Football

"My best friend my twin flame the love of my life. I’ve never loved anything as much as i love you."

Those are the heart-wrenching words of Kelly Kay, girlfriend of Spencer Webb -- the 22-year-old Oregon Ducks tight end who tragically died on Wednesday -- and it's clear she's broken over the devastating loss of her BF.

"You were my everything, you gave me purpose, you showed me what it’s like to be cherished and valued and seen for me," Kay wrote.

"We had so many big plans. I don’t know where to go from here but I know you’ll be watching over me keeping me strong. You always put everybody else before yourself and I’ll try to hold the same kindness in my heart ❤️‍🔥"

If Kelly's name sounds familiar, it's 'cause she made national news in 2020 when she hopped a railing during Super Bowl LIV in Miami and briefly streaked on the field during the Chiefs vs. 49ers championship game.

Details surrounding Webb's death aren't entirely clear, but the Lane County Sheriff's Office says they responded to an emergency call Wednesday afternoon for an injured person. Despite rescue efforts, the man, who cops say fell and struck his head, couldn't be resuscitated.

FYI, Webb joined Oregon's football team in 2018 after starring in H.S. at Christian Brothers Academy in Sacramento. He went on to play in 20 games for the Ducks, and was expected to have a key role with the team this season.

Everyone from the University of Oregon, head football coach Dan Lanning, teammates, friends, family and fans have expressed devastation over the unexpected loss.

Lamar Jackson went after ex-Ravens safety Bernard Pollard for dissing him this week ... calling him all kinds of names in a wild Twitter beef.

The two's tiff initially started after ESPN's Ryan Clark said Tuesday that LJ is arguably a top 10 QB ... but, Pollard disagreed, saying Jackson is "a top 10 talent," not a top signal-caller.

Pollard also said no top receivers want to play with LJ 'cause he can't throw the ball ... and that's when Jackson got to typing.

"🤣🤣you sound dumb asf," Jackson replied via Twitter on Wednesday.

"You been cappin since I been playing for the ravens I never heard of you tbh my boy you got your Super Bowl cause of Ray Lewis and Ed Reed 🤣🤣 that year."

Pollard did win Super Bowl XLVII with Lewis and Reed, and because of that, he said he feels LJ (who hasn't won an SB yet) should put respect on his name by calling him Champ.

Jackson refused ... and told the 37-year-old that he's so irrelevant, he had to look Pollard up on the internet before jumping into the drama.

"Nobody speak of you," Jackson said. "I had to Google you lil bra. I never heard of you until I seen you keep dissing like you was a HOFMER BUT YOU FARRRRRRRRRRR FROM IT ACROSS THE OCEAN LIKE OVERSEAS."

LJ took things further by reposting a video of Pollard doing a silly dance in the locker room. He also reposted a clip of Pollard missing an easy tackle in Super Bowl XLVII.

"Bra we almost lost cause of this mf," Jackson said of one of the clips. "I wanted to slap tf outta 31 and it's you???? 🤣🤣"

Tom Brady's on-again, off-again friendship with Donald Trump is apparently on ice once again ... the quarterback just revealed he doesn't talk with the former president anymore, and hasn't spoken to him in "years."

The NFL superstar made the revelation during a recent interview with Variety ... after being asked if he still keeps in touch with No. 45.

"No," Brady said. "I haven’t talked to him in a lot of years."

Of course, Brady and Trump used to be good pals. The two golfed often, spoke regularly -- and, at one point during DT's initial run for president in 2015, the ex-Patriots signal-caller had a "Make America Great Again" cap in his locker.

But, Tom and Trump grew apart shortly after Donald got in office -- Brady famously skipped out on a visit to Trump's White House in 2017, and later slammed Trump's criticism of Colin Kaepernick as "just divisive."

The two had appeared to mend fences in 2020, when at a coronavirus update press conference, Trump said he had recently spoken to Brady -- calling him "a great guy."

Rashard Anderson, former Carolina Panthers first-round draft pick and Jackson State football star, has died, university officials confirmed to TMZ Sports.

He was 45.

The cause of death is currently unknown.

Jackson State's athletic director released a statement on the tragic news, saying, "Rashard was one of the best players in the history of our football program and an outstanding person."

"He attended our spring football game in April and was excited about the program returning to championship status. Rashard will always be remembered by Jackson State University, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family at this time."

A product of Forest High School in Mississippi, Anderson was a standout at JSU, where he played cornerback for the Tigers from 1996-99.

Anderson was a member of the Tigers team that won the Southwestern Athletic Conference championship in 1996 ... and the SWAC Eastern Division title in 1999.

Selected No. 23 overall by the Panthers in the first round of the 2000 NFL draft, Anderson played in 27 total games during his two seasons with Carolina.

