NFL

Terrell Owens is getting a LOT of praise from fellow Pro Football Hall of Fame nominee LaDainian Tomlinson ... who says the former NFL superstar is one of the top 5 WRs in NFL history.

TMZ Sports spoke with L.T. ... who says T.O.'s off-field antics kept him from getting the gold jacket last year, but says if voters focused on his on-field accomplishments, he's a shoo-in for the Hall.

LaVar Arrington has a message for Michael Crabtree -- if you don't want people to snatch your chain on the field, don't wear it during games!!

The former NFLer says Aqib Talib's decision to rip Crabtree's gold chain off during last Sunday's game was an "outright blatant move of disrespect," ... but says if jewelry is part of the uniform, it's M.C.'s own fault.

Bottom line ... floss at your own risk.

Football fans lookin' to bring in the New Year with some extra cash need to listen up ... 'cause Brandon Lang is gonna explain which bets to take this NFL Wildcard weekend.

Lang -- the inspiration behind the movie "Two For The Money" -- says there are two hot picks to go with this weekend ... and there's good news for the fans in New York.

Here's some inside the locker room info from Arizona Cardinals stud defensive end Calais Campbell ... who says his friends on the Raiders TRULY believe they can win with Connor Cook.

Then again, Campbell says they really don't have another choice ...

The 2 time Pro Bowler says he's also convinced Oakland can get it done against the Houston Texans this weekend with the 3rd string QB at the helm ... and his reasoning is pretty good.

Michael, Emmitt and Troy ... or Dak, Dez and Zeke?

Cowboys legend Michael Irvin is finally weighing in on the "Who's the better set of Triplets" debate -- and he's giving one BIG advantage to the new gang.

There's more ... he's also STRONG about Terrell Owens belonging in the Pro Football Hall of Fame in a perfect world.

Ex-NFL punter Steve Weatherford had a real "Wanna Get Away" moment in front of President Obama Thursday ... when he ripped his pants down the crack of his ass.

The Super Bowl champ was at the White House as part of a group of 100 handpicked social media influencers invited to have a meeting with the president to discuss how to use their platforms for good.

But as Weatherford was walking to the meeting ... he split his pants.

We spoke with Steve about the situation -- and he told us he couldn't find a set of replacement pants because no one in the White House has "26 inch quads with a 31 inch waist."

Cool move from Colin Kaepernick ... who decided to clear out a BUNCH of shoes from his insanely expensive Nike collection and donate them to homeless shelters and orphanages.

Kaepernick -- along with his girlfriend, Nessa -- raided the QB's closet, packing up shoes, clothing and hats to donate to a couple of places, including the Dorothy Day House in Berkeley.

And he didn't just give them his worn-out crap -- we're talking Air Max, Jordans, Timberlands, etc. Just from eyeballing it ... it appears to be thousands of dollars worth of gear.

Denzel Washington thinks the Cowboys can beat anybody ... unless they can't.

He also thinks Ezekiel Elliott should win MVP ... unless he doesn't.

The 'Paul Blart' actress suing Warren Sapp for battery was arrested for DUI just hours after the alleged incident ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Oklahoma running back Joe Mixon has decided to enter the NFL Draft ... just weeks after a video of him brutally punching a female was released, this according to multiple reports.

Mixon has two years of college eligibility left ... and since he's in the middle of a PR nightmare at the moment, a lot of people thought he would stay in school at least another year to see if he could rebuild his draft stock.

Before the release of the video Mixon was expected to go in the early rounds. The video is, obviously, a huge game-changer.

The big question ... will ANY team want to take a chance on drafting a guy who beat a woman on video???

The NFL Draft is set to begin on April 27 ... so, we're guessing a PR offensive will follow shortly -- TV sit-down interviews, apologies, charity work, you name it.

With Dallas Cowboys player Randy Gregory getting crushed by haters in the wake of his 1 year suspension for a drug test violation ... his girlfriend is coming out swinging in his defense.

The woman in Gregory's life is Nancy -- the mother of the his 3-month-old daughter -- who clearly doesn't believe the 24-year-old is the screwup people are making him out to be.

"You're not perfect and you have your flaws but you don't deserve half of the things people say about you," Nancy posted to Randy on social media.

"You're the father of my child and I will not let the media and fans tear you down."

