Miami Dolphins

Teddy Bridgewater is calling on his fellow NFL players to quit pretending to be hard and start acting like role models ... releasing a lengthy message to all the guys who act "gangsta," but are really only "football tough."

The Miami Dolphins QB shared his thoughts on the matter in a social media post on Monday ... explaining how he's annoyed with players who act differently when they reach the top level.

"Tired of seeing football players portray this tough guy image or pretend he's gangsta," TB said. "You went to school, attended those classes, and some even got their college degree."

"So, don't wait until you inherit this legal money from the league to decide you want to be tough or portray a 'street image' cause it's kids that's looking up to everything we do."

Bridgewater admits there may be a few in the NFL who are really about that life ... but, "98.5% are only football tough.'"

At the end of the day, Bridgewater -- who graduated from Louisville in 2013 -- just wants kids to understand they can play football, go to school, do right and still get love from the people back home.

"Look at me," Bridgewater added. "I'm far from perfect, but I chose the ball route but I still can go to the hood and post up and it's all love."

"My people accept me for making all the right decisions and not falling victim or being tricked by the false image you see on IG from a lot of ball players."

Many NFL stars agreed with the Pro Bowler ... including Dalvin Cook, Stefon Diggs, DeSean Jackson and Micah Parsons who commented, "That's real 🔥🔥."

Henry Ruggs' former Alabama teammate, Jaylen Waddle, says he was shocked by the ex-Raiders star's arrest ... calling Ruggs both a "good person" and a "good dude."

Waddle explained his feelings on Ruggs' legal situation to Pacman Jones and Omar Kelly on the the "I Am Athlete" show this week ... saying he never would have thought Ruggs would be in the situation he's currently in.

In fact, Waddle said out of the star 'Bama wideouts who went to school together -- which also included Devonta Smith and Jerry Jeudy -- Ruggs was perhaps the best guy in the meeting rooms.

"Out of all us," Waddle said, "that'd be the person that you least expect something like that to happen to."

Waddle told Jones and Kelly that Ruggs was such a good friend, the two still keep in contact with each other to this day.

As we reported, Ruggs is facing decades behind bars after he was accused of driving drunk and killing Tina Tintor after he crashed his pricey sports car into the back of her Rav4.

Ruggs is currently out on bond while he awaits trial.

Waddle didn't want to comment too much on the situation due to the pending legal case -- but he did say the incident has made him more aware of his surroundings and behavior.

We might as well start giving Tyreek Hill speeding tickets at this point -- the former Chiefs wideout dusted an entire women's flag football team this week ... and the whole thing was caught on video.

Hill -- who recently inked a 4-year, $120 million ($72.2 million is guaranteed) contract with the Dolphins -- is by far one of the fastest players in the NFL ... and has even called out Usain Bolt for a race.

"Cheetah" is living up to his rep ... 'cause he outran the entire Lady Warriors Flag Football team at Hebrew Academy Miami Beach Middle School.

In the wild clip, Hill waits for the entire squad to get as close as possible before he suddenly plants in the ground and makes a cut up the field -- and then it's off to the races.

At the end, Hill even slowed down to give the ladies a chance to catch up to him and pull his flags ... but no dice.

Now in fairness, Hill -- who ran a 4.29 40-yard dash when he participated in the NFL combine -- clearly has the wheels to beat pretty much anyone in a race ... so the Lady Warriors shouldn't hang their heads at all.

Tyreek Hill was super pissy before facing the media in Miami for the first time ... but it had nothing to do with his mood -- the guy just had to drain the snake!!

The hilarious moment went down right before the superstar receiver was set to be introduced as a member of the Miami Dolphins ... with Hill getting up and heading out of the room right after new teammate Terron Armstead was done talking with reporters.

Less than two minutes later, the All-Pro took the stage and walked to the podium to take questions from the journalists ... even joking about the whole ordeal.

"I feel a whole lot better," Hill said, laughing. "I just didn't wanna be rude. I'm like, 'Yo, I do not know what to do right now, y'all."

When a reporter made a clever remark about how Hill's speed on the field is reflected in the bathroom, the Super Bowl champ reminded everyone about his perfect nickname.

"Quick, baby. Cheetah."

Now, since the dude was back rather quickly, we're assuming it was #1. If it was the other option ... well, let's not go there.

Hill joined the Dolphins this week after shockingly getting traded from the Kansas City Chiefs in exchange for 5 draft picks.