Anderson's NFL career, however, was short-lived. The DB missed the entire 2003 season after getting suspended for a substance violation.

The league reinstated Rashard following the suspension, but he never caught on with another team.

But, Anderson's dream of continuing to play pro football didn't stop there ... he signed a contract with the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League, but the former college star was released soon after.

Rashard was inducted into JSU's Hall of Fame ... and to this day remains the last player from the university to be selected in the first round of the NFL Draft.

Oregon Ducks tight end Spencer Webb has tragically died, his teammates and coaches confirmed on Wednesday night.

He was just 22 years old.

"So full of life in every moment of the day," Ducks football head coach Dan Lanning said of Webb in a tweet on Wednesday evening. "Your smile and energy will be missed Spencer. I love you!"

The Lane County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement Wednesday night it responded to rock slides near Triangle Lake earlier in the afternoon after receiving reports of an injured 22-year-old. Cops said the man had been recreating and fell, striking his head. According to the statement, bystanders and first responders tried to help the man, but say he could not be revived.

Police did not name the victim in the statement, though The Sacramento Bee reports it was Webb.

"Shocked. Unbelievable. Unreal," Oregon wide receiver Isaah Crocker said of Webb's passing on his social media page Wednesday night.

"You've been there since Day 1 and no matter what, I will keep our promise. Love you unconditionally. Truly more than family. You was my n****! There is no turning back…. Until we meet again🕊Love you 4💔 never thought it ever come to this day..❤️🕊🕸"

Webb joined the Oregon football team in 2018 after starring in H.S. at Christian Brothers Academy in Sacramento. He went on to play in 20 games for the Ducks, and was expected to have a key role with the team this season.

"Rest easy lil bro," said NFL star Arik Armstead, who played at Oregon and interacted with Webb when he returned back to campus for games. "Great young man with a promising future gone too soon."

The NFL is facing yet another lawsuit ... this time, musician Bobby Nunn says the league used his famous "Rocket 2 U" song during numerous broadcasts -- including a recent 2022 "Sunday Night Football" game -- but never compensated him for it.

In the suit, filed in New York on Wednesday and obtained by TMZ Sports, Nunn says the smash hit that he wrote and produced for the Jets back in 1988 was used without his permission multiple times by the NFL and NBC Universal.

Nunn specifically claims his song was played during the broadcast of the Packers vs. Vikings 'SNF' game on Jan. 3. In the docs, Nunn included a screen grab of the portion of the broadcast where he says the tune could be heard.

Nunn, who's perhaps most well known for his "She's Just a Groupie" song, claims the NFL never licensed the song to use it ... and says when he made contact with the league and its TV partner about it all, they denied infringement.

Nunn is asking for damages ... as well as for the league and NBC to stop using his song without his consent.

This is now at least the third time the NFL has been sued by a high-profile plaintiff in the last few months -- you'll recall, both Jon Gruden and Brian Flores are involved in lawsuits against The Shield as well.

Ryan Garcia is ready to squash the beef with Canelo Alvarez ... saying he wants to bury the hatchet with the boxing superstar -- even offering front-row tickets to his fight in L.A. as an olive branch.

The fall-out from the former buddies happened earlier this year when Garcia parted ways with his trainer Eddy Reynoso ... who also happens to train Canelo.

Garcia claimed he wasn't getting the proper attention from the team ... so he split. The fallout ... tension with Alvarez. And since, the men have had a frosty relationship ... with Canelo even questioning Ryan's work ethic, saying he's "wasting a lot of time and wasting his talent."

But, after a bunch of back and forth, Garcia says he wants to move on, telling Inside Fighting the quarrel between them is a "hypothetical beef".

"I would definitely love to make amends with people, forgive people," Garcia said on Wednesday.

"I believe in forgiveness and I'm just the type of person to forgive really quick and I don't want that negativity or bad blood with anybody."'

To prove Ryan isn't just talking ... he's inviting Alvarez to his July 16 fight against Javier Fortuna at Crypto Arena in Los Angeles.

"I'll get him tickets," the 22-0 boxer said, "He can get it himself but if he personally asks me, I would give him tickets. First row. Love him to be there."

And, Alvarez won't be the only star there (if he shows). Garcia says LeBron James, Aaron Donald, and Draymond Green will all be making an appearance.

"Only winners come to my fight."

Deion Sanders' beef with Nick Saban is over ... well, at least that's the way it appears -- as the two coaches were spotted laughing together in a new commercial.

"Prime Time" posted a snippet alongside Saban in an Aflac commercial ... and judging from the looks of it, their issues over NIL deals in college football seem to be a thing of the past.

