Minnesota Vikings

Tom Brady couldn't help but laugh his ass off at seeing Bill Belichick cuss out Minnesota's star wide receiver on Sunday ... saying, "That was pretty funny."

During the Pats win over the Vikings ... Adam Thielen flipped out at Belichick for challenging a close spot in the 4th quarter -- to which The Hoodie replied, "Shut the f*ck up!"

Brady couldn't help but chuckle at the whole scene ... telling WEEI's "Mut & Callahan" show, "I’ve been on the other end of that a few times in my career."

"Pretty funny. … It’s competitive out there. It’s very feisty and everyone’s emotions are on their sleeves. You say something and there is just an emotional reaction. That was pretty funny.”

Of course ... Tom and Bill can laugh all they want now -- they ended up rollin' the Vikings and look poised to catch the Kareem Hunt-less Chiefs for the top seed in the AFC.

As for Minnesota -- their season's on the verge of crumbling ... but at least Thielen still looks like he's gonna be an All-Pro at the end of the year.

Ex-NFL star Jared Allen says his new career as a pro curler -- the ice sport -- is NOT a joke ... and it all began after making a stupid bet with some buddies.

After Allen retired from football in 2016, the future Hall of Famer still had a burning desire to play sports -- so he tried to be a pro golfer, but quickly realized he's no Tiger Woods.

That's when he made a bet with a friend that he could become an Olympian -- and after watching the movie "Eddie the Eagle" ... he got serious about finding the right sport for him.

First, it was badminton ... Allen tells TMZ Sports he called up his good buddy and fellow NFL alum Marc Bulger, but they decided the sport was too tough on their bodies.

That's when they moved on to curling -- which is basically shuffleboard on ice -- and decided that was the place where they'd strike!

Since that day, Allen recruited a few other NFL friends including Pro Bowl linebacker Keith Bulluck and Pro Bowl tackle Michael Roos ... and they started a curling team.

Now, they're REALLY competing against other elite curling teams and Jared says they're dead serious about making it to the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing, China.

In fact, Jared says they've hired a sweeping coach and train on the ice at least 2 hours a week.

"You have to sweep a lot," Allen says ... "I've been known for my cardio, sweeping is frickin' tough!"

So, what's the hardest part of the game for Jared?

"You're really not supposed to talk trash ... so that's gonna be hard for me."

Cool candid moment between Kirk Cousins and Teddy Bridgewater on Sunday -- when the new Vikings QB told the old Vikings QB how they REALLY feel about him in Minnesota these days.

Teddy and the Saints were in Minnesota to play Kirk and the Vikings -- but after the game, Cousins tracked down Bridgewater and told him what the Vikings execs have been saying behind his back.

"Everyone here speaks really highly of you," Kirk said to Teddy ... "You left a good mark on the organization."

Yeah, they love him!

Of course, Bridgewater -- the Vikings' 2014 1st-round pick -- WAS the future of Minnesota ... before a gnarly knee injury nearly ended his football career in 2016.

Teddy fought to get back onto the field ... but wasn't able to start a game for Minnesota after the 2015 season and moved on to the Jets this offseason.

Bridgewater is now Drew Brees' backup after the Saints traded for him in the preseason ... and if you're listening to Cousins -- everyone in purple and gold couldn't be happier for him.

TMZ Sports has obtained footage of Everson Griffen moments after he jumped out of an ambulance on his way to a mental health evaluation ... and you can hear cops talking football to Griffen in an effort to calm him down.

It all went down on Sept. 22 after cops had been called on the Minnesota Vikings star following a string of bizarre and troubling behavior in the Minnesota area.

As we previously reported, Griffen allegedly threatened to shoot somebody at a hotel, wandered into a teammate's yard and forced a stranger to drive him around town against his will.

Cops ultimately got Griffen to agree to take an ambulance to a nearby hospital to be evaluated -- but he jumped out during the ride fearing someone was trying to harm him.

When cops approach Griffen, you can hear him saying, "I jumped out because I was scared for my life."

Griffen then explains that someone in the ambulance was "digging in his pocket pulling out something. He was digging in his pocket pulling out something and I called him. They had gloves on there’s something in here and they tried to get me. I’m not crazy."

Griffen mentioned that he plays for the Vikings -- and cops began talking football with him. That's when everything starts to cool down.

