Football

Tom Brady has helped bring yet another superstar to Tampa Bay ... Richard Sherman just announced he's signed with the Buccaneers after the G.O.A.T. recruited him to the squad.

The 3-time All-Pro cornerback revealed the news on his podcast early Wednesday morning ... saying he had interest from the 49ers, Panthers and Seahawks, but ultimately signed with Tampa Bay after an initial recruiting pitch from Brady.

"He reached out and said they may express interest and obviously he wanted to play with me," Sherman said of the future Hall of Fame quarterback.

"Then their front office reached out and the conversation started a few weeks ago when they lost their starter, Sean Murphy-Bunting -- and then it kind of steamrolled."

Details of the deal have yet to be announced ... but it's a fairly surprising move from the Bucs -- considering Sherman is still facing criminal charges as well as potential discipline from the NFL stemming from his wild July arrest.

As we previously reported, law enforcement has accused Sherman of drinking and driving, crashing his car and then completely melting down at his in-laws' home in Washington.

The 33-year-old NFL player is facing five charges over the incident -- and while he's pled not guilty to all of the counts, he's since apologized for his actions several times.

But, it seems clear the Bucs are comfortable with his legal situation regardless ... 'cause Sherman said on his podcast he's ready to get going in Florida ASAP.

"It's an opportunity I couldn't pass up," Sherman said. "It's a proven team. I just need to go in there and show that these legs still got some juice."

The greatest tight end in the NFL believes LeBron James would have thrived as a pro football player ... 'cause Travis Kelce tells TMZ Sports the King would've been a serious "problem" in the league if he didn't become a basketball icon.

LBJ recently revealed he received offers to play for the Dallas Cowboys and Seattle Seahawks during the 2011 NBA lockout ... and said he would have likely tried out at tight end if he decided to play football.

Considering Kelce is a 5-time All-Pro tight end, a Super Bowl champ and a 6-time Pro Bowler, we had to ask about LBJ's chances in the league ... and he truly believes James would have balled out!!!

"I think LeBron is one of the greatest athletes in the world, right," Kelce told Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs nightly on FS1).

"His athleticism, how knowledgeable he is about the game of basketball that you can tell how he plays, he gets down to the scheme of things."

Kelce continued ... "And, that's a lot about being a football player is understanding schemes, going out there, playing free and letting your athleticism show."

Of course, there may be a bit of bias in Kelce's answer ... he grew up in Cleveland Heights, just about 45 minutes from LeBron's hometown of Akron. But, make no mistake, he's serious about LeBron's abilities on the gridiron.

"I think Bron would have definitely been a problem on the football field, no doubt about it," he added. "Especially with tight end room. That's us Northeast Ohio guys, man. We're all-around athletes. You can throw us in any sport, we'll have success."

As for whether LBJ would have been able to make that transition in 2011, Kelce says he wishes he could have seen that experiment unfold.

We also spoke with Kelce about his partnership with LG, where he's opening the doors to his life off the field for the "Travis Kelce, Only On OLED" series ... which also stars 2 of his childhood friends.

Tom Brady is treating his big return to Foxboro like a regular football game ... claiming he's not expecting any fanfare against the Patriots this Sunday.

Right, like that's gonna happen.

Week 4 will mark TB12's first trip back to Gillette Stadium since leaving the Pats in 2020 ... and in his one year with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, all he's done is win the Super Bowl over the Kansas City Chiefs. No biggie.

But, with Sunday's reunion approaching, Brady says he's not going to waste any time thinking about his first 20 years with the Pats.

"I'm not going to necessarily reminisce," Brady told ESPN this week. "I don't think this is the moment for that. I'll have plenty of opportunities to reminisce about my football career."

"None of which I really care to do right now because I'm so much in the moment. I'm not going to be thinking about 20 years of history."

"I'm going to be thinking about one night of football, a Sunday night game coming off a really tough loss."

Brady's former partner in crime -- Bill Belichick -- hasn't fared as well without the G.O.A.T. under center. BB finished his 2020 coaching campaign with a 7-9 record and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

Both teams come into this game having suffered defeat in Week 3 ... so the stakes will be high when the teams kickoff on Sunday Night Football.

As for what Tom expects???

"I mean, I think they're there to root for their team, and their team is the Patriots," Brady said. "I think they're gonna cheer for their team as I would expect them to, and I think if they know anything about me, they're gonna know that I'm going out there to try to win the football game, so I think they'll respect that about me."

As it turns out, Brady is just a few yards from passing Drew Brees on the all-time passing yards list on Sunday ... which is quite the full-circle moment for TB12.

The Manning broadcast turned PG-13 on "Monday Night Football" ... with Eli Manning giving a double middle finger salute LIVE ON AIR!!!