Brian Flores is suing the NFL, but he'll still be getting paychecks from the org. in 2022 ... 'cause the ex-Miami Dolphins head coach has been hired to join the Pittsburgh Steelers coaching staff.

As we previously reported, Flores is in the middle of a messy legal battle with the NFL ... claiming its hiring process is rooted in racism -- even using texts from Bill Belichick to make his point.

While the 40-year-old's priority is facing off against the league in court in hopes of bringing change, he'll also be setting his focus on the AFC North ... as Flores will be the senior defensive assistant and linebackers coach for the Stellers next season.

Mike Tomlin spoke about the hire ... saying, "I am excited about Brian Flores joining our coaching staff given his history of developing and teaching defensive players during his time in the NFL."

"Brian's resume speaks for itself, and I look forward to him adding his expertise to help our team."

Flores was 24-25 in his 3 seasons with the Dolphins ... but many were puzzled with his firing in 2021, as it appeared he was finally hitting his stride in Miami.

Brian Flores is putting rumors to rest he and his former quarterback Tua Tagovailoa didn't get along ... saying reports they had beef are flat out wrong!

Flores -- who spent three seasons as head coach of the Dolphins -- reportedly didn't see "eye-to-eye" with the ex-Alabama QB during his tenure with the team.

But, the former coach recently sat down with Chad Johnson, Omar Kelly and Brandon Marshall for his "I Am Athlete" show and said that's just not true.

"I think we had a good relationship," Flores told the guys while reflecting on Tua.

"It was a player-coach relationship. And I think in a relationship like that, the coach challenges the player, and often times the player challenges the coach."

BF added, "There was a great deal of respect between the two of us. So you hear this crazy kind of narrative that's out there, but this is a young man who works, developed, and got better over 2 years and I think he's got a bright future."

Flores and Tua missed the playoffs this season, though, Miami won 8 of its last 9 games after starting the season 1-7.

Despite the late season success, many believe Flores was fired because of friction between him and the star QB ... whom the organization selected with the 5th overall pick in the 2020 NFL Draft.

Flores knows rumors of the beef likely won't be squashed ... even with the coach addressing the issue with Marshall. But, he says he doesn't care what people believe, 'cause he knows the truth.

"Yeah, the world can think what they want to think. Ask Tua, you know, I think he'd say the same thing."

Cornel West stands with Brian Flores ... telling TMZ Sports he agrees with the former Dolphins head coach that the NFL has a systemic racism problem.

We spoke with the philosopher just a few days after Flores filed his bombshell lawsuit -- one in which he alleged teams are racist when it comes to making hires across the league -- and the former Harvard and Princeton professor told us he couldn't agree more with the allegations.

"The NFL ought to be ashamed of itself," West said. "It's been functioning like a plantation."

West tells us, though, that he believes Flores' suit could be the start of a big change in the league.

"Now," he said, "the chicken's coming home to roost."

West tells us he admires Flores -- lauding the coach for having vision, integrity, courage and humility -- and he says if the NFL focused more on those traits in Black coaches, they wouldn't need the Rooney Rule in the first place.

"Well, the problem is that if they were concerned about quality they wouldn't have to worry about a rule," West said.

"Any time you talk about Black folks -- you're talking about low quality. They got to quit lying about black people."

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.

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.

Ex-Miami Dolphins head coach Brian Flores is adamant he still wants a job in the NFL ... but understands his scathing lawsuit against the league could damage his chances at ever getting a gig again.

Flores -- who's suing the NFL and 3 teams over alleged racist hiring practices -- opened up in an interview with "CBS Mornings" on Wednesday ... saying his legal action is about much more than his career.

"I love coaching, I'm gifted to coach, I know that," Flores said. "The relationships I built with players, coaches, support staff, I'm gifted to coach, I love coaching and I want to coach ... This is bigger than coaching. This is much bigger than coaching."

Flores said he contacted the other 2 teams he's still interviewing with for an HC job -- the Texans and Saints -- and gave them a heads up about the lawsuit ... and added if given the opportunity, he would still happily lead an NFL team again.

"I understand the risks, and yes, it was a difficult decision," he said. "I went back and forth."

When asked about comparing the NFL to a "plantation" ... Flores explained he knew it was time to leave a lasting impact on the league.

"We didn't have to file a lawsuit for the world to know that there's a problem from a hiring standpoint in regards to minority coaches in the National Football League. The numbers speak for themselves. We filed a lawsuit so that we could create some change and that's important to me."