Ultimately, cops got Griffen to agree to get back in the ambulance and they took him to the hospital without further incident.

The war at the Coliseum wasn't just on the field Thursday night -- a bunch of fans got into a brawl in the stands ... with one guy getting tossed over several rows of bleachers!!

The standoff began just before the end of the 1st half ... a Rams fan got into it with several Vikings fans.

You can see the Rams fan smack a female Vikings fan in the face ... and then it gets crazy.

Punches are thrown, a beer gets tossed, a woman gets her hair pulled (hard!) and then the Rams fan grabs a dude ... and FLINGS HIM OVER 4 ROWS OF BLEACHERS!

The video is nuts -- and the guy who was tossed is lucky he wasn't seriously injured. In fact, he got up and continued to scream at the dude who chucked him.

We're told security responded and removed several of the combatants from the stadium. Unclear if any arrests were made.

Everson Griffen says he's "focused on resolving personal issues" after being hospitalized for a mental health evaluation this week ... but has vowed to return to the field.

As we previously reported ... the Minnesota Vikings star was involved in a series of bizarre incidents -- including at the team hotel on Saturday -- which ended in the All-Pro being transported to a hospital for a mental health exam.

At the time, team staffers feared he could hurt himself or others.

Griffen broke his silence Thursday on social media ... apologizing for the incident and promising to address his issues.

This past week's events have raised many questions and I want to apologize to everyone who was impacted," Griffen says. "I am currently focused on resolving personal issues with which I have been dealing for a long time."

"Once I have had time to address those issues, I hope to share my story with everyone."

"I am extremely grateful for the support I have received from my family, the Vikings organization, my teammates and our tremendous fan base."

Griffen also apologized for missing the team's Thursday Night Football match-up with the Rams ... but Vikes head coach Mike Zimmer made it clear he wants to make sure Griffen is okay getting back on the field.

Andre Reed LOVES Josh Allen -- telling TMZ Sports he's fired up over the Buffalo Bills QB's victory over the Vikings ... and thinks this could be the start of something special.

It's high praise for the rookie -- since Reed isn't just a legend in Buffalo, he's an NFL Hall of Famer, one of the best to ever do it.

Reed told us he was super impressed with Allen's play during the 27-6 win over Minnesota ... especially since the Bills were 17-point underdogs going into the game.

So, how can Allen keep the momentum going next week against Green Bay and prove the massive upset wasn't just a fluke?

Talk about return on investment ... a judge has ordered Vikings WR Kendall Wright to pay nearly $400,000 to a company that sells stock in professional athletes.

As we previously reported ... Fantex, Inc. -- a business that makes deals with athletes to sell "shares" to fans who believe the athletes are destined for big paydays -- sued Kendall back in January.

They claimed after they signed a deal with Wright in 2015 that offered him $3.125 mil for 10% of his future earnings ... he didn't pay up.

A judge signed off on an order this week in which the wideout will have to pay Fantex $386,055.83 ($349,157.22 in damages and $36,898.61 in attorney fees).

Richie Incognito says Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer is straight-up lying about the NFL lineman's claim that he was talking with the team about a job this offseason ... and it's getting nasty.

It all started when Richie appeared on "TMZ Sports" last week and he told us he'd been speaking with multiple teams about a possible contract ... including Minnesota.

"I'm still in great shape, just waiting on that call. I've had calls from Minnesota, Seattle ... I really just don't want to go to training camp, so we'll see."

Zimmer was asked about Incognito's comments during a press conference on Tuesday -- and straight-up said Incognito was wrong.

"No interest and totally false," Zimmer said ... "Tweet that."

Incognito -- needless to say -- was furious over Zimmer's comments and tweeted, "Mike Zimmer is a F**KING LIAR!!"

Incognito claims he had been talking with Vikings line coach Tony Sparano all summer long and posted screen shots of text conversations. Sparano passed away a few weeks ago.

The screenshots show Incognito was interested in a job -- but they don't show Tony ever made a direct offer. Incognito claims they "spoke weekly this off-season" and believes Tony was seriously interested.

Anthony Barr -- the Vikings star who put the hit on Aaron Rodgers that broke his collarbone in 2017 -- doesn't believe he'll have a target on his back when he faces Green Bay in Week 2.

In fact, Barr tells TMZ Sports ... it's "just another game."

Yeah, right.

