Football

Law enforcement officials are facing serious backlash ... after failing to inform the public about a 49ers fan who was allegedly assaulted in the SoFi Stadium parking lot during Sunday's NFC Championship game.

According to the L.A. Times, it took 3 days for authorities in Inglewood to acknowledge the incident even took place ... and Thursday, officials were met with skepticism over why they didn't tell the public sooner.

40-year-old restaurant owner Daniel Luna is believed to be the man who was the victim of the heinous assault, according to the report.

Police Lt. Geoffrey Meeks said Los Angeles County Fire Dept. paramedics found Luna wearing a Niners jersey 30 minutes after the game started ... but it's unclear when the attack actually happened.

Of course, the timing is inauspicious for Los Angeles County -- the area is set to host Super Bowl LVI in the coming weeks -- which leads many to believe that authorities weren't as quick to release information surrounding the event out of fear of a PR nightmare.

Law enforcement sources tell TMZ Sports no suspects have been identified in the case ... but police launched an investigation into the matter sometime around 7 PM Sunday night, according to the report.

Officials at SoFi Stadium did, however, say they were "aware and saddened by the incident," and they were working with law enforcement officials throughout the course of their investigation.

"Our thoughts are with Mr. Luna’s friends and family during this difficult time."

The Giants are adamant Brian Flores is flat out wrong -- insisting they did NOT decide to hire Brian Daboll before the ex-Dolphins coach was interviewed -- and claiming Bill Belichick had no idea who NY was hiring.

"After we interviewed six exceptional and diverse candidates, the decision on who we would hire as head coach was made on the evening of January 28, one day after Mr. Flores spent an entire day in our offices going through his second interview for the position, meeting with ownership and other staff members, and receiving a tour of our facility," the team said in a statement.

The date's important because the crux of the lawsuit is ... did Flores have a legit shot at landing the G-Men job, or was he given a sham interview to satisfy the NFL's Rooney Rule (it says teams must interview a minority candidate in person prior to making a hire.)

The 40-year-old former Dolphins head coach filed a lawsuit on Tuesday, alleging the league's hiring practices were racist.

And, Flores says he has proof ... a text from Belichick.

We broke the story ... BB sent a message to Flores on January 23, telling his former assistant coach the NYG liked him for the job.

Unfortunately for BF, Bill either texted the wrong person (he meant to send to Daboll, the man who was ultimately hired), or he misunderstood the info he was told.

"The allegation that the Giants' decision had been made prior to Friday evening, January 28, is false. And to base that allegation on a text exchange with Bill Belichick in which he ultimately states that he 'thinks' Brian Daboll would get the job is irresponsible."

The team continued ... "The text exchange occurred the day before Coach Daboll's in-person interview even took place. Giants’ ownership would never hire a head coach based only on a 20-minute zoom interview, which is all that Mr. Daboll had at that point."

Not to mention, the Giants say Belichick has no affiliation with the organization, and played no part in the hiring process.

"Mr. Belichick does not speak for and has no affiliation with the Giants. Mr. Belichick’s text exchange provides no insight into what actually transpired during our head coaching search."

In other words, it doesn't matter what Bill texted, according to the team.

Bottom line -- the Giants are adamant they did absolutely nothing wrong.

Like Stephen Ross, John Elway is now firing back at Brian Flores ... saying he was NOT hungover during their 2019 interview and was simply just tired from flying to speak with the coach.

Flores, in a lawsuit filed Tuesday, accused Elway and the Broncos of conducting a "sham interview" with him 3 years ago ... saying Elway and others at the meeting "looked completely disheveled" and were "obviously" "drinking heavily the night before."

Elway, though, refuted those claims in a lengthy statement on Thursday ... calling the allegations "false and defamatory."

"For Brian to make an assumption about my appearance and state of mind early that morning was subjective, hurtful and just plain wrong," the Denver exec said. "If I appeared 'disheveled,' as he claimed, it was because we had flown in during the middle of the night -- immediately following another interview in Denver -- and were going on a few hours of sleep to meet the only window provided to us."

