New England Patriots

The Mayor of Boston is also standing by his star QB -- basically saying Wells Report investigators did a crappy job ... and maintaining that his Patriots won the Super Bowl "fair and square."

Mayor Martin L. Walsh -- a hardcore Pats fan -- took on the issue last night ... calling the report "vague" and saying it returned no real "concrete answers" about Tom Brady's involvement in Deflategate.

"Usually when you have an investigation you come back with some concrete answers, 'This is what was known, this is how we did it.' It seems like somebody's stretching something."

He continued, "I don't know if the NFL is stretching their report and they don't have any facts and they're just trying to make it look bad for the Patriots or the Patriots haven't responded properly."

Tom Brady's high school still has the QB's back -- telling TMZ Sports he's NOT a bad guy ... and they're praying for his family in the wake of Deflategate.

We spoke with the people at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, California -- where he was a 3-sport superstar before he graduated in 1995 ... and they all say the "real" Tom Brady is a caring and generous person ... not the cheater the Wells Report has made him out to be.

In fact, Serra President Lars Lund tells us ... "The Brady's are an important part of our community, and we will keep them in our thoughts and prayers as they move forward through this difficult time."

Retired Serra Chaplain Fr. Joe Bradley -- who has known the Brady family for years -- added, "I have great respect for Tom and his entire family. He has a generous spirit and a caring heart. His willingness to reach out to the Padre community is legendary, but always offered with joy and humility."

Tom Brady's agent is calling B.S. on the Wells Report -- claiming it paints the star QB as a cheater ... without any real significant proof.

Brady's agent Don Yee just came out swingin' ... saying the entire investigation was not only flawed, but carried out by people who have a "limited understanding of professional football."

In a statement, Yee says ... "The Wells report, with all due respect, is a significant and terrible disappointment. It’s omission of key facts and lines of inquiry suggest the investigators reached a conclusion first, and then determined so-called facts later."

Yee even suggests that the NFL cooperated with the Indianapolis Colts to run a "sting operation" with the end goal of embarrassing Tom and the Patriots.

Yee also suggests that Ted Wells was not truly running an "independent investigation" -- because his firm makes a lot of money off the NFL ... and is heavily influenced by the league.

There's more ... Yee says Tom was NOT difficult with investigators and "made himself available for nearly an entire day and patiently answered every question."

Yee continues, "The Wells report omitted nearly all of Tom’s testimony, most of which was critical because it would have provided this report with the context that it lacks."

Deflategate is stupid ... Tom Brady is still awesome ... and the Patriots shouldn't have to give their Super Bowl rings back ... so says supermodel Crissy Tiegen.

Tiegen -- who happens to be a Seahawks fan -- says the Wells Report is just "beating a dead horse" ... with the Pats already having been shamed in public AND by the President of the United States.

Fully inflated balls wouldn't have changed the outcome of the AFC Championship game ... the Pats still would've won BIG ... so says someone who was there, Colts linebacker Erik Walden.

Walden -- who racked up 5 tackles in that game -- says it's "gross" that Brady would resort to cheating ... but says, "I don't think that s**t made a difference in our game."

For the record, the Pats beat the Colts 45-7.

"They're already hard to beat and now we know they do that extra s**t to win. They're coming at you from every angle."

Walden added, "It's unfortunate that they did this, but they're still the champs. You gotta give them credit, they did it, and they got away with it, and they won the Super Bowl."

Tom Brady consciously cheated in the AFC Championship "Deflategate" game ... the game before the Super Bowl ... so says the guy charged with investigating the scandal.

The NFL just released the results of Ted Wells' investigation into Deflategate ... which says it is "more probable than not that New England Patriots personnel participated in violations of the NFL Playing Rules and were involved in a deliberate attempt to circumvent those rules."

The report also says, "We also have concluded that it is more probable than not that Tom Brady was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities of [the locker room attendants] involving the release of air from Patriots game balls."

The report says ... when people began to get suspicious about the balls, the locker room guys began communicating with Brady by phone and text messages with "significantly increased frequency."

Investigators also say the men who deflated the footballs "received valuable items autographed by Tom Brady the week before the AFC Champsionship game."

As for Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick ... Wells says the investigation shows there was NO evidence to support theories that they were involved in Deflategate.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft issued a statement saying, "To say we are disappointed in its findings, which do not include any incontrovertible or hard evidence of deliberate deflation of footballs at the AFC Championship game, would be a gross understatement."

Kraft added, "We will accept the findings of the report and take the appropriate actions based on those findings as well as any discipline levied by the league.”

Back in January, Brady adamantly DENIED having any involvement in Deflategate

MOST BALLER DAY EVER!!!!!!!

Rob Gronkowski -- along with some of his New England Patriots teammates -- just hopped on a private jet after watching the Kentucky Derby ... and are now headed to Vegas for the fight!!

BALLER!!!!!!

The Derby was a major team outing -- even Tom Brady made the trip out to Louisville -- but it looks like the QB tapped out when Gronk and Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola decided to charter a jet to Sin City.

It's good to be rich.

