Football

The dads are at it again in Cleveland.

Kareem Hunt Sr. -- father of Browns star running back Kareem Hunt -- ripped Baker Mayfield after an ugly loss to the Ravens on Sunday ... saying the quarterback is simply scared to throw the ball.

Emotions were clearly high after Cleveland lost 16-10 at Baltimore -- despite intercepting Ravens' QB Lamar Jackson four times -- and well, Kareem's pops didn't hold back.

"[Baker's] limping he's scared to throw the ball and they know he's hurt they going to keep listening but if people don't like what I'm saying unfriend me," Hunt Sr. said.

"I'm not jeopardizing nothing I got a right to speak I ain't posting no videos have a good day go Browns hopefully."

Now, this isn't the first time the father of a star Browns player took aim at Cleveland's signal-caller -- Odell Beckham Jr.'s father shared a lengthy video on social media detailing the lack of chemistry between Mayfield and his son.

Beckham was released by the Browns shortly after ... leading many to believe the video was carefully orchestrated by the Beckham camp to "#FreeOdell."

Now, it seems like Hunt Sr.'s turn to take a shot at the Mayfield ... who has struggled to quarterback the 6-6 team lately.

In Mayfield's defense, he's opened up about dealing with several injuries ... including a torn labrum in his left shoulder, a groin injury, and a left heel issue.

Just hours after USC fans broke out a "F*** the Mormons" chant during the Trojans' game against BYU -- the school issued an apology, saying it was all "distasteful" and "offensive."

It's unclear at what point during BYU's game against USC on Saturday night that the synchronized yelling happened ... video has yet to surface of it all.

But, multiple people reported hearing it loud and clear during the contest at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum ... forcing USC officials to apologize on Sunday.

"The offensive chant from our student section directed towards BYU during the football game last night does not align with our Trojan values," the school said in a statement.

"It was distasteful and we apologize to the BYU program."

What's interesting ... USC's quarterback, Jaxson Dart, is actually a member of the LDS Church.

The Cougars, though, were clearly unfazed by the disturbing chants from the Trojan-heavy crowd ... they ended up winning the game, 35-31, improving their record to 10-2.

Vita Vea -- Tom Brady's teammate and arguably the Bucs' best defensive player -- needed both an ice bath AND a trip to the dentist after Tampa's game Sunday ... 'cause he lost a tooth in the middle of a play!!!

The gnarly scene all went down in the second quarter of the Buccaneers' contest with the Indianapolis Colts -- when Vea's helmet got dislodged while rushing the quarterback.

You can see in footage of the play, as Vea was putting pressure on the passer -- a Colts O-lineman stuck his helmet right into the big nose guard's mouth ... causing a tooth to pop out!

Cameras caught the little piece of Vea flying out of the 6-foot-4, 346-pounder's face -- and, yeah, it was gnarly.

Vea, though, took the shot like a champ -- and, in fact, when he got to the sideline, he was all smiles ... drinking water and laughing with teammates!!

After the game -- one in which Vea and the Bucs held on to beat Indy, 37-31 -- his head coach had no sympathy for his player ... with Bruce Arians telling reporters, "I don't care. He's got 30 other ones."

Ja'Marr Chase is NOT a lock to win the NFL's Offensive Rookie of the Year award ... so says Chargers D-lineman, Justin Jones, who tells TMZ Sports his L.A. teammate, Rashawn Slater, could easily rip away the trophy!!!

Jones made the claim to us at a Thanksgiving charity event earlier this week at SoFi Stadium ... saying the Bolts' left tackle could definitely take home the 2021 honor.

"He's the real deal in my opinion," said Jones, who goes against Slater daily in practices.

"I think if he keeps playing the way he's playing, the sky's the limit for him."

The feat would be a historic one -- Slater would be the first-ever offensive lineman to win the award. It would also be fairly miraculous, considering the year Chase has had so far.

The Bengals wideout has logged 47 catches, 867 receiving yards and 8 receiving TDs -- and is poised to add even more to those numbers considering the number of times Joe Burrow is targeting him.

But, Jones clearly thinks Slater has been that good -- telling us Slater is a "great guy" who's "an even better athlete."

As for Jones' quarterback, Justin Herbert, one of the Chargers' running backs, Josh Kelley, tells us that dude could take home some valuable hardware following the season too.