Elway continued, "I interviewed Brian in good faith, giving him the same consideration and opportunity as every other candidate for our head coaching position in 2019."

Elway added that he and his team were "prepared, ready and fully engaged" during the interview, which he said lasted 3 and a half hours.

"It's unfortunate and shocking to learn for the first time this week that Brian felt differently about our interview with him," Elway said.

Elway's strong denial came just hours after Ross, the Miami Dolphins' owner, issued his. As we reported, Ross called the Flores claims that he offered money to the coach to tank "false, malicious, and defamatory."

The Super Bowl is just 10 days away and health officials in Los Angeles are warning all you sneaky fans plotting a way around the mask mandate ... don't even think about it!!

L.A. County -- where the game will take place on February 13 -- requires everyone over 2 years old at large scale events over 5,000 people, regardless of vaccination status, to mask up ... except when chowing down.

"That doesn't mean buy a bucket of popcorn and eat it for two hours. Actively eating and drinking," a SoFi Stadium executive said according to Fox 5 in San Diego, adding, "We are on to you."

Officials say they're ready to crack down on any of the 70,000+ fans who will ascend on the $5.5 billion stadium next Sunday ... but admitted it's a monumental task.

"It's a challenge. It's a very large building but we are prepared and ready to go," the NFL's head of live events said, continuing ... "We have had two years of experience of planning under COVID and we're extremely confident in the plans that we have in place."

Now, let's be honest ... this is a rule that is virtually impossible to enforce. How do you determine who's eating slow? What's even considered slow? And, how do you deal with the sheer number of people?

In fact, just last weekend during the NFC Championship Game against the 49ers at SoFi Stadium, California governor Gavin Newsom landed in hot water when he was caught taking a photo with Magic Johnson -- without a mask.

Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti also took a maskless photo with the Lakers legend ... but don't worry, he said he was holding his breath (he said this with a straight face).

In addition to requiring the masks, event staff will also require fans to show vaccination proof prior to entering the stadium. The stadium has also been outfitted with hundreds of hand sanitizers.

Here you go, Robert Kraft and Patriots fans -- Tom Brady is giving New England a proper goodbye ... sharing highlights with his team of 20 years in an emotional farewell video.

Brady posted the clip on Thursday ... featuring classic moments from his 20 years in Foxboro and 2-year stint with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

"As I look back on my career in football, the memories we have made, and the relationships we have built are by far the most meaningful," Brady captioned the clip.

"Yes, the scoreboard was important, but the toughest times always taught me the most important lessons."

Brady added ... "I played for the name on the front of my jersey and the name on the back of my jersey."

Of course, many in New England were in their feels when the 44-year-old future Hall of Famer didn't mention the Pats in his initial retirement letter on Tuesday ... including Robert Kraft who, according to ex-player Ted Johnson, threw a fit when he was left out.

Kraft and Bill Belichick did pen a congratulatory letter, despite the omission ... and Brady later responded to both via Instagram story ... calling Bill "the greatest coach in NFL history" on Wednesday.

In Thursday's vid, Brady says he "played for my friends, my family, and our community -- every single one of you -- that have given me what I have today."

"I love you all. Thank you ALL for making this incredible journey possible."

Pete Golding -- the defensive coordinator for the Univ. of Alabama football team -- was arrested early Thursday morning for DUI ... TMZ Sports has confirmed.

A spokesperson for the Northport Police Department in Alabama tells us Golding -- real name Stephen Thomas Golding -- was arrested at around 1 AM.

According to the rep, Golding was pulled over on suspicion of DUI ... and "probable cause was found" to arrest him. Jail records show he's still in custody.

Further details surrounding the arrest were not made available.

Golding has been on Nick Saban's staff at Bama since the 2018 season. He was promoted to defensive coordinator in 2019 -- and helped lead the Tide to the National Championship games in the 2020 and 2021 seasons.

Golding is considered an ace recruiter who helped Bama land the #2 recruiting class in the country on Wednesday's National Signing Day.

NFL player Damon Arnette allegedly pointed a semi-automatic pistol at a valet in Las Vegas and demanded his Mercedes SUV keys, yelling "give me my mother f***ing keys," according to a police report obtained by TMZ Sports.

