compete in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference -- including basketball, baseball, soccer, tennis and golf.

Jeff Hunt, who runs CCU's Centennial Institute (which the university describes as its on-campus "think tank") issued a statement saying he's "proud that CCU will not take part in these disrespectful protests."

"Unfortunately, refusing to stand during the National Anthem dilutes the message of the protestors and portrays disrespect towards our country, all who are serving it, and our veterans."

Auburn assistant coach Chuck Person has been suspended without pay effective immediately, the university announced on Tuesday, following his arrest in the NCAA basketball corruption scandal.

“This morning’s news is shocking. We are saddened, angry and disappointed. We have suspended Coach Person without pay effective immediately," the school said in a statement.

"We are committed to playing by the rules, and that’s what we expect from our coaches. In the meantime, Auburn is working closely with law enforcement, and we will help them in their investigation in any way we can.”

As we previously reported, Person -- a former NBA star with the Pacers -- allegedly took thousands of dollars in bribes to steer players to a financial advisor and high-end suit-maker.

Ric Flair is half the man Wilt Chamberlain claimed to be -- admitting he's slept with roughly 10,000 women during his storied wrestling career.

Nature Boy reportedly confessed about his 5-figure conquest while shooting a "30 for 30" special for ESPN -- a special that's set to air in November.

But apparently Naitch, who's famously referred to his penis as "Space Mountain" for years while asking women if they want a ride ... is now embarrassed about his sex life.

"I wish I hadn't said that because of my grandkids," Flair told People ... insisting, "I only love one now" -- a reference to his fiancee, Wendy Barlow.

FYI, Flair is 68 years old -- so if he started banging at 15 ... we're talking an average of 188 women per year (or 3.6 women per week).

Chamberlain claimed to have slept with 20,000 women.

Chip and Joanna Gaines are calling it quits -- for their hit HGTV show -- after 5 seasons.

The "Fixer Upper" stars announced their decision to end the show's run on their blog Tuesday, saying ... "It is with both sadness and expectation that we share the news that season 5 of Fixer Upper will be our last. While we are confident that this is the right choice for us, it has for sure not been an easy one to come to terms with."

The power couple's show has been one of the network's most successful since premiering in 2013, and their announcement's a shocker for millions of viewers.

However, Chip and Joanna say they want to return to more of a normal lifestyle and handle their business out of the public eye for the sake of their 4 kids.

As for rumors that their marriage is on the rocks, or that the show's ending so Joanna can pursue a skincare line, the couple has this to say -- "Our marriage has honestly never been stronger. This has nothing to do with a fraudulent skincare line or anything else you’ll inevitably read. This is just us recognizing that we need to catch our breath for a moment."

Season 5 premieres in November.

USC athletic director, Lynn Swann says he was "shocked" to find out about the arrest of asst. basketball coach, Tony Bland ... but the University vows to "cooperate fully" with authorities.

"We were shocked to learn this morning through news reports about the FBI investigation and arrests related to NCAA basketball programs, including the arrest of USC assistant Tony Bland," Swann said in a statement.

"USC Athletics maintains the highest standards in athletic compliance across all of our programs and does not tolerate misconduct in any way."

"We will cooperate fully with the investigation and will assist authorities as needed, and if these allegations are true, will take the needed actions."

Zach Randolph says he feels he was "wrongfully arrested" during an August 9 incident in Los Angeles -- in which cops initially said the NBA star was in possession of a TON of weed.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Randolph was initially arrested for possession with intent to sell because of the large quantity of weed cops say he had. He eventually pled no contest to resisting arrest and the weed charge was dismissed completely.

Randolph finally broke his silence about the situation on Monday telling reporters, "I'm not speaking a lot about it but I felt that I was wrongfully arrested."

"Things that was put out there wasn't true. But I don't want to be a distraction to my team, my organization, so I'm just going to move forward and play basketball."

Randolph was sentenced to 150 hours of community service and was ordered to stay away from drug dealers. He's due back in court in December.

Donald Trump just sent a message to Roger Goodell -- saying kneeling during the national anthem should no longer be an option ... it needs to be a league rule.

Trump continued his Twitter attack against kneelers Tuesday morning -- first, saying the booing at the Monday Night Football game was the "loudest I have ever heard" ... due to the Dallas Cowboys protest.

"Great anger," Trump added.

Then ... a message aimed at Roger Goodell.

"The NFL has all sorts of rules and regulations. The only way out for them is to set a rule that you can't kneel during our National Anthem."

We're reaching out to the NFL for comment -- but the multiple statements from NFL team owners over the weekend suggest they would not support that rule.

Pat Tillman's widow is breaking her silence -- saying her husband fought and died for American rights such as freedom to protest ... even when you don't agree.

Marie Tillman broke her silence about the issue after Donald Trump retweeted a post that included the ex-NFL star turned solider -- along with the hashtag #StandForOurAnthem.

"As a football player and soldier, Pat inspired countless Americans to unify," Tillman wrote in a statement to CNN.

"Pat’s service, along with that of every man and woman's service, should never be politicized in a way that divides us."

Then she dropped this -- "The very action of self expression and the freedom to speak from one’s heart -- no matter those views -- is what Pat and so many other Americans have given their lives for. Even if they didn’t always agree with those views."

"It is my sincere hope that our leaders both understand and learn from the lessons of Pat's life and death, and also those of so many other brave Americans."