The hilarious moment went down on ESPN2 as the Giants legend was sharing his experiences going up against the Philadelphia Eagles ... describing their fans as absolutely ruthless.

"You go to Philly, you're getting the double bird right away from a 9-year-old kid," Eli told Peyton and 4th quarter guest Chris Long.

"I would give the bird, I don't know, can we do that?? I'm sure you can blur that out, right??"

As it turns out, E, -- no, you can't do that and no, they couldn't blur it out ... but that didn't stop him from holding up the gesture for a few solid moments.

Despite the hiccup, Eli continued his story like nothing happened ... claiming fans would say things about his mom that he wouldn't say over the air (apparently he limits himself to one FCC violation per game).

"They're saying things about my mom and Peyton, I can't even tell you what they said about my mom," Eli added.

The Manning-cast has been a huge hit through 3 weeks ... with guests like LeBron James, Russell Wilson, Gronk, and Charles Barkley joining the bros to talk football.

Travis Kelce also flirted with more mature content when he was on during Week 1 ... dropping an s-bomb.

No word on if the FCC will hand down any fines, but Eli ended up apologizing for the whole thing.

"Sorry, earlier I gave the double bird. I guess that’s frowned upon, so I apologize if I offended anybody. That’s just what a 9-year-old did to me and I thought I could do it back," Eli said.

Justin Tucker's 66-yard game-winning kick Sunday wasn't just painful for Lions fans ... it also REALLY hurt a Ravens assistant coach, who blew out his hamstring celebrating!!!

Baltimore headman, John Harbaugh, explained the situation to reporters Monday ... saying linebackers coach, Drew Wilkins, popped his hammy while jumping for joy after Tucker's epic boot.

Harbaugh took a little bit of joy in announcing the injury ... joking with media members that the wound was all due to Wilkins' poor gym habits.

"Drew is philosophically opposed to exercise," Harbaugh said with a big smile. "He's made that clear over the years, kind of emphatically. He's a staunch believer in not exercising. You can see where that gets you."

Video of the celebration is pretty funny -- even though it's got to be pretty painful as well -- 'cause you can see in the clip Wilkins tumbled hard after rushing the field to celebrate Tucker's kick.

Unclear how long Wilkins' recovery process will be -- Harbaugh joked the MRI results are not in yet -- but we're pretty sure a come from behind, improbable 19-17 win will make the pain a little easier to swallow.

A Kansas City Chiefs fan was pummeled so hard during a wild brawl in the stands at Arrowhead Stadium on Sunday -- he appeared to be knocked out cold.

The violence all went down at some point during the Chiefs' game against the Chargers ... when K.C. fans got into a heated altercation.

In footage of the incident, filmed by bystanders, you can see the melee was all kicked off after one fan threw a huge haymaker amid a verbal argument.

That's when all hell broke loose -- 'cause several other fans ran into the area, throwing wild punches.

In the clip, you can see things got so bad ... a man appeared to be punched unconscious, with his limp body sprawled out over a row of seats.

Unclear if anybody suffered any serious injuries in the fight, or if any arrests were made. We've reached out to cops, but so far, no word back yet.

Utah Utes football player Aaron Lowe was tragically shot and killed at a Salt Lake City house party on Saturday ... just hours after playing in a game.

He was just 21 years old.

The Salt Lake City Police Dept. confirmed the news over the weekend ... saying they initially got a call about the house party at around 10:30 PM on Saturday for a noise complaint.

Hours later, at around 12:20 AM, cops say they got more calls regarding a fight involving a weapon, as well as gunshots.

The SCLPD says when it arrived on the scene, officers found Lowe and an unidentified woman suffering from gunshot wounds.

Cops say first responders rendered aid to both Lowe and the woman -- but said Lowe tragically died at the scene.

The woman, meanwhile, was transported to a nearby hospital -- where cops say she remains in critical condition.

The SLCPD added it's investigating the incident as a homicide ... though no arrests have been made yet.

Lowe -- who had primarily played on special teams in his 3-year career with the Utes -- had just logged time in the Utes' 24-13 win over Washington State.

The tragedy, meanwhile, comes less than a year after another Utes football player, Ty Jordan, was killed in an accidental shooting.

Lowe and Jordan were teammates at West Mesquite H.S. in Texas before joining the Utes ... and when Jordan died in Dec. 2020, Lowe switched his jersey number from #2 to Jordan's #22 to honor him.

Lowe was also the first recipient of the Ty Jordan Memorial Scholarship.

Scary night for Josh Norman on Sunday ... the 49ers star reportedly coughed up blood after leaving S.F.'s game against the Packers -- and needed to be hospitalized.