25-year-old Arnette -- a 1st round draft pick -- was arrested on Friday, January 28 on Las Vegas Blvd. after cops received a call about a man who allegedly pulled a gun after becoming irate with a valet at the Park MGM resort.

Las Vegas Metro PD say they located Arnette driving a black G-Wagon around 6 PM on Las Vegas Blvd. When they pulled him over, they say they located two guns in the car. One of the weapons was found on a passenger (a Glock 36), and the other was found next to where Damon was seated.

As for the incident that led to the arrest ... a Park MGM employee said he retrieved a prompt to retrieve the Benz. However, when the valet delivered the car, he asked to see Arnette's ticket -- which he said he'd lost. That's when Damon allegedly lost it, yelling "give me my mother f***ing keys!"

Shortly after the valet says things took a turn for the worst. The male employee claims he heard a gun cock, and when he looked up, Arnette was pointing the firearm at him, and again demanded his car.

Arnette eventually got his keys and left ... and police were called. Damon was pulled over and arrested shortly after.

Police say they viewed surveillance video from the casino ... and the video shows Arnette "took a handgun that was concealed from his pants and placed it in the drivers side interior door."

Police say "it appears that Arnette gets irritated and starts yelling at the attendant."

The argument continued, and LVMPD says "Arnette then appears to reach down and charge his pistol using both hands."

FYI, to charge a handgun is to cock the handle.

It gets worse for Damon. Police say they found 3 baggies of cocaine -- totaling 1.8 grams -- in his pocket. They asked Arnette about the powder, and he told them it was ketamine, but that it was not his.

Cops say they also located 13.5 ounces of what appeared to be marijuana (the alleged weed hasn't yet been tested). LVMPD says Damon admitted to having a large amount of pot in his car for personal consumption.

Arnette was eventually booked on 4 felony charges including carrying a concealed weapon, assault and drug possession.

It's not the first time he's been in trouble. Arnette was cut by the Raiders after a video surfaced where he appeared to threaten someone with a weapon.

Arnette is also being sued for an alleged hit and run where someone was seriously injured.

A Colin Kaepernick hater heckled the former NFL star on his way out of Madison Square Garden on Wednesday -- calling the ex-QB a "bum" and saying, "You could never throw a football."

The jerk was heard loud and clear as Kaepernick left the Knicks game in New York and got into his ride ... with the man yelling twice, "You're a bum."

"Get in that car," the heckler added.

Kaepernick never acknowledged the man ... and quietly walked through a swarm of people on his way out of the NBA game and into the waiting car.

Inside of the arena, Colin clearly had a much better time -- he sat next to Spike Lee, and was also spotted chatting it up with former MLB star CC Sabathia before tip-off.

During the game, ESPN Films announced a new docuseries was in the works about Kaepernick, with the production company saying Lee had been tapped to direct it. Officials promised it would tell Kaepernick's story in a way that's never been heard before.

Dolphins owner Stephen Ross is breaking his silence on the Brian Flores allegations ... calling his ex-head coach's claims "false, malicious, and defamatory."

In Flores' bombshell lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday, the 40-year-old alleged that Ross had offered him cash to tank in his first season as coach of the team in 2019 -- saying Ross was willing to give $100,000 per loss.

The owner, though, strongly denied the claims in a statement Wednesday night ... calling them a bunch of BS.

"With regards to the allegations being made by Brian Flores, I am a man of honor and integrity and cannot let them stand without responding," Ross said.

"I take great personal exception to these malicious attacks, and the truth must be known. His allegations are false, malicious and defamatory."

Ross added that he will cooperate with investigators -- but noted he doesn't anticipate them finding any validity to Flores' accusations.

"I welcome that investigation," Ross said, "and I am eager to defend my personal integrity, and the integrity and values of the entire Miami Dolphins organization, from these baseless, unfair and disparaging claims."

Ross fired Flores following the 2021 season ... and said at the time the decision was made due to the coach's "collaboration" issues with others in the Dolphins' org.