"I think we're at a fork in the road right now -- we're either going to keep it the way it is, or we're going to go in another direction and actually make some real change where we're actually changing the hearts and minds of those who make decisions to hire head coaches, executives, etc."

As we reported, Flores filed his lawsuit after he said he received texts from Patriots head coach Bill Belichick that revealed the New York Giants decided to hire Brian Daboll before ever giving him the chance to interview for the job.

Flores felt like he was only being interviewed to satisfy the league's Rooney Rule, which requires teams to interview a minority candidate when a head coaching job opens up.

Flores also appeared on ESPN's "Get Up" just minutes ago ... saying he's willing to sacrifice his career to make a serious difference in the league.

"If I never coach again and there's change," he said, "it will be worth it."

Brian Flores is going scorched earth on the NFL and New York Giants ... filing an explosive lawsuit where the former Dolphins head coach alleges the team's hiring practices were rooted in racism, and he claims a text from Bill Belichick proves it.

The 40-year-old coach filed the class action lawsuit through attorneys Douglas H. Wigdor, Michael J. Willemin, David E. Gottlieb in district court in New York on Tuesday ... and it's shocking.

Flores says he received a text from his former boss and Patriots head coach days before he interviewed with the Giants. During the conversation, Flores says BB congratulated him on landing the new gig.

BF was confused by the comment because he had yet to go in for his scheduled interview, and asked Bill if he had an inside track to their decision.

Belichick eventually admits he misread the information he received ... and tells Flores it was actually a different Brian -- Brian Daboll -- who landed the Giants job.

Flores insists this is proof he was only brought in for an interview to satisfy the Rooney Rule -- which requires teams to interview a minority candidate when a head coaching job opens up.

FYI, Flores and Daboll both worked together under Belichick in New England.

BF claims he was then "forced to sit through a dinner" with new Giants GM Joe Schoen despite "knowing that the Giants had already selected Mr. Daboll."

And Flores says this wasn't the first time he's been subjected to a "sham interview that was held only in an effort to comply with the Rooney Rule."

The fired coach says he interviewed with then-Broncos general manager John Elway and other Denver execs in 2019 ... however, Brian says "it was clear from the substance of the interview that Mr. Flores was interviewed only because of the Rooney Rule."

Flores also claims Elway and the other Broncos execs showed up an hour late for the interview and "looked completely disheveled, and it was obvious that they had drinking heavily the night before."

Brian -- who points out there's only 1 Black head coach (Mike Tomlin) and 6 GMs -- is suing on the behalf of all prospective Black coaches and front office employees.

Flores is asking the court to fix the NFL's alleged discriminatory hiring practices, in addition to damages.

There's more ... Flores also accuses Dolphins owner Stephen Ross of offering to pay him $100K per loss -- in an effort to tank the season and get a better draft pick.

Flores says when he refused to play ball, he was labeled as being difficult to work with, and ultimately fired.

"This is reflective of an all too familiar 'angry Black man' stigma that is often casted upon Black men who are strong in their morals and convictions while white men are coined as passionate for those very same attributes," the lawsuit reads.

Flores -- who is currently without a coaching gig -- understands the lawsuit could possibly prevent him from landing a job in the future.

"God has gifted me with a special talent to coach the game of football, but the
need for change is bigger than my personal goals," Flores said in a statement released by his lawyers.

Will Smith ripped a fart so hard during a workout with the NFL's Miami Dolphins he asked if there was a shower around ... and the hilarious chain of events is all on video.

The actor was getting stretched out for a training session with the Dolphins when he seemed to relax just a tad too much, suddenly breaking wind with a loud fart ... and drawing tons of laughs from everyone in the room.

Will's chalking it up to what was in his cup, saying ... "training with the Miami Dolphins was going great until that morning coffee snuck up on me."

Yes, we've all been there ... only difference is, Will had an entire camera crew capturing his every move.

Reshad Jones -- a former Pro Bowl safety for the Miami Dolphins -- was arrested in Florida on Wednesday after cops say he was illegally carrying a loaded firearm.

According to a police report, obtained by WPLG Local 10, cops made contact with Jones at around 4 a.m. after witnesses say the NFL free agent was walking around Davie, Fla. gas stations carrying a gun.

In the report, officers say when they began questioning the 32-year-old former Miami defensive back ... they noticed the firearm sticking out of his pants.

