New England Patriots

The judge in the Aaron Hernandez murder case ... the first one ... has officially thrown out the perjury charge against Aaron's fiancee Shayanna Jenkins after she provided testimony that led to the conviction of the ex-NFL star.

Jenkins had struck a deal with prosecutors before she got on the stand -- she would talk and in exchange they would toss out a previous perjury charge.

The perjury charge stemmed from comments Jenkins made to the grand jury in 2013 regarding a gun in her home ... that may have been the weapon used to murder Odin Lloyd. If convicted, she faced up to 20 years behind bars.

Prosecutors say Jenkins' testimony at the trial -- that she helped Aaron dispose of a mystery box after Odin's death -- helped them win the case.

The operating theory is that the box contained the murder weapon.

The New England Patriots just released a SCATHING new statement blasting the Wells Report ... once again insisting that Tom Brady did nothing wrong.

In the docs, the team makes its argument using strong scientific evidence ... and one fun fact about male urination ... a Pee Fact, if you will.

Here's the long and short of it ...

One of the key parts of the Wells Report is pointing out that Patriots locker room staffer Jim McNally went to a bathroom with game balls before the AFC Championship game. The insinuation is that McNally deflated the balls while inside the crapper.

Here's the Patriots retort:

"The report does not address whether one minute and 40 (seconds) is consistent with the time that it takes a gentleman to enter a bathroom, relieve himself, wash his hands, and leave. In fact, it is."

So, there you have it ... according to the Pats ... it takes a dude 100 seconds to drain the lizard, wash up and leave the bathroom.

And that's exactly what the Patriots believe happened.

Odell Beckham Jr. just made the biggest catch of the NFL off-season ... snatching the "Madden 16" cover right out of the hands of fellow finalist Rob Gronkowski.

Beckham Jr. and Gronk beat out a bunch of other NFL studs ... like the Cardinals' Patrick Peterson and Steelers wideout Antonio Brown ... to become the last two dudes standing on Madden island.

Fan votes determined the final winner, and Odell took it home with a super narrow 52.5% of the votes -- but arguably Gronk is the real winner here.

There's a little thing known as the Madden curse ... and the Giants star is now susceptible to the same fate suffered by Garrison Hearst, Peyton Hillis, Shaun Alexander, Vince Young, and bunch more.

Even last year's cover guy -- Richard Sherman ... jacked up his elbow and lost the Super Bowl.

Ummm ... congrats, Odell?

We asked Giants co-owner Steve Tisch last week about OBJ possibly getting the honor (?) -- he was less than thrilled.

If you're in the market for a Jimmy Garoppolo card, you shoulda bought it last week -- 'cause the Tom Brady backup's trading card is SKYROCKETING!

Ever since Brady was suspended ... Garoppolo's been a hot commodity, and not just for Bill Belichick. TMZ Sports found out his signed rookie card is worth more than 100 times what it was before Tom got nailed.

A rep for COMC -- a top online auction site -- tells us ... "His card was originally selling for $2.25, but as soon as Tom Brady's suspension was announced, Garoppolo's card skyrocketed to $278."

Put down your smartphone ... we already did the math, and that's a 12,256% increase. By comparison, the rep says a signed Brady card will set you back about $290.

Trading cards are nice and all, but Tom still has the 4 Super Bowl rings ... and Gisele.

No more sugarcoating it ... Tom Brady is a cheater ... period ... so says Seattle Seahawks badass Michael Bennett.

Bennett -- one of the best defensive ends in the NFL -- played against Brady in the game AFTER the Deflategate ... and though he admits Seattle got beat fair and square in the Super Bowl, MB says there's no question Tom broke the rules in the AFC Championship.

But after that, this clip gets HILARIOUS -- here are the CliffsNotes:

-- Advice for QB Russell Wilson now that he's dating Ciara?
("Watch out for Future")

-- Favorite Leonardo DiCaprio movie of all time?
("'What's Eating Gilbert Grape' ... the one where he played like he's retarded")

-- Which celeb he thinks he looks like?
("Denzel or Will Smith")

The New England Patriots are confident in their backup QB Jimmy Garoppolo ... but they think Tom Brady's suspension is "absolute bulls**t" ... so says one respected Pats player.