A new Colin Kaepernick docuseries is promising to tell the former NFL star's story through his own words ... and Spike Lee has been tapped to direct it all.

ESPN Films announced the partnership and the plan on Wednesday night ... saying in a statement that production on the project has already begun.

No word yet on a title or how many hours/episodes it'll all end up being ... but ESPN officials promised the Lee-directed piece will tell a side of the Kaepernick story that has yet to be heard.

"Kaepernick, who has never given a full, first-person account of his journey, is collaborating closely with Lee who plans to use extensive new interviews and a vast never-before-seen archive to help Kaepernick tell his story from his perspective," ESPN said in a statement.

The two were spotted taking in a Knicks game at Madison Square Garden right around the time ESPN dropped the statement.

The director and the football player were seen chatting it up courtside -- and then they left the venue together as well.

The new docuseries, meanwhile, will be far from the first television project Kaepernick has been involved with ... you'll recall, his Netflix show, "Colin in Black and White," was released last year and received great reviews.

Tiki Barber is so adamant that the New York Giants org. isn't full of a bunch of racists ... he actually had to fight back tears while defending them on Wednesday.

The former G-Men star emotionally refuted Brian Flores' claims on his "Tiki & Tierney" show ... saying flat-out he knows his ex-bosses are not bigots.

"I know [Giants ownership] intimately," Barber said. "So when I say I don't believe they're racists, it's because I know they're not."

As we reported, Flores claimed in a lawsuit Tuesday that he had proof that the Giants only conducted an interview with him to satisfy a league rule that required them to look at minority candidates for their open head coaching position.

The former Miami Dolphins head coach claimed texts from Bill Belichick showed the Giants had already hired Brian Daboll, who's white, well before they even sat down with him.

Tiki, though, said he believes none of it had to do with race whatsoever.

"Yeah, maybe they don't have the right head coach -- the Black head coach," Barber said. "They don't have a Black general manager, or a Black coordinator, right? I know they're not a racist organization."

In trying to further his point, Tiki told a story about how the Maras embraced him so much ... they actually let him speak to Wellington Mara in the moments before he died in 2005.

"The Maras -- and I always say this with the Tisches as well -- like, they embraced me like I was family," an emotional Barber said. "You know what I mean?"

For their part, the Giants denied Flores' allegations in a statement following the filing of the lawsuit.

Stephen Ross isn't the only NFL owner being accused of offering head coaches money to tank -- Hue Jackson is now strongly suggesting that his former boss, Jimmy Haslam, incentivized him to lose games with "a good number."

Jackson's claim comes on the heels of Brian Flores alleging that Ross -- the owner of the Dolphins -- offered him $100,000 per loss during his 2019 coaching campaign ... and would even get upset when the team won games.

Jackson -- who won 3 total games while coaching the Browns from 2016-18 -- weighed in on the topic Wednesday ... saying, "Well, Jimmy Haslam, was happy while we kept losing."

A Twitter user responded ... "Jimmy Haslam wasn’t offering 100k per loss or Hue would be on the Forbes list," which prompted Hue to clap back with his serious allegation.

"Trust me it was a good number!"

Unclear exactly how much Jackson is claiming Haslam offered him ... but his allegations spell more troubling news for the NFL, which is already dealing with Flores' bombshell lawsuit.

Hue spent 4 years in the NFL as a head coach -- 3 of those years were spent working for Haslam in Cleveland -- but struggled to find success as a play-caller with the Raiders and the Browns.

This past December, Grambling State University announced Jackson would be the Tigers' new head coach -- his first coaching opportunity since being fired by the Browns.

Former Patriots linebacker Ted Johnson says Robert Kraft was so pissed about being left out of Tom Brady's retirement note ... he heard the New England owner threw a fit over it.

Johnson said shortly after Brady omitted Kraft, Bill Belichick and the Patriots from his goodbye letter to football on Tuesday, he was told the Pats honcho exploded.

"I was told earlier tonight, you guys, that Robert Kraft, it was an unpleasant day today at the executive offices in Foxboro," said Johnson, who played 10 seasons for the Patriots from 1995 to 2004.