"You don't deserve the hate you receive. You're an amazing human being and I know you have it in you to be an elite athlete you strive to be on a daily basis."

Warren Sapp says allegations he drunkenly bowled over a woman at a Super Bowl party on January 30, 2015 are completely bogus ... claiming the accuser is lying through her teeth.

The woman suing Sapp is Paula Trickey -- an actress who's appeared in "Paul Blart: Mall Cop 2" and "The O.C."

According to her suit, filed in Broward County, FL ... Trickey claims a drunk Sapp was being kicked out of an ESPN Super Bowl party in Scottsdale, AZ around 1 AM when he began running through the crowd and slammed into her.

Trickey claims she suffered serious injuries in the collision including "significant and permanent loss of bodily functions." She's demanding more than $15k.

Trickey told the Miami Herald, "There are places in my body I didn’t know existed that are still hurting two years later."

But Sapp says the allegations are untrue -- and issued a statement on Twitter saying, "On Jan. 30 2015 I was at the JBL/Harmon private event where I was scheduled to introduce Pitbull."

Sapp added, "It's impossible to be @ 2 places at 1 time."

QUESTION: When is a horrible, embarrassing criminal moment a good thing?

ANSWER: When it lands you with the best team in the NFL ... according to David Spade who says Michael Floyd's extreme DUI arrest in AZ last month did WONDERS for his career.

WATCH THIS VIDEO ... Spade makes a pretty amazing, hilarious and ACCURATE point about how the former Cardinals star may have DUI'd his way into a Lombardi Trophy.

And if you need a recap on the Floyd story, click here.

Antonio Gates needs just 1 TD to break Tony Gonzalez's all-time record -- but that's NOT why he's coming back next year ... telling TMZ Sports the Chargers can be "special" in 2017.

Gates tied TG at 111 touchdowns in the last game of the season -- then immediately announced he was returning for a 15th NFL year ... one that will see him playing at age 37.

Most thought it was so he could snag one TD to put him over the top ... but when we got Antonio out in L.A. he made it clear it's about the team's chances to be great ... not his chance to be legendary.

"I'm not coming back just for one touchdown."

Officials have determined ex-NFL player Keion Carpenter died from traumatic brain injuries suffered in a fall during his Miami vacation ... but why he fell remains a mystery.

TMZ Sports obtained the autopsy report for the 39-year-old former Atlanta Falcons safety who died on Dec. 29th.

Investigators say Carpenter had only had 1 drink on the day he collapsed (rum and pineapple juice) during an excursion with his family to Black Point Marina.

When they were leaving at 8:15 PM, he raced his son to the car ... and that's when Keion came to a complete stop by his car, grabbed the side mirror and collapsed backwards to the ground.

The report says, "He did not make any attempts to stop his fall, striking the back of his head on the ground."

His wife called 911 -- and Keion regained consciousness. He told responders he felt hot and his head was hurting. He suffered a heart attack in the ambulance and never recovered. He died two days later.

The medical report lists the cause of death as acute epidural hematoma (bleeding of the brain) due to blunt force head trauma.

But the big mystery ... why did he fall in the first place?

The report notes Carpenter had hypertension -- but took his medicine, monitored his blood pressure daily and kept a healthy diet.

There is this ... the M.E. notes Carpenter suffered "several" concussions during his football career -- though investigators did not directly link that to the collapse.

The medical examiner says the brain was not examined further per the wishes of Keion's family.

9:21 AM PT -- A rep for the M.E.'s office issued a statement about the investigation into the fall.

"During the autopsy, we looked for evidence of a medical event that could have preceded the fall. No definitive conclusion could be drawn from anything that was found."

Good news, Raider Nation -- broken leg expert Joe Theismann says he's 100% confident Derek Carr can rebound from his fractured fibula ... he knows from experience.

We got the Super Bowl champ out in NYC earlier Tuesday where he told us he was brokenhearted for the Raiders QB ... and knows firsthand what it's like to recover from that same exact injury.

Yeah, turns out Thiesmann broke his leg more than a decade BEFORE that infamous run in with Lawrence Taylor in 1985 (that gruesome compound fracture on MNF) ... the one that ended his career.

Theismann says he broke his fibula in 1972 while he was in the Canadian Football League -- but recovered and went on to have a pretty solid career with the Washington Redskins.