New England Patriots

Good news for Julian Edelman ... the New England Patriots star is finally a dad -- after Swedish model Ella Rose gave birth to their daughter last night!

We're told Edelman flew to L.A. on Wednesday morning so he could be by her side for the birth ... and fortunately, things worked out!

8 pound, 5 ounce Lily was born on Wednesday at Cedars-Sinai in L.A., as first reported by the Boston Globe.

Ella had filed paternity docs back in July naming Edelman as the father. We're told the two are on good terms but are NOT on romantic terms. They've sort of been friends with benefits for the past few years.

Our sources say Julian is committed to co-parenting the kid and being a good dad.

We're told Julian will be back in Boston either tonight or tomorrow and is planning to play against the Rams on Sunday.

Congrats!

UPDATE -- Edelman's back in Boston and already with the team.

The biggest stars on the New England Patriots are strongly Team Trump -- so says Donald who claims Tom Brady called and Bill Belichick wrote him a letter pledging their championship support.

In fact, Trump told his crowd in New Hampshire Monday night that he didn't expect the note he got from Coach Belichick to be so strong and was pleasantly surprised by his public endorsement.

He also said Brady gave him full permission to go public with his support -- finally.

Trump read Belichick's letter to the crowd -- and it's strong.

A scofflaw tried inserting himself in the Patriots / Bills game Sunday by firing a dildo on to the field.

A ref was tasked with the duty to remove the errant projectile from the 5-yard line.

Unclear what happened to the fan but we're guessing he was rooting for the Bills, and if so, he's a sore loser.

This is pretty hilarious ... Ben Affleck's raw reaction when he found out his beloved Patriots were getting spanked by Rex Ryan's Buffalo Bills.

"F***."

It all went down when Affleck was getting ready to do an interview with Sports Illustrated ... and he dared to ask the reporter about the score.

Affleck wasn't just upset that they were losing ... but the fact they were losing to REX RYAN!

Dude, you SURE you wanna come back to work???

Tom Brady and Gisele made time for an Italian tanning session while hanging out in Positano -- a session that was sure to take the QB's mind off his 4 game Deflategate suspension.

Of course, Tom is now gearing up for his NFL return -- which is now just 10 days away.

The biggest fight in women's MMA could actually happen -- because Dana White tells TMZ Sports ... Ronda Rousey "absolutely, positively" wants to fight Cris "Cyborg" Justino.

With Cyborg coming off ANOTHER dominating performance this weekend, we had to ask White if UFC's fastest rising superstar will finally get her wish ... a shot at Rousey.

Check out the clip ... White -- who was outside Stand Up NY -- says he's still gunning to get Ronda back in the Octagon this year -- and then focus on setting up the superfight with Cyborg.

The good news for Rousey fans -- "She's getting nasty again and her head's in the right place."

BONUS -- White is also a HUUUUUGE New England Patriots fan ... and gave his team all sorts of dap for crushing people without the use of Tom Brady.

Tom Brady might wanna extend his NFL suspension -- his Patriots keep winning, and he's free to fly off to Italy on a whim with his supermodel wife ... the ultimate win-win.

Mark Wahlberg just put the ENTIRE NFL on notice ... the Patriots are SO GOOD, they'll whoop your team's ass ... with or without Tom Brady.

Adriana Lima's still going strong with New England Patriots star Julian Edelman ... who doesn't seem the least bit phased by her "date" with Ryan Seacrest.

Sources close to the Pat and the supermodel tell us EdeLima is still very much a thing. In fact ... the Victoria's Secret Angel was in Boston visiting the NFL star just a couple weeks ago. We're told she hung out with him and his friends, which is always a big deal.

We're told the visit was one week before Adriana was seen at an NYC restaurant with Seacrest, but Julian's not the jealous type ... and he believes she's just friends with the host.

Julian's focused on a different kinda victory right now -- he's busy prepping to be the backup QB for Thursday's game against the Texans.

No Brady or Garoppolo? No problem ... 'cause backup Patriots QB Jacoby Brissett's no stranger to filling in on short notice.

With Tom Brady (suspended) and Jimmy Garoppolo (injured) sidelined, 23-year-old Brissett will take over under center against the Texans this Thursday.

TMZ Sports spoke with Jack Daniels -- Brissett's football coach at Dwyer High School in Florida -- who tells us the rookie signal caller started showing his insane game preparation when he was a freshman.

"He's been through this before," Daniels says. "We were facing one of the best teams in the country and our starter went down. Jacoby came in as a 15-year-old and went 12 for 12."

“I talked to him after the game. He’s excited for the opportunity to play. He’s going to do whatever he can to help this team win. I think he’s going to be a little nervous.”

New England Pats owner Bob Kraft came face-to-face with one of his most famous ex-WRs this weekend, Wes Welker ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Turns out, the two both happened to be dining at Capo Restaurant in Boston (a pro athlete hot spot) on Saturday night -- before the Patriots took on the Dolphins at Gillette Stadium.

We're told the owner of the place told Wes that Bob was dining in another section of the restaurant -- and Wes decided to go pay his old boss a visit.

A restaurant spokesperson tells us both Wes and Kraft left their parties and sat down at their own table -- where they talked by themselves for roughly 30 minutes and drank martinis.

Unclear what they talked about -- but Welker was telling staffers that he was in town to throw with Tom Brady ... which he did.

The next day, Welker went to the game ... dressed in a Tom Brady mask ... and the fans LOVED it.

No Brady? No Problem.

At least, Patriots superfan John Krasinski doesn't seem worried ... telling TMZ Sports his team will go 4-0 with Jimmy Garoppolo at the helm.

Jimmy had a pretty decent showing in the 1st pre-season game last weekend -- going 11-18 for 168 yards against the Saints.

Can he keep it up against the Cardinals, Dolphins, Texans and Bills??

Convicted murderer Aaron Hernandez is expected to appear in court Tuesday -- where a judge is hoping to set a trial date for the double murder the ex-NFL star is accused of carrying out in 2012.

Hernandez is currently serving a life sentence for the 2013 slaying of Odin Lloyd -- but he's also accused of gunning down 2 men in a drive-by shooting after leaving a nightclub in Boston.

Prosecutors say Hernandez killed the men because one of them spilled a drink on him inside the club.

The 26-year-old ex-New England Patriots star is scheduled to appear in Suffolk Superior Court for a status hearing and the judge has said he hopes to set a start date for the trial.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft was in NYC Tuesday night -- so, we had to ask the question everyone wants to know ... "How's Jimmy Garoppolo doing?"

Kraft answered the question positively -- but when we asked if Tom Brady was mentoring his backup QB, Bob just smiled.

Jimmy is all set to start the first 4 games of the season while Tom serves his suspension -- and while Kraft wasn't exactly Mr. Chatty ... Rob Gronkowski recently praised the kid.

"He’s taken a big step over the past two years," Gronk told SiriusXM's "Movin' the Chains."

File Under: EXTREME MEAT SWEATS!!

Here's New England Patriots defensive end Jabaal Sheard lining up in front of a 2 POUND monster steak Tuesday -- in what may have been the most delicious charity challenge of his career.

Sheard hit up Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill in Tyngsboro, Massachusetts (about an hour from Gillette Stadium) -- where owners offered to give $4,000 to charity if he could finish the whole thing!

We're told people in the restaurant were so pumped -- several customers added to the pot ... which totaled $5,200!

The good news? SHEARD CRUSHED IT ... devouring the entire Flintston chop in 50 minutes!

New England Patriots star Julian Edelman may have pulled a Tom Brady ... allegedly knocking up a smokin' hot lady ... and then moving on to date a world-famous supermodel.