Norman bowed out of the Niners' loss to Green Bay in the first half with a chest injury ... and, according to NFL Network's Mike Garafolo, it was so bad, he was spitting up blood.

The 33-year-old was then taken to the hospital, per Garafolo, where he remained throughout the night for observation and testing.

Fortunately, early indications are Norman is going to be okay ... with Garafolo reporting, early tests have revealed no significant damage.

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is doing much better after being transported to the hospital Sunday ... with the team announcing he's resting and in "stable condition."

The legendary coach was taken away in an ambulance after feeling ill following the Chiefs' loss to the Los Angeles Chargers at Arrowhead Stadium ... with ESPN's Adam Schefter reporting it was for a "precautionary observation."

The Chiefs provided an update on Reid's status late Sunday night ... and it's all good news.

"Head Coach Andy Reid felt ill at the conclusion of the game," the team said. "He was evaluated by our medical staff in the locker room, & as a precaution, was transported to The University of Kansas Health System for further evaluation."

"Coach is doing well, currently resting & in stable condition."

While the Chiefs did not get into detail on what Reid was battling, Dan Graziano reports he was treated for dehydration.

Chiefs star Tyrann Mathieu shared his well wishes for Reid after the game, saying, "I’m praying for my Head Coach & I’m hoping you can send up prayers with me!!"

"One of the best men & teachers I’ve been around!!! GOD please show us your mercy!"

As for the game, the Chargers shocked the Chiefs, winning 30-24 as KC falls to 1-2.

Get well soon, Andy!!

Ohio State has booted one of its linebackers off the team ... after the dude had a complete meltdown on the sideline during the Buckeyes' game over the weekend.

K'Vaughan Pope -- a senior who had played in over 30 contests for OSU since 2018 -- lost it during Ohio State's 59-7 win over Akron on Saturday.

Pope was reportedly so upset over his role in the defense and his playing time ... he ripped off his gloves and threw them into the stands -- and then tried to take off his jersey too.

Pope was eventually escorted to the locker room ... and just minutes after the tirade -- while the game was still going on on the field -- he tweeted (and later deleted), "f*** Ohio State."

He also added in a second tweet, "good lucc to my teammates."

On Sunday, roughly 24 hours after the incident, head coach Ryan Day announced Pope would no longer have a spot on OSU's football team over it all.

"K'Vaughan will continue to have the use of programs that benefit our student-athletes, such as our Student-Athlete Support Services Office, and we will support him with his progress toward graduation," Day said.

"He will remain on scholarship through the duration of this semester."

For his part, Pope apologized for the outburst ... writing in a tweet Sunday, "I made a mistake and know that I need to be better and do better. I’m going to take this time to reflect and work on my mental well-being."

MVP quarterback today ... WWE superstar after that?!?

Kofi Kingston says that's entirely possible for Lamar Jackson ... telling TMZ Sports after watching the Ravens star flip during a touchdown run this past Sunday, he could see the QB killin' it in the ring!

"I would love to see what Lamar could do in a wrestling ring," Kofi says. "He would be incredible."

Lamar put his athleticism on full display in Baltimore's huge win over the Chiefs ... somersaulting into the endzone on a key fourth-quarter play.

The 24-year-old didn't exactly stick the landing -- he joked he hurt his backside in the tumble -- but Kofi tells us the sheer athleticism of it all stuck out to him big time.

"I'd give it a 10 out of 10," Kofi said of the flip. "I don't really care about the form ... He was just out there showing off."

And, now, Kofi says he's pretty damn sure Lamar could be as big of a star as he is in Vince McMahon's world!!!

"It'd just be a matter of getting the psychology aspect of putting matches together and stuff like that," Kingston says.

The driver who struck and killed NFL coach Greg Knapp has reportedly been cleared of any wrongdoing ... and will not face criminal charges.

58-year-old Knapp was riding his bicycle in San Ramon, CA on July 17 ... when he was hit by a car and rushed to the hospital with severe injuries.

Knapp -- who had just been hired to be the New York Jets' passing game coordinator -- tragically passed away on July 22 ... a loss that was felt throughout the NFL community.

The incident was investigated by San Ramon PD and sent over to the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office ... which declined to pursue charges.

"The San Ramon Police Department's investigation has concluded and it was submitted for review," the police said in a statement to Danville San Ramon.

"We received official word from the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office that they will not be filing criminal charges on the driver involved in the collision."

The DA's office explained the decision to the New York Post on Friday ... saying, there was "insufficient evidence to satisfy the requisite standard of criminal negligence on the part of the suspect driver."

Officials do not believe drugs or alcohol were a factor ... and the driver was fully cooperative with authorities.

