New England Patriots

NFL football on Thanksgiving Day is one of the best traditions there is -- but before we dive into the games (and food), let's meet the lovely wives and girlfriends of the athletes hitting the field on Thursday.

The Bills and Lions are set to kick things off in Detroit -- Josh Allen's GF, Brittany Williams and Stefon Diggs' GF, Tae Heckard, will certainly be rooting for their men to link up for some big plays.

Jordan Poyer's wife, Rachel Bush, will be hoping her man has a feast defensively against Jared Goff ... as he's cheered on by his fiancée, Sports Illustrated swimsuit model Christen Harper.

Dak Prescott has a lot to be thankful for this holiday season -- his GF, Natalie Buffett, will watch as her man's 7-3 Cowboys play the Giants at Jerry World on Thursday.

Saquon Barkley and the Giants will be hoping to spoil the Cowboys' Thanksgiving, which would assuredly put a smile on the face of Anna Congdon, his longtime girlfriend and mother of his kid.

Meanwhile, Mac Jones and his girlfriend, Sophie Scott, will have to wait to stuff their faces with Thanksgiving delights ... as the Pats QB plays the Vikings at U.S. Bank Stadium in the late game.

Brandon Marshall will now have the New England Patriots logo etched into his arm FOR LIFE ... and it's all 'cause of a silly bet he made with Julian Edelman last week.

The two former wideouts placed the wager on the set of "Inside the NFL" back on Friday -- two days before their ex-teams went head-to-head at Gillette Stadium.

The deal was simple -- if the Jets win, Edelman gets NY ink. If they lose, Marshall gets branded.

As you know, the Patriots pulled out the win Sunday with an improbable, last-second 84-yard punt return ... and when it came time for Edelman to collect this week, Marshall paid up.

The 38-year-old, who made the Pro Bowl with the Jets in 2015, sat in a chair on the "Inside the NFL" set and took the needle to his right forearm.

Edelman gloated about it all afterward on his social media page ... writing, "A bets a bet. And @bmarshall is a man of his word. Thanks for saving me @patriots."

In even better news for Julian -- the Patriots don't play the Jets again this season, so it appears he's safe from any sort of retribution from Marshall.

Then again, the former wideout did play for the Dolphins as well -- and they are slated to play against New England on Jan. 1.

The ultra-rare Tom Brady-signed flag that was allegedly ruined by the Patriots Hall of Fame has been re-signed by the G.O.A.T. ... and the owner of the piece now says he feels like he's been made whole.

Daniel Vitale was initially livid over the situation earlier this year ... claiming after he temporarily donated the 1-of-1 American flag to the Pats' HOF, officials there ruined the Brady signature on it by displaying it improperly.

Vitale shared pics of the piece, showing the dark blue Brady John Hancock that the QB had put on it in the early 2000s had lost its "T" after being in the New England museum's possession.

The father of three filed a lawsuit over it all, alleging that the flag was worth potentially $1 MILLION less ... and he was asking for the Pats HOF to pay him for damages.

Vitale's lawsuit is still ongoing ... though he tells TMZ Sports he feels at least part of the situation has been remedied, after the Patriots helped get Tom to re-sign the flag last week following the Buccaneers star's return from Germany.

Vitale says the new signature is incredible -- it's "four times" the original size, he told us -- and he now believes the piece is worth significantly more than the $1 million it was initially appraised at.

Vitale will begin the process of trying to sell it now -- he's taking offers immediately -- and he tells us he's trying to do a lot of good with some of the eventual proceeds.

The longtime Pats fan has a daughter who has autism, and he's planning to donate some of the flag's sales to raise awareness for the disability. Specifically, Vitale is hoping to funnel funds to Spectrum Connection, a division of Community Partners in New Hampshire.

All he wanted for his birthday was a big booty ... cake -- and that's exactly what Chanel Iman got her NFL boyfriend, Davon Godchaux, to celebrate his bday!

The New England Patriots' defensive tackle celebrated his 27th trip around the sun with his supermodel girlfriend over the weekend on a luxurious yacht.

You can see Iman and Godchaux -- who signed a contract extension with the Pats in July -- smiling, doing a bit of karaoke ... basically all lovey-dovey.

But, the best part is the bday cake Iman got him -- of a woman's booty in red and black lingerie.

"Celebrating you Big Daddy," the 31-year-old Atlanta model said in her IG post of the booty-full treat.

"Happy Birthday! I love you."

It seems Davon loved his birthday cake 'cause the 27-year-old licked the voluptuous buns right in front of the camera.

"The best birthday ever!" Godchaux said in the comments under Iman's post, "My love, my everything! Love you forever and always ❤️😝😝"

It's crystal clear Iman and Godchaux are going strong after going IG official this April ... just months after New York Giants' WR Sterling Shepard filed for divorce.