With Cam Newton back in Carolina, Olivia Culpo's feeling a Super Bowl coming ... telling TMZ Sports the QB and her BF, Christian McCaffrey, can now easily win a ring this season!

We got the model -- who's been dating McCaffrey for about two years now -- out in L.A. ... and we had to ask for her thoughts on the Panthers now that Cam's made his return.

Olivia kept things short and sweet ... telling us yes, she absolutely believes her man and his team could make a run at the Lombardi Trophy with Newton under center again.

Of course, Newton's first game back as the starting signal-caller didn't go so well ... the Panthers lost to the Washington Football Team, 27-21.

But, Cam did play well -- rushing for 46 yards and a TD while also throwing for 189 yards and 2 TDs -- and there does seem to be optimism in Carolina that the Panthers could get into the playoffs and make some noise there.

The penalties in the Raiders-Cowboys game were nothing compared to what went down at a concession stand -- at least 3 women throwing, and landing, big punches in an ugly brawl.

So much for all that Thanksgiving spirit crap ... these ladies clearly checked theirs at the door Thursday when they entered AT&T Stadium. From the video, all we can tell is something or someone pissed off a female staffer serving refreshments ... because she hurled herself over the counter, ready to fight.

Unfortunately for her, the floor was covered in nachos, so she slipped down ... giving her opponent a chance to punch her square in the face!!! Ball caps and the combatants' long hair went flying.

As the fight raged on, at least one other woman and a male concession worker made some feeble attempts to break it up.

Cops tell TMZ ... there was a lot of this sorta thing happening during the game. They made several arrests for intoxication, but it's unclear if either of these women were taken into custody.

Maybe it's overly passionate fans returning to stadiums post-quarantine, or maybe it's fans being overly served ... but we've seen some gnarly fights at NFL games lately. Earlier this month a Titans fan was hurled down several rows at SoFi Stadium during a wild brawl at a Rams game.

Iman Shumpert might've been focusing on mirror balls more than basketballs recently, but the NBA champ says he's NOT done hooping ... telling TMZ Sports he's got a lot left in his tank.

We caught up with the 31-year-old fresh off winning the 30th season of "Dancing With the Stars" this week ... and we asked with all the moves he displayed on the dancefloor, is he going to take his talents back to the basketball court??

"Tryna see what we can get done," Shumpert said, "I love basketball. I never stopped playing."

"They call me a 'former', 'ex' but I told them the league just didn't pay me this year."

The reason for the past tense verbiage is 'cause Shumpert hasn't played a game since Feb. 23, 2021 ... when he was a member of the Brooklyn Nets. He scored 2 points in 6 minutes during that game.

But, he insists he's still an NBA player saying, "it's not an 'ex' thing. Me and the league didn't break up!"

Now that 'DWTS' is over, we could see Shumpert in a jersey again soon -- the guard's been in the league since 2011 ... winning an NBA title in 2016 with LeBron James and the Cavs, making more than $48 million in his career.

Tom Brady assiduously avoids caffeine, sugar, dairy, tomatoes, eggplant, even mushrooms ... but on Thanksgiving day ... f*** it!!!

Tom and Oprah had a chitchat, but this one was different because it was Tom mostly asking the questions. O jumped on Tom's SiriusXM show, "Let's Go," and it was only a matter of time before she took the reigns.

Oprah wanted to know what we were thinking ... what the hell does Tom eat on Turkey day ... given his aversion to food that causes inflammation.

Tom revealed Thanksgiving is his cheat day ... "That's the one meal where I'm just like, 'screw it, let's go for it."

The convo pivoted to retirement, and Tom seems to have that in his head. He told Oprah, "Thanksgiving, there's a lot to be thankful for, but you only get 4 hours to enjoy it. Practice usually ends at about 1 or 2. You eat about 3:30, then you're getting ready for the next day of practice.  Same with XMAS."

He went on ... "I'm looking forward to the time when I'm done playing football, so I can have those more normal holidays that I had growing up that were important where the family's all together."

The reality ... the 44-year-old QB is on a roll, with the Bucs Super Bowl Win this year. He's threatened to retire at 45, but sometimes threats are hollow.

Erin Andrews says working Thanksgiving Day games is a real bummer ... telling TMZ Sports her dinners don't consist of decadent turkey on the holiday anymore -- but rather, peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!!!