The player -- who wished to remain anonymous so he could be "completely honest" -- tells us bluntly, "Ted Wells is full of sh*t. Brady wouldn't do anything that would jeopardize our franchise."

He continued, "I am upset. The whole team is upset. Brady has held himself together ... but we know he's upset. This is some bulls**t."

"Every time we win, we're accused of doing something wrong. It's like the NFL wants to discredit us for winning. If we lost, this wouldn't be a discussion. Goodell has again failed in his decision making."

Charles Barkley says Tom Brady's 4 game suspension will DEFINITELY lower his fantasy football value ... but he doesn't care because "only losers play fantasy sports" anyway.

Sir Chuck was "living the dream" in NYC Tuesday when he sounded off on the whole Deflategate scandal -- saying he still loves Tom ... and explains why he'll still be considered one of the greatest QBs ever.

Tom Brady's agent just came out BLASTING the NFL -- saying the league has a storied history of BLOWING IT when it comes to meting out punishment ... which is why they're appealing Tom's 4-game suspension.

Don Yee -- who gives absolutely zero damns -- pulled no punches in a scathing statement attacking the NFL and the Wells Report.

"The discipline is ridiculous and has no legitimate basis. In my opinion, this outcome was pre-determined; there was no fairness in the Wells investigation whatsoever."

He continues, "There is no evidence that Tom directed footballs be set at pressures below the allowable limits."

"We will appeal, and if the hearing officer is completely independent and neutral, I am very confident the Wells Report will be exposed as an incredibly frail exercise in fact-finding and logic."

And this is where Yee really begins to spit venom -- "The NFL has a well-documented history of making poor disciplinary decisions that often are overturned when truly independent and neutral judges or arbitrators preside, and a former federal judge has found the commissioner has abused his discretion in the past, so this outcome does not surprise me."

No Brady? No problem ... because the New England Patriots are still FAVORED to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 1 ... according to multiple major Vegas sports books.

TMZ Sports spoke with honchos at multiple major sports books in Vegas who all told us the same thing -- the Pats were favored by 6.5 before the suspension ... and will be favored by 2-3 points now.

Tony Miller, the director of the race and sports book at the Golden Nugget, says ... "They're still the Patriots ... and they have a couple of months to get Jimmy Garoppolo ready."

Get this ... we're told most sports books took down the game after the Wells Report -- refusing to take bets because of the possibility of a suspension ... which could impact the line.

But now, we're told most, if not all, books will start taking action again as soon as today ... with the new odds.

If you just watch football for the hot dudes, don't worry about the whole Tom Brady suspension ... his backup is pretty damn handsome.

Here's Jimmy Garoppolo ... he's 23-years-old ... he's 6'2" ... 225 lbs ... and was 2nd string on the Patriots depth chart last year.

Barring any big trades or pickups ... seems the kid is gonna finally get his shot.

Tom Brady has been suspended the first 4 games of the 2015 NFL season for his role in Deflategate ... TWICE the suspension the league initially gave Ray Rice for beating a woman.

The NFL just issued a statement saying, "Tom Brady will be suspended without pay for the first four games of the 2015 regular season for conduct detrimental to the integrity of the NFL."

"Brady may participate in all off-season, training camp and pre-season activities, including pre-season games."

The league also dropped the hammer on the New England Patriots -- hitting the team with a $1 MILLION fine ... and taking away their 1st round pick in the 2016 Draft and their 4th round pick in 2017.

The two locker room attendants who are believed to have deflated the balls have also been suspended indefinitely without pay.

In a letter to Brady, NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent explained the league found "substantial and credible evidence to conclude you were at least generally aware of the actions of the Patriots’ employees involved in the deflation of the footballs and that it was unlikely that their actions were done without your knowledge."