And, it seems Shepard -- who has two kids with Iman -- may have moved on as well ... the wide receiver shared a photo of him and Shaniece Hairston at Odell Beckham's 30th birthday bash!

He knows it might be wrong, but Bailey Zappe's in love with "Stacy's Mom" ... 'cause the Patriots quarterback couldn't resist rocking to the Fountains of Wayne song in the middle of Monday Night Football!!

The hilarious moment was captured by the TV broadcast right after the backup came in and led the Pats on two touchdown drives ... showing Zappe mouth the words to the 2003 one-hit wonder while chilling on the sidelines.

Zappe was clearly feeling himself at the time -- he came in for a struggling Mac Jones (who Bill Belichick says was NOT benched) -- and had a hot start before eventually fizzling out in the 33-14 loss to the Chicago Bears.

The rookie finished the game 14 of 22 for 186 yards ... with one passing touchdown and two interceptions.

As for the decision to switch to Zappe, Belichick says it was always the plan to get the former Western Kentucky star some reps as Jones works back from a high ankle sprain.

Don't be surprised if the Gillette Stadium sound folks run with it and play the banger every time Zappe scores moving forward.

Jerry Jones and Robert Kraft reportedly got into a heated argument at the NFL owners' meeting on Tuesday ... and things apparently got so tense between the two, Jones told Kraft, "Don't f*** with me."

Jones and Kraft met with other league owners in New York to discuss a variety of issues ... but at one point, according to ESPN, the Cowboys and Patriots honchos got into over commissioner Roger Goodell's future contract.

Per the outlet, Jones wanted changes to Goodell's deal ... but Kraft didn't. The disagreement, according to ESPN, led to an exchange where Jones dropped the F-bomb comment.

"Excuse me," Kraft reportedly replied to Jones' remark.

"Don't mess me," Jones responded, per the outlet.

Kraft then reportedly got his way ... with the owners siding with him in a 31-1 vote.

The alleged tiff wasn't the only drama at the owners' meeting on Tuesday ... as we reported, Colts boss Jim Irsay ruffled Commanders' feathers after he voiced support for the ouster of Washington owner Daniel Snyder.

Robert Kraft proves you're never too old to find love ... because he tied the knot Friday in a star-studded, surprise wedding.

The octogenarian owner of the New England Patriots is now the husband of 47-year-old Dr. Dana Blumberg.

250 folks showed up for a "Kickoff and a Touchdown" soiree in lower Manhattan ... not a whiff that this was a till-death-do-us-part bash.

Among the guests who were appropriately surprised ... Tom Brady and a bunch of other ex-Pats, Meek Mill and Jon Bon Jovi. Tom, btw, showed up alone.

A 10-minute video played -- a video Bob and Dana put together -- and then Al Michaels introduced them to the crowd.

It was a traditional Jewish ceremony ... Kraft smashed a glass during the nuptials.

Oh, and yes, there was entertainment, and it wasn't the Bar Mitzvah band. How's Elton John and Ed Sheeran!!!

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft just made a HUGE contribution to the Massachusetts General Hospital ... donating $50 MILLION to promote health equity in the area.

81-year-old Kraft -- who is worth around $10 billion, according to Forbes -- says he handed over the check after being inspired by the treatment his late wife, Myra, received while battling ovarian cancer.

Kraft told WCVB he wanted to make it his mission to ensure people of all backgrounds had similar care ... and thanks to his money, the hospital will be able to start multiple new initiatives to make it happen.

One of the hospital's focuses will be sickle cell disease research ... which also happens to be the charitable cause for Patriots player Devin McCourty.

Kraft made a profound statement to Front Office Sports about the matter ... saying, "If this was a disease for white people, I think the cure would have been found already."

"I think it falls to people like myself to try to do what we can to help."

Kraft has made several donations to MGH -- recently named the best hospital in the country -- over the years, but the organization says this newest round of support has more than doubled the amounts in the past.

A man is suing the New England Patriots Hall of Fame ... claiming it ruined his one-of-a-kind, Tom Brady signed American flag -- costing him potentially over $1 MILLION.

The guy's name is Daniel Vitale ... and he says in a new lawsuit, obtained by TMZ Sports, that back in early 2020, he acquired a flag that had been autographed by the G.O.A.T.

In his lawsuit, Vitale says the flag was ultra-rare. It had flown at Foxboro Stadium during a Patriots vs. Dolphins game in 2001 -- the same season that Brady first took over as the starter in New England -- and was signed by the quarterback a few years later. Vitale said he believed it to be the only American flag known to be signed by TB12 in existence.