The FOX sideline reporter broke it all down for us at LAX ... explaining even though she has a blast getting paid to watch the NFL on the holiday -- it's still a downer.

"I mean, it stinks," said Andrews, who's been sideline reporting on Turkey Day for years and is slated to help call Thursday's Lions vs. Bears game this year. "But it is great to be able to work and watch football."

Andrews said she can't even celebrate the holiday with her family on Black Friday or even on the Saturday following Thanksgiving ... telling us her Sunday game schedule just won't allow that.

Instead, she says she's just got to work, eat PB&Js and get through it.

As for Christmas and New Year's ... Andrews says there's no reprieve there either -- telling us the NFL schedule has her working those days too!

The AFC and NFC champs won't have to travel far for the Super Bowl this year ... 'cause Snoop Dogg tells TMZ Sports he thinks the Rams and Chargers will face off in the big game!!!

Of course, D-O-Double-G will be front and center at SoFi Stadium on Feb. 13 -- he's headlining a massive halftime show alongside Kendrick Lamar, Dr. Dre, Eminem and Mary J. Blige.

Since he's part of the party, we had to ask which teams will be duking it out on the field on Super Bowl Sunday ... and Snoop thinks it's gonna be a battle of the City of Angels!!!

As for the performance, Mr. Dogg doesn't reveal any secrets ... but we can already tell he's got some crazy stuff prepared.

BTW, Snoop was giving back to the community when we chopped it up with him -- the rap legend was handing out 2,500 turkeys in Inglewood alongside the Rams and Chargers.

Snoop was definitely into it -- he was dancing and hanging out with folks throughout the day ... while his own music blared in the background.

Indianapolis Colts DB Isaiah Rodgers LOVES himself some Thanksgiving ... 'cause he just copped a pair of Turkey-inspired cleats -- with feathers too!!!

TMZ Sports has learned ... artist Rodney Jackson hooked up the NFLer with some new cleats ... with the theme being centered around the annual Fall holiday.

They're pretty dope -- they feature a design of a turkey on the toe of both cleats ... and are decorated with Fall leaves on both sides with brown laces to match.

Of course, the highlight of the shoes is the touch of brown feathers Jackson added to the back of each cleat ... almost guaranteeing that all cameras will be pointed at the dude's feet when he rocks 'em.

Rodgers' Thanksgiving cleats mark the latest time he and Jackson have connected this season to produce some heat -- Jackson blessed Rodgers with some Terminator cleats earlier this year.

The Colts play Tom Brady and the high-powered Bucs offense this Sunday ... and the dudes gotta at least wear these things for warmups, right?!?

Matt Stafford's wife, Kelly, is sharing her side of "Pretzelgate" ... saying she "f***ing lost it" during the incident and will be taking a break from going to Rams away games.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Kelly apologized last week for tossing a soft pretzel at a heckler during the Rams' road game against the San Francisco 49ers, which resulted in her being escorted out of the stadium just 5 minutes into the game.

Stafford had remained radio silent about the altercation -- aside from an Instagram comment -- until she addressed it on her "The Morning After" podcast Tuesday, when she admitted she lost her cool.

Kelly said she was getting incessantly heckled in her section by a Niners fan ... who kept saying things until she was fed up and "tossed" a piece of the snack, which hit him in the face.

After the incident, Kelly says she went up to the fan and apologized directly ... offering to buy his group some food and drinks, which he rejected.

Security then stepped in and escorted her out ... which Kelly says she didn't mind because she didn't want to watch the game anyway.

As for how Matt handled the news, Kelly says he joked about the whole thing, saying, "He said, 'Well, I wish I was as accurate as you were, but I guess only one person in the family was accurate that night.'"

Kelly says Matt also suggested she only attend home games for the time being ... which she agreed to.

Stafford also says her IG DMs were flooded since the incident ... even being called the c-word by trolls. But at the end of the day, she's owning up to her actions.

2 things Tyreek Hill isn't worried about?? The Chiefs' slow star and MVP quarterback Patrick Mahomes ... telling TMZ Sports he NEVER sweated either.

We talked to the Chiefs superstar receiver ... and Cheetah makes it very clear the team didn't panic despite the 3-4 start to the season.

"Even though we were going through hard times, guys were still finding a way to have fun with the game," Hill says.