"We're in Los Angeles, California back on the Aflac set with the G.O.A.T.," Sanders said in reference to Saban.

"And the duck," Saban joked while smiling. Sanders responded with a playful jab of his own, saying, "I was talking about you. So, you calling me a duck?"

The war of words between the two Hall of Famers started after Saban accused Deion and Jackson State University of paying Travis Hunter -- a highly-recruited Division 1 prospect -- $1 million to play for JSU.

"I mean Jackson State paid a guy a million dollars last year that was a really good Division 1 player to come to school -- it was in the paper, and then bragged about it. Nobody did anything about it," Saban said at the time.

The former Cowboys legend promptly clapped back at arguably the greatest coach in college football history, saying, "We as a PEOPLE don't have to pay our PEOPLE to play with our PEOPLE."

Hunter seemed to deny that Coach Prime paid him a million dollars to play for the JSU Tigers ... essentially refuting the claims made by Saban.

Of course, Deion and Nick have shot commercials together in the past ... but there was reasonable concern about how their next shoot would go, given their seemingly contentious relationship as of late.

Le'Veon Bell's football career is over -- at least for now -- the NFL star says he won't play this season ... and it's all 'cause he wants to now focus on his boxing career.

The running back made the announcement just minutes ago at a promotional event for his upcoming fight with Adrian Peterson -- revealing he's going to try to take this year to begin his formal transition from football player to full-time fighter.

"Last year, I almost sat out the whole year to try to focus on boxing, because I kind of knew that's what I wanted to transition to," Bell said.

"This year, I know I'm not going to be playing this year because I want to focus on boxing."

Bell -- who played eight total games last season for the Baltimore Ravens and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers -- has been slowly making the move into the fight world, incorporating mitts into his workouts routinely.

But, at 30 years old, most thought he'd still try to extend his NFL career.

Bell, though, made it known he believes he can carve out a real niche in boxing -- and he said he's hoping a win over Peterson during their match later this month kick starts all of that.

"This is my introduction to kind of showing what I've been doing," Bell said, "and how I've been going about myself."

New team. Same number.

Baker Mayfield will be wearing his customary number 6 this upcoming season ... thanks to his new teammate, All-Pro punter Johnny Hekker, who agreed to let the polarizing QB have the number he sported throughout his college and NFL career.

Mayfield was introduced by the Carolina Panthers at a press conference on Tuesday ... when a reporter asked him about the importance of number 6, and whether he'd be rocking a new digit this season.

"I guess it's time to break the news," Baker said. "I made a deal, did my own negotiating with Johnny [Hekker]. Obviously when it comes to a 4-time All-Pro, [I] had to ask permission. [He] was willing to make those sacrifices."

"Six is special to me, not because it was ever my favorite number. It was the number I was given as a walk-on at Texas Tech and when I transferred, the people at Oklahoma thought it was my favorite number, so they just gave it to me again."

"It's just stuck with me," Mayfield added.

The former No.1 overall pick said the No.6 "symbolizes my story" and that it's "something special to him now," adding, that he's incredibly thankful Hekker -- a 10-year NFL veteran and stud punter -- was willing to accommodate his request.

It's unclear what the number cost Baker ... 'cause it almost certainly wasn't free. Over the years we've seen everything from cash, vacations and fancy gifts exchanged for numbers.

Baker also touched on the transition from Cleveland to North Carolina ... and talked about what the possibility of playing his old team -- the Browns -- Week 1 would mean to him.

"I'm extremely excited for this new start in Charlotte," the 27-year-old said. "It's just an exciting time for myself and my family and this new chapter."

The speculation can be put to rest -- Rob Gronkowski says his football-playing days are officially behind him ... and not even Tom Brady can change his mind.

The 33-year-old future Hall of Famer doubled down on his decision to walk away from the game just minutes ago ... saying he's excited to focus on new opportunities after 11 seasons on the field.

"Yeah, I'm done with football," Gronk said Tuesday. "Love the game. Definitely blessed with all the opportunities the game of football has given me and the relationships I’ve met, obviously, here in New England for nine seasons and down in Tampa for two."

"But, no, done with football. Stepping my feet into the business world, the business ventures and just seeing what’s out there and where I can find my place."

The comments come one week after teammate Mike Evans addressed Gronk's status ... saying he was hoping to see him back on the field for the Buccaneers in 2022, but knows it's probably for the best.

"He takes a pretty big beating," Evans told KPRC 2 Houston. "I've seen his body after some of them games and I understand why [he would retire]."

Former Dallas Cowboys star Marion Barber III died due to heat stroke, officials confirmed to TMZ Sports on Monday.

According to the Collin County Medical Examiner’s Office, Barber's death was ruled an "accident."