Vitale says in the suit that in 2021, about a year after he got the piece, he reached out to the Pro Football Hall of Fame to see if it wanted to put it on display. He claims it did, but only after Brady and his former head coach, Bill Belichick, had retired.

The HOF, according to Vitale, suggested he reach out to the Patriots Hall of Fame at Gillette Stadium to gauge its interest in the flag in the meantime. Vitale claims in his suit that the Pats HOF wanted it -- and officials there promised him it would be "curated to the highest standard."

Vitale says he handed it over under that premise ... and it was almost immediately displayed underneath the Brady Super Bowl XLIX jersey that had been infamously stolen and later recovered.

Vitale, though, said months later ... he was considering asking for it back. He said due to Brady's potential retirement and the subsequent skyrocketing value of Brady memorabilia, he was thinking about putting it up for auction.

But, that's when he says he found out that the QB's autograph had faded due to what he claims is the way the HOF improperly displayed the piece.

In the suit, Vitale said "neither the lighting at [the facility] nor the glass [it] used for case displaying the flag were designed to protect autographed sports memorabilia."

He added, "there was a significant gap in the glass directly in front of the flag through which unfiltered light and heat could pass."

All of it, he said, caused the T and other parts of Brady's signature to significantly fade.

In a video of Vitale recovering the flag, you can hear he was crushed to see the state it was in.

In the suit, he said due to the Patriots HOF's mishandling of the flag, the value of it decreased by potentially as much as over $1 million.

He's asking for damages.

Bill Belichick presented Robert Kraft with the game ball after the team's 17-14 win over the Steelers in Pittsburgh ... in honor of Kraft's 500th game as the team's owner.

"We've had a lot of big wins here in Pittsburgh," Belichick told his team ... "We've had a lot of big wins here. I think it's fitting that this one comes on Mr. Kraft's 500th game."

Kraft -- who's owned the Patriots since 1994 -- was choked up ... but managed to speak a few words after his players implored him to deliver a speech.

"What you guys did here today is so sweet for my family, and I thank you all," Kraft told the team. "And, doing it here in Pittsburgh is pretty special. Thank you."

RK said he and his son, Jonathan, have the opportunity to work in different business industries, but none of them compare to the NFL -- mainly because of the players' impact.

A huge fire broke out in the parking lot at the Dolphins vs. Patriots game on Sunday -- destroying several cars -- and according to at least one witness, it all started after someone left a tailgating grill on.

A spokesperson for Miami-Dade Fire Rescue tells TMZ Sports ... firefighters were called to Hard Rock Stadium at around 1:28 PM after multiple people had seen flames pouring out of cars just outside of the venue.

Thankfully, according to the spokesperson, "firefighters immediately worked to contain and place the fire under control" and there were no reported injuries.

Video shot by multiple people at the arena showed the inferno was massive -- causing huge amounts of black smoke to pour into the stadium.

One witness says the owners of the cars had no idea their rides were destroyed until they returned to the parking lot. Another said the blaze appeared to start after someone had failed to properly extinguish their BBQ.

The MDFR spokesperson said the cause of the fire is still under investigation.

One of the car's owners, Scott Dellorfano, told NBC Miami that his Mercedes S63 -- plus $3k he had in the vehicle -- were destroyed in the fire.

Robert Kraft had a champion in his corner as New England kicked off its 2022 season ... with the Patriots owner hosting none other than Mike Tyson in his suite.

Iron Mike was on hand at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, FL. ... where he watched as the Pats fell to the division rival Dolphins, 20-7.

Mike had a seat right next to Kraft, who was sitting next to his son, Jonathan, -- and the two appeared to be chummy throughout the game as the Pats and 'Fins duked it out on the field.

No word on what exactly led to the meetup ... but Mike and Kraft seemed to have a lot to talk about throughout the duration of the game.

The day didn't go without an awkward moment, though -- At one point, Tyson went to give Kraft a fist bump, who missed the cue, but the two managed to clean it up at the end.

Parting ways with his Super Bowl ring just got much easier for Hakeem Nicks ... 'cause TMZ Sports has learned the former NY Giants star's bling fetched a whopping $117,000 at auction this weekend.

The gavel officially dropped on Saturday -- netting Nicks around $40K more than what Heritage Auctions officials had initially expected it to sell for.

It's great news for not only Nicks ... but charities as well -- as we're told the former wideout had planned to donate a portion of the proceeds to those in need.

Nicks initially put the piece up for sale earlier this month ... after he helped Eli Manning and the G-men win it back in 2012.

Nicks piled up 10 catches and 109 yards in the SBXLVI win over Tom Brady's New England Patriots.