"As a collective group, guys were still like, 'Hey we can turn this thing around. It's still early on. We still got the same players. We still go the same coaches that we got from the past years. We just gotta figure out what's going on.'"

FYI, it wasn't that bad of a start ... unless you haven't lost more than 4 games in any single season since 2017, like the Chiefs.

"We stuck together. We had players' meetings. We did all of that, and we figured it out and we're just gonna continue to keep this thing rollin' baby."

Even Patrick Mahomes struggled at the beginning of the year ... throwing 10 interceptions through the first 8 games.

For reference, Pat threw 6 (2020) and 5 picks (2019) in the last 2 seasons.

But, Hill makes it very clear NOBODY was stressing Pat's play ... or questioning their QB's ability.

"Man, ain't no worried with Pat, man. That's the last person y'all need to worry about," Tyreek tells us.

"That guy literally works his tail off to be great. You see it each and every week, cause playing quarterback is the toughest job, I feel like on the field."

But, everything's right in the world once again.

The Chiefs are 7-4 -- good enough for first place in the division -- and Mahomes again leads the league in passing yards ... and has thrown 25 touchdowns.

Aaron Rodgers says he does NOT have "COVID toe" ... and he proved it by showing off his big-ass foot to a group of media members who were asking about it on Wednesday.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Green Bay Packers star had contracted the coronavirus side effect on his foot after he had been diagnosed with COVID earlier this month.

The report claimed Rodgers was dealing with lesions and discoloration on his foot -- resulting in immense pain in his toe.

But, Rodgers slammed that report Wednesday -- saying it was all BS ... explaining he's dealing with nothing more than a fractured digit.

Aaron then pulled up his foot to show there was no purple bruising or scabs in sight.

"I can't believe I have to again come on here and talk about my medical information, but yeah, I have a fractured toe," Rodgers said. "I've never heard of 'COVID Toe' before. I have no lesions on my feet."

"That's just a classic case of disinformation. It's surprising coming from what used to be a reputable journalistic institution, but that's the world we live in these days."

The Minnesota Vikings say they're concerned for the health of Everson Griffen ... after the defensive end posted a series of disturbing things on his social media page Wednesday -- including a video of him waving a gun.

Griffen sent out the scary posts overnight ... and in the terrifying video, which is roughly 30 seconds in length, the 33-year-old can be seen staring wide-eyed and speaking quickly with a firearm in his hand.

"Yo, yo, yo," Griffen can be heard saying. "I'm in my house. N*****s trying to pop me. I still got clips left. This is my gun."

Griffen also shared screenshots of a series of troubling text messages that he allegedly sent ... appearing to show him asking for help while saying, "People are trying to kill me."

The Vikings said in a statement Wednesday morning that they are aware of it all and are concerned ... adding that they have been in contact with Griffen.

"Vikings representatives and the team's mental health professionals have been on-site at Everson Griffen's home since early this morning and are cooperating with law enforcement," the team said.

"Our only concern at this time is the safety and well-being of Everson and his family. We will have further comment at the appropriate time."

Head coach Mike Zimmer, meanwhile, added that he's worried for Griffen as well -- and said he was not sure if his player was "safe."

"We're only concerned about his well-being," Zimmer said.

Griffen has battled mental health issues in the past ... including an incident in 2018, in which cops say he jumped out of an ambulance after he feared "someone was going to shoot him."

The woman who was violently beaten by Zac Stacy is set to testify in court against the ex-NFL player on Wednesday ... hoping a judge makes it harder for Stacy to be released from custody.

Kristin Evans will be in the Orange County, Fla. courtroom in just minutes ... arguing that Stacy's bond should be heavily increased.

A judge initially set the bond at $10,150 for Stacy -- who was charged with two felonies over the Nov. 16 attack on Evans -- but Evans argued on social media afterward that was nowhere near enough.

Evans said she feared Stacy would try to hurt her again if he was released from custody -- and now wants a judge to up his bond amount at the hearing.

Stacy, meanwhile, has been ordered to be in the courtroom in person -- and it's all slated to begin at 7 AM PT.

As we previously reported, Stacy was hit with one count of aggravated battery and one count of criminal mischief after video showed him punching Evans and then throwing her into a television in Oakland, Fla. earlier this month.

Stacy wasn't initially apprehended at the scene, but he was ultimately arrested in the Orlando area on Nov. 18.