Wes Welker's horse just got thiiiiiis close to winning his first pre-Kentucky Derby race at Churchill Downs ... finishing in 2nd ... for the 2nd year in a row.

As we previously reported, Welker re-entered his horse "Undrafted" to compete in the Twin Spires Turf Sprint Stakes ... the same pre-Kentucky Derby race he competed in last year.

But for the 2nd straight year, Undrafted couldn't quite reach the winner's circle ... getting edged out at the finish line ... to take 2nd place.

The good news ... 2nd place still gets paid -- and it all went down in front of Welker's old Patriots teammates including Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski.

Hey, could be worse.

Rob Gronkowski's new girlfriend just scored her first big modeling campaign -- landing a gig as the "brand ambassador" for a big watch company ... and she looks good.

As we previously reported, Gronk is all BF/GF with Camille Kostek ... a former New England Patriots cheerleader, news anchor and model.

Now, Kostek is the "fresh face" for the Benrus Watch Company -- which says it hired Kostek because "she represents all of our standards; beauty, intelligence, and a commitment to excellence."

Weird, that last one is more of a Raiders thing ...

Anyway, congrats!

Former NFL superstar Brian Urlacher clearly believes Roger Goodell treats the New England Patriots like they're above the law ... and Deflategate is the definitive proof.

Urlacher was hanging with Jay Glazer at their Unbreakable Performance Center in West Hollywood ... when we asked how he felt about President Obama joking about the scandal yesterday.

That's when the former Chicago Bears star attacked the issue with biting sarcasm.

"That didn't happen right? I thought it went away. No one ever got fined for it right? I haven't heard anything since the Super Bowl."

Urlacher proceeded to explain how the Falcons and the Browns got in trouble for far less serious infractions ... yet the Patriots have yet to face ANY consequences for the alleged cheating scheme.

Sorry ladies, Rob Gronkowski is officially taken ... dating a super hot former New England Patriots cheerleader ... multiple sources close to Gronk confirm to TMZ Sports.

The object of Gronk's affection is Camille Kostek -- who was on the cheerleading squad in 2013 and 2014 ... before switching careers and becoming a TV reporter.

There have been multiple sightings of the couple out and about recently -- but now, our Gronk sources say it's official ... they're dating and they're not trying to hide anything.

Congrats!!

President Barack Obama went in way harder on the New England Patriots than Seahawks coach Pete Carroll did in in the Super Bowl -- unloading a ton of jokes poking fun at the champs.

Obama had his A-game working as he ripped Bill Belichick, Rob Gronkowski and even attempted a Boston accent. Fittingly, the joke that fell most flat ... his Deflategate material. The Pats did not seem amused.

Darrelle Revis was also at the event ... which could've been awkward since he left the team this offseason to sign with the rival NY Jets.

The New England Patriots just arrived to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. ... again ... only this time, they're without the team's biggest star Tom Brady.

Gronk, Edelman, Belichick, Bob Kraft and more were all suited up and fired up for their meeting with President Obama ... a meeting they earned by winning the Super Bowl.

So why no Brady? The QB reportedly had to pass on the White House trip due to a family obligation -- though, it's unclear what that obligation is.

Odin Lloyd's mother is moving forward with a wrongful death lawsuit against Aaron Hernandez AND the New England Patriots ... hoping to collect on the MILLIONS she claims the team was supposed to pay the former tight end.

Ursula Ward has re-filed docs in state court in Massachusetts that she originally filed back in 2013 ... claiming Hernandez should be held financially liable for the wrongful death of her son.

Of course, Hernandez was convicted of Lloyd's murder -- so, Ward has a pretty solid case against Aaron.

But in the suit, Ward also names the New England Patriots as "reach and apply defendants" -- meaning that if she wins ... she wants to be able to collect her judgment from the Pats.

Now, this is important because Ward claims that Hernandez has a right to collect $3.25 million of a signing bonus that she claims was due back in March 2014.

Odin Lloyd's mother tells TMZ Sports ... she's still deciding whether or not she will file a wrongful death lawsuit against Aaron Hernandez ... a lawsuit that could potentially be worth MILLIONS of dollars.

With Hernandez having been convicted of murdering the former semi-pro football player, the odds are extremely good that Lloyd's family would win a civil case against him.

And since Hernandez was an NFL star who made MILLIONS during his brief career ... there's real money on the line.

But when we spoke with Ursula Ward this week, she told us she had not made up her mind about whether she will go through with the lawsuit.

The family of one of the victims in the Aaron Hernandez double murder case says they will still root for the Patriots ... and will not hold Aaron's heinous crimes against the NFL team.

We spoke with Susan Vincente ... cousin of Safiro Furtado, one of the two people killed in a drive-by shooting outside a Boston-area nightclub back in 2013. Hernandez is the prime suspect.

"He needs to be brought to justice," Susan says ... "My cousin never had an enemy. He was calm and loving."

Susan says Safiro's mother is still devastated over the death of her son -- "It's still an open wound. It's been tough for her since day 1."

Officials say Hernandez plotted the attack because someone in Furtado's party accidentally spilled a drink on the former NFL star inside the club. Hernandez has been charged with murder and his trial is expected to begin later this year.