Cops say Jones told them he did NOT have a concealed weapons permit ... and initially complied with their arrest orders for him to get on the ground.

Officers in the report, though, noted Jones later became combative ... and "appeared to be on the influence of an unknown substance."

Cops in the report also say Jones reeked of booze.

Jones was eventually arrested and booked. Jail records show he's since been released.

Jones had a great career for the Dolphins after being picked by the team in the 5th round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played in Miami for 10 seasons, starting 113 games and recording 21 interceptions.

Jones was released by the 'Fins after the '19 season ... and he's yet to latch on with another team.

Miami Dolphins QB Ryan Fitzpatrick was CRUSHED to hear he'd been benched in favor of Tua Tagovailoa ... telling reporters Wednesday, "My heart just hurt all day."

Fitzmagic had the 'Fins rolling the past few weeks ... dude was 3-1 in his last 4 starts with 10 total TDs -- but the team decided to hand the keys over to Tua this week regardless.

And, when 37-year-old Fitzpatrick was asked how he felt about the decision ... he couldn't hide his pain.

"It was heartbreaking for me," Ryan said, before admitting he knew this day was coming eventually after the team had drafted Tagovailoa in the 1st-round last April.

"It still, just, it broke my heart yesterday," Fitzpatrick said, "and it's a tough thing for me to hear and to now have to deal with but I'm going to do my best with it."

Ryan learned of the decision Tuesday ... and he said having to head into meetings Wednesday was tough as hell for him.

In fact, Fitzpatrick straight-up said it felt like he had been fired by head coach Brian Flores.

"I basically got fired yesterday and today my day consisted of zoom meetings with the guy that fired me and sitting in a room with the guy who replaced me for four hours."

Fitzpatrick added, "I felt like it was my team."

The Dolphins are on a bye this week ... and have said Tua will take over the starting QB reins in Week 8 against the Rams.

This could be a huge problem ...

The Miami Dolphins have been granted permission from the governor of Florida to allow full capacity at Hard Rock Stadium.

You read that correctly. We're talking 65,000 seats. In the middle of a pandemic.

The green light comes by way of Gov. Ron DeSantis -- whose spokesperson told Andy Slater the team is now allowed to pack their stadium as part of statewide removal of COVID-19 stadium restrictions.

That doesn't mean the Dolphins will rush to allow 65,000 people to watch the team at their next home game ... Slater says the org. still plans on limiting the number of fans to 13,000 at the next home game on Oct. 25.

The news comes on the heels of an announcement from the Green Bay Packers -- which just pressed pause on the possibility of opening up Lambeau Field to fans any time soon.

"Due to the concerning increase of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in the Green Bay area and across Wisconsin, the Green Bay Packers today announced that the organization has put an indefinite hold on hosting fans for games at Lambeau Field this season," the team said in a statement.

Plus, with NFL teams like the Tennessee Titans, New England Patriots, K.C. Chiefs and Las Vegas Raiders dealing with possible COVID outbreaks among the players ... it just doesn't seem like the best time for a team to pack a stadium with people!!

THE DISRESPECT IS REAL!!

Cam Newton says Miami Dolphins players tried to snatch the chain off his neck after his Patriots won on Sunday ... and it's all on video.

The New England QB was wrapping up a 21-10 victory at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough when cameras showed several Dolphins players jawing at Cam.

At one point, a hand reaches into the camera frame and tugs violently at Cam's neck -- it looks like the chain was snapped, but Cam managed to save it.

Eventually, Cam's teammates stepped in and separated the players.

The QB changed into his snazzy yellow outfit and talked about the incident after the game.

"I still got my chain," Cam said with a smile ... "I got two of 'em. So you could see. It was disrespect, they was reaching for my chain, though."

He continued, "I think that kind of got under my skin. But yeah, through it all, man ... listen -- I do not want nothing to be taken away from a great team game that we did have. And I don't want to be selfish to kind of focus or dwell on that."

"I think for us as a team, or me personally -- a lot of tempers can flare. And I was just teasing with Coach, just letting him know that the College Park almost came out in me."

Later on, Cam posted on social media about the incident -- saying, "Tried to snatch my chain and the game ... too bad I got both!"

Two Dolphins players responded.

Miami defensive end Shaq Lawson wrote, "We don’t won’t that weak ass chain."

And defensive tackle Raekwon Davis added, "Man ain’t nobody want your fake ass chains shit was weak anyway."

WHAT IS GOING ON HERE??!