Knapp was beloved amongst players and coaches throughout the league -- he won a Super Bowl ring as an assistant with the Denver Broncos in 2016, and is survived by his mother, wife, brother and 3 daughters.

Paul "Bear" Bryant -- arguably the greatest college football coach of all time -- famously wore a Houndstooth fedora on the sideline ... and now you can own an actual game-worn hat rocked by the late Alabama coach, cause one recently hit the auction block.

Of course, Bear was the head man at Alabama for 25 years (1958-1983) ... where he won 6 national championships and 13 conference titles.

The hat -- available at Lelands Auctions -- is a size 7 3/8 hat with a gold stamp that says Paul "Bear" Bryant.

There's also a logo inside the hat that confirms it's an original. There's also a letter of authenticity from Robert Crawford, a photographer who worked the Crimson Tide's sidelines for 4 decades.

The hat shows minimal wear, according to Lelands.

The fedora currently has 7 bids ... with the highest offer coming in at over $4,400.

If the price remains near where it currently is, it's a huge bargain. Lelands previously sold 2 other Bryant hats for a combined $100+K this past year.

And, the 6 figure price tag isn't surprising ... that's how important Bear was to the game of football.

In fact, the Coach of The Year award was renamed to the Paul 'Bear' Bryant Award in 1986.

Bryant also has several buildings on the Alabama campus -- including the football stadium -- that are named after him. He was also honored with a U.S. postage stamp in 1996.

So, if you want that Bryant swag ... ya better act fast. The auction ends tomorrow night.

Josh Gordon is back in the NFL once again.

The troubled former All-Pro wide receiver has reportedly been reinstated by the league on Friday ... and is eligible to return as soon as next week.

30-year-old Gordon has been in and out of the NFL due to substance abuse issues since joining the Cleveland Browns in 2012 ... missing three complete seasons in the process.

Most recently, Gordon was conditionally reinstated in December 2020, but that was short-lived as was booted from the league again just months later in January 2021.

During his time away from the NFL, Gordon stayed competitive by participating in the Fan-Controlled Football league alongside former teammate Johnny Manziel.

Josh's agent released a statement Friday ... saying, "We are grateful that the NFL appreciates the work that Josh put in and now he has earned another opportunity to be part of this league," Zac Hiller said via Adam Schefter.

"We are proud of Josh, and I know all the fans can’t wait to see him on Sundays."

There's no doubt Gordon is a top talent when he's focused ... so here's hoping he can stay on the right track and contribute this season.

Julian Edelman says the NFL's most anticipated game -- pitting his old QB, Tom Brady and the Bucs against his old team, the Patriots -- is gonna be be super weird for him ... almost like a child at a party with his "divorced parents."

The teams are playing October 3 ... and it'll be the first time that TB12 returns to Gillette Stadium since leaving the Pats in 2020.

And, Edelman -- who played with Brady and Rob Gronkowski in New England for 11 seasons before retiring -- is hyped about the game.

"It's definitely gonna be weird," Edelman told ABC6.

"It's like going to a family barbecue or like a basketball event and you're the step kid, or you're like the kid who has divorced parents and your mom and dad are there and you don't know how to react."

"Are they going to fight? Are they not going to fight? It's going to be interesting. But, I am excited. Who's not excited for it? It's going to be an exciting game."

So, is Edelman rollin' with his former team or former QB? He says Pats all day!

"I want the Patriots to win," Edelman says, "but I also want them to do well -- Gronk and Tom, so we'll see."

"I hope Tom does great. I hope everyone stays healthy. I hope Gronk does great but I hope like it's just a high scoring battle and maybe lil Mac [Jones] comes out, who knows? We'll see."

But, Edelman then takes it back ... saying he "can't be taking sides right now" since he's now an "Inside the NFL" analyst.

"I'm gonna have to take the fifth on that one, actually."

He's baaaaaaack!!!! (reportedly) -- Odell Beckham will make his big return to the Cleveland Browns this Sunday ... 11 months after going down with a season-ending injury.

Remember, OBJ tore his ACL in a Week 7 matchup against the Cincinnati Bengals ... and has been busting his ass in recovery ever since.

He's been busting his ass during rehab ... from running on treadmills to heavy lifting to other drills.

Odell has been participating in team warmups the past 2 weeks in hopes of getting back on the field ... but the Browns wanted to make sure he was back to full health before giving the green light.

Now, ESPN's Jordan Schultz is reporting #13 WILL be in action against the Chicago Bears this weekend ... that is, "barring any final setbacks."

Odell teased reporters earlier Thursday ... smiling and saying, "we'll see" when asked about his chances of playing.