As we previously reported, Barr received violent hate mail after the hit -- with one Packers fan warning him, "Your payback in coming. Piece of s***."

So, when we saw the linebacker at LAX, we asked if he was worried Packers players would REALLY try to get that "payback."

"I'm not too worried about it," Barr told us ... "It's football man. It's another game."

Barr told the NFL Network he didn't try to hurt Rodgers on the play -- saying, "It's unfortunate that it happened."

10:42 AM PT -- The NFL tells us they are "looking into the matter."

6:00 AM PT -- Zay Jones was released from custody Wednesday morning at 4:45 AM. We're told his family picked him up. He's currently out on bond.

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Zay Jones got into a bizarre naked struggle with his brother -- who's also in the NFL -- and it ended in a bloody mess ... with Zay in handcuffs.

TMZ Sports obtained this video of the crazy fight that went down Monday night in a downtown L.A. apartment building. Zay is stark raving nude while grappling with his brother -- Cayleb Jones of the Vikings.

You can hear Zay yelling, "I'm going to fight for Jesus" ... and according to witnesses, Cayleb was trying to stop him from jumping out a 30th floor window.

Zay eventually broke free, and ran in the direction of Cayleb's gf's apartment ... you can hear her screaming. We're told at some point, he ran back out of the apartment, entered a public balcony area and smashed his foot through a window.

Photos from the scene show blood on the shattered window, and all over the floors and walls.

We're told Zay actually tried to squeeze through the hole in the window, but Cayleb restrained him until police arrived, and arrested him for felony vandalism.

Jones was the Bills' 2nd round draft pick last year.

According to law enforcement sources, he's being held in the medical ward of L.A. County Jail. It's unclear what his condition is at this point.

The Bills tell TMZ Sports, "We are still in the process of gathering more information on the matter. At this point, we will have no further comment.”

Josh Norman is already getting behind his new QB -- telling TMZ Sports he feels Alex Smith is "underrated" for everything he's done in his career.

We spotted the Washington Redskins star cornerback in Atlanta and asked how he felt about the big quarterback moves in the NFL ... including his old QB Kirk Cousins getting an $84 million deal with the Vikings.

Norman looked a little bummed out (why not? he's a good quarterback) but explained, "It's business. Everything is business."'

He also explained why Cousins is worth every single penny.

Here's video of the Philadelphia Eagles dancing their damn faces off after destroying the Minnesota Vikings ... and we gotta say, the guys look like they could've gone another two quarters.

Moments after the game was over, WR Alshon Jeffery took his celebration to IG live and got live with his teammates ... while Chief Keef and Meek Mill blasted in the background.

Highlights included Eagles owner Jeffrey Lurie getting into the act, but the guy who stole the show was CB Jalen Mills, who broke it down with a Macarena-style turn up we've never seen before.

There was blood before the game ... and fires afterward -- but the Philadelphia PD tells us only 6 PEOPLE were arrested on Sunday in connection to the NFC Championship madness.

One person was arrested for assault on a police officer -- we're told the incident took place in the parking lot at Lincoln Financial Field before the game.

2 more people were arrested for disorderly conduct -- and 3 others were busted for counterfeit ticket sales.

All in all ... seems like a win considering the videos and photos that surfaced showing police on horseback taking control during the pregame tailgates.

Afterward, fans went crazy in the streets -- but according to police, it wasn't as bad as social media made it look.

Congrats!

He's a legend in Minnesota ... and that's why Adrian Peterson was all about giving his former team a pump-up speech before the NFC Championship game!

The NFL superstar spoke with TMZ Sports ... telling us why he's truly excited and happy for Minnesota's success, despite the fact he now plays for the Arizona Cardinals.

And if the Vikings can ultimately win the Super Bowl, AP says he wouldn't turn down a ring from the team if they offered him one ... saying, "That would be awesome ... I did help build that stadium a little bit!"

There's more ... AP also updates us on his NFL future and how his body feels going into 2018.

Spoiler alert -- he ain't even close to hangin' it up!

Here's Kevin Hart clowning the Minnesota Vikings ... telling TMZ Sports there's a ZERO percent chance Case Keenum's purple crew beats up on the Eagles this weekend.

Full disclosure ... Hart's from Philadelphia. So, yeah ...

But Kev's pretty funny outside Catch in West Hollywood when we ask how he thinks the NFC Championship game will go down on Sunday.