The Patriots and Panthers' joint practice Wednesday looked more like a WWE match ... 'cause the two teams got into a huge brawl -- and the skirmish was so big, a fan was actually injured in the melee.

The fight initially started after Carolina star running back Christian McCaffrey was pissed over a tackle Patriots defensive end Deatrich Wise Jr. put on him during 11-on-11 drills.

The 26-year-old got up after the hit and threw the ball at the Pats D-lineman ... and that's when all hell broke loose.

Video shows a bunch of Panthers players going after Wise and his teammates right near fans who were sitting in the bleachers -- and, at one point, players were thrown into the spectators.

According to Pat's reporter Tom Curran, a woman sitting in the stands was injured after one of the players' helmets hit her foot.

She reportedly refused any medical help, and did get an offer for tickets to a game later this season.

This is the second brawl between the Panthers and Pats this week -- on Tuesday, several players, including Pats' Kendrick Bourne, Kristian Wilkerson, and Panthers' Kenny Robinson, went at it.

James White is hanging up his cleats ... the New England Patriots running back announced Thursday he's retiring from the NFL after 8 seasons in the league.

White -- AKA "Sweet Feet" -- shared the announcement on social media ... in a heartfelt post where he addressed the Pats organization.

"It has been an honor to represent my family, my teammates, and the people of New England as a Patriot!" said White.

"Reflecting on my nine years in the NFL, and all the sacrifices it took to get here, there are many people that were just as much part of this journey."

The three-time Super Bowl champ thanked Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick for "giving me the opportunity to live out my childhood dream" ... calling it a "tremendous blessing" and "honor."

"To say that Foxboro will always hold a special place in my heart is an understatement. It's been the most significant chapter of my adulthood; my kids were born here," James wrote.

"It's the place we know the best as adults and where I have grown and created my family."

Kraft released a statement on White's retirement ... saying, "James White has always been one of the most reliable and dependable players on the field."

"Our fans will remain eternally grateful for his record-setting performance in Super Bowl LI when he helped the Patriots overcome a 20-3 deficit by scoring 20 points, including the game-winning touchdown in overtime."

White -- selected by the Pats in the fourth round of the 2014 NFL draft -- was one of the most reliable weapons for Tom Brady out of the backfield and as a receiver.

The highlight of White's career was his performance in Super Bowl LI against the Falcons. With the game knotted at 28-28 in overtime, "Sweet Feet" scored the decisive touchdown ... sealing the game for the Pats.

JW finished the game with 14 receptions for 110 yards (129 yards total), scoring 3 touchdowns and a 2-point conversion. A legitimate argument could be made he earned SB MVP honors ... and Brady may have agreed. Tom gave James his MVP prize ... a brand new truck.

White only played in 3 games last season ... due to a hip injury that sidelined him for most of the year.

White's ex-teammate, Julian Edelman, showed respect to James' career, writing, "Mr. Reliable. Congrats on a legendary career bubs @SweetFeet_White."

In March, White signed a 2-year, $5 million contract extension keeping him in New England ... but, it appears he's had a change of heart.

Former Patriots O-lineman Rich Ohrnberger was so afraid of being cut by Bill Belichick ... he intentionally rear-ended a van while on his way to practice after running late to a team meeting!!

Ohrnberger -- a fourth-round pick in the 2009 NFL draft -- made the confession Thursday on the "The Hartman And Rich O Show" ... saying he purposely got into a fender bender so he wouldn't have to face the wrath of the future Hall of Fame head coach.

"I was driving a Chevy Tahoe, and it says I'm late already," Ohrnberger recalled, continuing, "Or, I'm gonna be. I'm like 5 minutes to being officially late, and I've got a 15-minute drive ahead of me."

Rich -- who only spent two seasons with New England -- said he was terrified of what the notoriously strict coach might do.

"I had this sinking feeling in my stomach," and the entire time, he kept thinking to himself, "I'm gonna get cut."

Ohrnberger said he noticed a beat-up van and came up with the idea that if he got into an accident, that would be the perfect excuse for why he was late for the team meeting.

"And I'm cruising down this slight sloping hill that brings you to the first traffic light," Ohrnberger said, "that I have to turn right to get to the stadium for the morning meeting."

"I see a church van in front of me that's all dinged up, and it's got the black smoke coming out of the exhaust pipe, and I'm just like, 'I'm gonna hit this car.'"

Ohrnberger said he figured it's better to deal with the consequences of the collision -- banging up his car, etc. -- than dealing with Bill scolding him for being tardy.

Little did Rich know ... the church van he hit had an elderly man inside, but luckily, the old guy didn't sustain any injuries during the minor collision, and his van was okay, too.