"And that Robert Kraft, when he initially first heard the news, was very upset. And he was screaming and he was yelling. And then there was a significant temper tantrum that he threw after he read this IG post."

It's unclear why Brady left New England out from his note -- he thanked practically everyone else that he's crossed paths with in his career -- but his former teammate, Antowain Smith (who played with Johnson too), told TMZ Sports he believes the snub was unintentional.

Brady did ultimately end up acknowledging the Pats in an IG story later Tuesday, writing, "Thank you Patriots and Patriot Nation. Beyond grateful and love you all."

Kraft has not spoken publicly yet about the Brady retirement, though he did release a statement Tuesday saying, "I have the greatest respect for Tom personally and always will."

Rob Gronkowski just bid farewell to his BFF Tom Brady with a video and a mushy note ... and it ain't hard to see the tight end REALLY loved his quarterback.

Gronk posted it all to his social media page on Wednesday -- just one day after Brady announced he's done with football -- and it's probably the sweetest goodbye message Tom's gotten so far this week.

Rob shared a nearly two-minute video (set to Queen's "You're My Best Friend") that had a whole bunch of cool highlights of the two on and off the field. He also added in a message along with the footage that he believed Tom was "a legend."

"Tommy Boy!!!" Gronk said. "This football journey with you has been nothing short of special."

"Thank you for your dedication to the game, putting the team in the best possible position to win every year, all the records that were broken, the Super Bowls, the memories, and your friendship through the last 12 years."

He continued, "I witnessed greatness for so many years and got to learn from the best to ever do it. You’re a legend and always will be."

32-year-old Gronkowski first teamed up with Brady in New England back in 2010, and he and TB12 quickly became inseparable.

They ended up hooking up for 90 touchdowns together in their careers ... and won 4 Super Bowls together.

It's unclear if Gronk will now join Brady in retirement this offseason ... though he told TMZ Sports last week if he had to choose right now, he'd pick retirement over a return to the gridiron.

The Washington Football Team finally has its new name ... the Washington Commanders.

The NFL's D.C. org just announced the rebranding -- nearly two years after it dropped its old moniker due to its racist ties.

Commanders co-owner and co-CEO Tanya Snyder said in a statement the team landed on the new name after "40,000 fan submissions and countless surveys, focus groups and meetings."

The team unveiled three new logos with the name change -- a capital W, a stylized "Washington Commanders" insignia, and a team crest.

The Commanders also showed off their new uniforms -- red and burgundy kits that aren't too much different than what they've been wearing the past few years.

"As an organization," team co-owner and co-CEO Dan Snyder said Wednesday, "we are excited to rally and rise together as one under our new identity while paying homage to our local roots and what it means to represent the nation's capital."

Take a deep breath Patriot nation -- Tom Brady did not leave you out of his retirement note on purpose, so says his ex-teammate Antowain Smith ... who tells TMZ Sports the G.O.A.T. made an honest omission and still has love for the Pats.

The 44-year-old 7-time Super Bowl champ retired on Tuesday ... and he made sure to thank everyone on his way out the NFL except his former team and its head coach ... which left many Pats fans confused and annoyed.

Smith, though, tells us he thinks it was not done intentionally.

"Personally, myself, I know he has a place in his heart for Patriot nation," said Smith, who won two Super Bowls with Brady in New England. "The moment -- you know, when you speaking in the moment, sometimes you may forget something here or there."

"But, I don't think he did anything intentionally. I know that he feels a way about the Patriots fans, as well as I do."

To his credit, Brady did ultimately end up giving a head nod to the Pats ... writing in an IG story later Tuesday, "Thank you Patriots and Patriot Nation."

"Beyond grateful and love you all."

As for any potential rift between Tom and Bill Belichick, Smith said he doesn't think there's any issue between the two at all. The former running back said he believes the two buried the hatchet when Tampa Bay visited the Patriots in Week 4 of this season.

"After the game was over," Smith said, "they went to the locker room and they had a long conversation."

"They will forever be linked hip and hip and there's nothing else we can do about that."