"Moreover, the report documents your failure to cooperate fully and candidly with the investigation, including by refusing to produce any relevant electronic evidence (emails, texts, etc.), despite being offered extraordinary safeguards by the investigators to protect unrelated personal information, and by providing testimony that the report concludes was not plausible and contradicted by other evidence."

"Your actions as set forth in the report clearly constitute conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the game of professional football."

So far, no comment from Brady.

Magic Johnson just spoke out on the suspension -- saying. "The Commissioner came down hard & fair."

Eli Manning told Ralph Vacchiano of the NY Daily News ... "It is about integrity and you have to follow the rules. If someone’s breaking rules they’re going to get punished."

He added, " "In no way am I glad to see this happen."

Will Smith tweeted ... "Tom Brady suspended 4 games, Thats Interesting!!!!"

Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount -- "THIS IS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!! SMH 😡 #PATSNATION STAND UP!!!!!"

Donald Trump -- "They had no definitive proof against Tom Brady or #patriots. If Hillary doesn't have to produce Emails, why should Tom? Very unfair!"

Aaron Hernandez has just been charged with witness intimidation for allegedly shooting a man IN THE FACE ... a man who officials believe witnessed the ex-NFL star murder 2 other people.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Hernandez was sued by Alexander Bradley, who claims Aaron pulled out a gun and shot him on their way home from a strip club in 2013.

Officials say Bradley was present when Hernandez opened fire on a car in Boston in 2012, killing 2 people who were leaving a nightclub.

According to prosecutors, Hernandez "shot him in the face on the morning of Feb. 13, 2013, and left him to die on the side of the road in Riviera Beach, Florida, after [Bradley] made a remark about the homicides."

Officials say Hernandez shot Bradley "with the intent to impede a Suffolk County criminal investigation."

The JACK DIESEL apple doesn't fall far from the JACK DIESEL tree ... and the Gronkowski family is living breathing proof.

Check out these pics of New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski breakin' out the guns in Vegas this weekend ... right next to his almost-equally swoll father, Gordon!

The whole shredded family hit up the Rehab party at the Hard Rock Hotel to celebrate Rob's 26th birthday ... including Rob's bros Chris, Dan, Glenn and Gordie Jr.

BTW -- the people at Rehab gave Gronk a cake for his birthday. Can you guess what he did with it?

Tom Brady is finally getting some support from an NFL player who's NOT his teammate -- with Jacksonville Jaguars star Marcedes Lewis saying he hopes the league goes easy on "America's Child."

The tight end was cruisin' around Hollywood this weekend when he told he's personally rooting for Brady to play this season, despite rumors Brady could get suspended by the NFL for his role in Deflategate.

We also asked Lewis about the devastating injury to his newest teammate Donte Fowler -- the 1st round pick who blew out his ACL during practice last week.

Ball pressure was never on Tom Brady's mind back in his college days -- the obsession developed after he got into the pros ... TMZ Sports has learned.

We spoke with Jon Falk, the legendary equipment manager at Michigan during Brady's playing days -- who says he's 100% SURE Brady NEVER screwed around with the balls before a college game.

"At Michigan he never messed around with any footballs because he never got the chance to touch them! That's the way it was, I prided myself on those game balls."

It was a different story for Brady in the pros -- with TB admitting he's maniacal about the PSI of every game ball because he wants to make sure he gets the "perfect grip."

As for Deflategate, Falk says he doesn't believe "Tommy" could be a cheater because back at UM, he was one of the most "standup guys I've ever met. I never saw [him] mess with the footballs."

Robert Kraft isn't crawling into some deep dark hole of depression after his star QB was accused of cheating ... he's doing the opposite -- hitting NYC fully DECKED OUT out in Patriots gear.

The New England Patriots owner took a stroll through Central Park with his girlfriend Ricki Noel Lander ... clearly trying to send the message that he's not embarrassed by Deflategate.

There are rumblings that the NFL could suspend Tom Brady for several games this season for his role in the scandal ... but this afternoon, Robert didn't seem fazed one bit.