As we reported, Barber was found dead by the Frisco Police Dept. in Texas on June 1. He was just 38 years old.

The ex-running back, who was picked by the Cowboys in the fourth round of the 2005 NFL Draft, had shown no signs of trouble prior to his death, according to his attorney, Zoltan Papp.

Papp said Barber had started a trucking venture, and had also spent a large portion of the past few years trying to help kids in inner cities, while fighting for social justice.

Barber played in the NFL for seven seasons -- six with the Cowboys and one with the Bears -- totaling 4,780 rushing yards and 53 rushing touchdowns over 99 total games.

RIP.

Russell Wilson is clearly doing all he can to make sure he ain't the last NFL QB to come out of his household ... revealing Monday he's training Future Zahir to be a signal-caller too!

The Denver Broncos QB posted video of a recent workout sesh he had with Ciara's 8-year-old son ... and you can see, the kid appears to be a natural!

As Russ dictated how he wanted the boy to manipulate the pocket, Future Zahir complied with ease -- and then delivered a dart to the 33-year-old NFL star.

Russ also showed he's giving some quarterbacking lessons to the son of famous choreographer Jamaica Craft as well.

"Post workout work with the young fellas!" Russ said of the drills. "Future & Kingston young legends. Watch out @NFL."

Craft was appreciative of the time Wilson was spending with her son, penning a sweet thank you note to him on her IG.

"Kingston was learning from a living legend!!!!" she said. "Let’s Go God! So appreciative."

FYI, Wilson and Future Zahir -- Ciara's 1st child with rapper Future -- have been dabbling in QB drills for a couple of years now ... and in 2020, the 9x Pro Bowler called him his "best teammate" and a "QB in the making!"

NFL offensive lineman Duane Brown and his camp are finally breaking their silence on his arrest this weekend ... calling the incident "an accident."

We broke the story ... the 36-year-old, who most recently starred for the Seattle Seahawks, was busted at LAX on Saturday after he allegedly tried to go through TSA with a gun in his baggage.

On Monday, his agent, Kennard McGuire, addressed the arrest in a statement to NFL reporter Josina Anderson ... saying, "To err is human, and this clearly was an accident."

McGuire continued, "As a law-abiding citizen, Duane will continue to exercise proper judgment and continue education on gun safety measures."

Brown was ultimately booked on a charge of possession of a concealed firearm, and, according to records, he bonded out of jail late Saturday night. He's due in court for a hearing on the matter next month.

Guys and gals, take notes ... Russell Wilson and Ciara just put on a clinic for how to celebrate an anniversary -- getting in a romantic dinner in Italy AND personalized fireworks for the occasion!

TMZ Sports has learned ... the couple -- who have been across the pond for the last few days -- hit a swanky restaurant on Lake Como on Thursday to celebrate their sixth year of marriage.

The two looked very much in love as they dined ... but we're told they had to jet out of the place in somewhat of a hurry -- as they had a fireworks show to get to.

According to witnesses at the scene, the fireworks -- which lasted several minutes -- were shot out of a boat that had a sign reading, "Happy Anniversary."

Russ had made it known he was stoked for the day prior to the romantic evening ... writing in an emotional Instagram post, "God has blessed us for the past 6 years of Marriage with our 3 beautiful children and an overflow of laughter, love, & life."

"Cheers to forever. Happy Anniversary my love @Ciara ❤️ I Love You Mrs. Wilson."

The Las Vegas Raiders just announced they are hiring Sandra Douglass Morgan to be the team's new president ... making her the first Black woman to occupy such a role in NFL history.

"I am thrilled to join you as we embark on one of the most exciting times in the history of our organization," Morgan said in a letter announcing her hire, obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

"I look forward to meeting each of you in person over the coming weeks," she added.

Morgan -- an attorney and the former Chairwoman of the Nevada Gaming Control Board -- steps into her new role just a few months after the then-team exec. Dan Ventrelle was fired by the organization.

Ventrelle claims the only reason he was let go is because he reported to the NFL that team owner Mark Davis did nothing to address the issue of a hostile work environment.

Morgan joins the Raiders with an extensive résumé -- last year, she served as the vice-chair of the Las Vegas Super Bowl host committee and worked with the Nevada State Athletic Commission.

The former attorney joins the Raiders after a troubling year for the franchise -- several of the team's biggest stars got into trouble off the field ... and Jon Gruden resigned after he was found to have used offensive language in emails.

Morgan's husband, Don, used to play in the NFL for the Minnesota Vikings and Arizona Cardinals ... and she's been connected to Vegas since a young age.

"The Raiders have a long legacy of greatness, because of each of you and because of visionaries like Mark’s father, Al," Morgan wrote.