NFL

Tom Brady says his days of raging around Hollywood with pop stars are OVER -- claiming he refused to hit the town with his teammates (and Justin Bieber) last night because he just wanted to SLEEP!!!

The 37-year-old QB called in to WEEI’s “Dennis and Callahan” on Tuesday -- and told the guys the days of partying on a Monday night "have come and gone in my life."

As you know ... Rob Gronkowski -- along with Jonas Gray (RB), Shane Vereen (RB), Akeem Ayers (LB) and Darius Fleming (LB) -- hung out with the L.A. Clippers last night ... with 25-year-old Gronk eventually hitting the Hollywood clubs.

"Those guys should go out and have fun," Brady said ... "They're young guys."

Nothing heals the pain of a loss like a $3,000 bottle of cognac ... just ask the Pittsburgh Steelers linebackers who busted out TWO bottles of Louis XIII at a Pittsburgh casino last night.

James Harrison, along with the rest of the LB crew, hit up Andrew's Steak and Seafood Restaurant at the Rivers Casino ... where they poured the cognac into fancy glasses engraved with their names.

Louis XIII is some of the most expensive cognac in the world -- right now, BevMo is selling the stuff for $3,000 per bottle (if you're a ClubBev member).

Seems the guys polished off the booze ... at least judging by the way they were singing and goofing around at the end of the meal.

Expensive hangovers ... still hurt.

Al Sharpton says he "respects and admires" the St. Louis Rams players who did the "Hands Up" tribute to Mike Brown before Sunday's game ... and is calling on ALL ATHLETES to follow their lead.

"I think that they have a right to do it and it was much appreciated," Sharpton told us.

Of course, the Rams have come under fire from the St. Louis Police Officers Association -- which demanded an apology ... saying the players ignored "mountains of evidence" in the case and offended cops around the country.

Drake wants Johnny Manziel to start in Cleveland this weekend.

How do we know? He told us ... with his hands.

The rapper was leaving Hakkasan restaurant in Beverly Hills Monday when we asked about the QB controversy in Cleveland -- Manziel or Hoyer?

Drake flashed the money sign. Duh.

Of course, Cleveland Browns head coach Mike Pettine says he won't announce the starters until later this week ... but it feels like Manziel's got the edge ... especially with LeBron telling the media he's "ready to go."

Ray Rice says the disastrous news conference he and Janay held together in May was a "horrendous mistake" ... but he's pointing the finger at the Baltimore Ravens.

Ray broke his silence with Matt Lauer during a stand-up interview in his kitchen for the "Today" show ... and said of the P.R. debacle, "I made a tremendous mistake not apologizing to my wife."

Ray and Janay also took heat over the May 23rd event because Janay APOLOGIZED for her role in the elevator incident.

"When we was going in, we were given what to speak about. It wasn't truly coming from us," Ray says.

So, who told them what to say? Janay claims the Ravens "gave us a general script" going in to the news conference that day ... and Ray and Janay did what they were told thinking the team would have their back.

During the interview, Ray also told Matt he had never laid a finger on Janay before the elevator attack.

The "Clawvin Johnson" era has officially begun ... and NFL great Boomer Esiason was on hand to deliver the news, presiding over the 2015 Kitten Bowl Draft.

The Hallmark Channel has rounded up a new crop of cats for Kitten Bowl II -- set to air on Feb. 1 (the same day as the Super Bowl) ... and in his official role as Commish, Boomer welcomed the newbies.

So, how'd it go down? Johnson went #1 ... followed by studs like "Cat Stafford" and "Ryan Fitzcatrick."

Eric Decker is seriously "depressed" over the disastrous season he's having with the NY Jets ... and it's starting to affect his home life ... this according to his famous country singer wife Jessie James.

James appeared on the The Todd Show on 95.5 WPLJ in NYC (that airs tomorrow) ... and opened up about how the 2-9 season is taking an emotional toll on the high-priced wide receiver.

"It's been a really hard season. He's been, I don't wanna say depressed, but he's been depressed."

James says Eric is particularly frustrated because he's "not able to really show his ability right now and he's got a lot of doubters and that hurts him."

She adds, "It's rough."

Meanwhile, Emmanuel Sanders ... who replaced Decker over in Denver ... is having the best season of his life and says playing with Peyton Manning is "wide receiver heaven."

DeMarco Murray's former college teammate Brennan Clay tells TMZ Sports he's filing for divorce from his wife Gina ... after publicly accusing her of banging Murray behind his back.

Clay -- who played with Murray at the University of Oklahoma -- says the Dallas Cowboys superstar was his mentor at OU ... "the person who I looked up to the most as a running back and as a friend."

But Clay says everything changed when he found one of his wife's old cell phones -- which allegedly contained more than 50 "inappropriate" text messages between DeMarco and Gina which "made me disgusted."

Clay says he also found graphic cell phone pics that he believes Gina and DeMarco had sent each other.

Clay put both Gina and DeMarco on blast on Twitter Sunday -- saying, "So Demarco Murray was having an affair with my wife ..I'm done."'

Now, Clay says he's escalated the situation -- and filed for a divorce from Gina. The two have only been married for 4 months. Clay says he's currently meeting with lawyers to discuss the next step.

Ray Rice has finally returned to the bar scene -- partying at a NYC nightclub for the first time since he attacked his wife at an Atlantic City casino back in February ... and TMZ Sports has the pics.

Rice hit up Bounce Sporting Club in Manhattan late Saturday night/early Sunday morning -- where he posed for pics with fans and chatted with anyone who approached him.

We're told security was trying to keep fans away from Rice -- but Ray was talking and making conversation with people anyway.

The timing is interesting ... considering Ray won his appeal on Friday -- and then hit the club right after. It feels like a celebration.

One source tells us Janay was with Ray at the club -- though we can't confirm that yet.

Everyone we spoke with says Ray was NOT drinking at Bounce.

As we previously reported, Ray claimed he was highly intoxicated when he struck Janay in Atlantic City -- and says ever since that incident, he's cut hard liquor out of his life.

Janay Rice says the elevator attack was all part of God's plan -- telling Matt Lauer she believes she and Ray were "chosen" to help bring awareness to domestic violence.

Janay says she believes there is a "silver lining" to the incident ... explaining, "I feel like God chose me and Ray for a reason, and it was definitely to bring awareness to what people are going through every day."

Janay Rice says she's furious with the Baltimore Ravens -- telling Matt Lauer she feels completely betrayed by the NFL team for the way they hung Ray out to dry after the elevator incident.

During Part 1 of her interview with the "Today" show (which aired this morning), Janay explains that she never thought the team would turn their back on him ... and fire him ... after he was honest about what happened in February.

"The support system that I thought we had in the Ravens, that made me angry," Janay explained.

Janay also told Matt ... Ray had never hit her before the incident and hasn't laid a finger on her since.

With the Ray Rice sweepstakes officially underway, rapper The Game tells TMZ Sports he would LOVE to see RR on his favorite squad ... the 49ers ... but there's one big caveat.

Game -- rockin' a pretty freaky masquerade ball mask -- was leaving his birthday party at the Supper Club in Hollywood Friday night when he explained why San Fran could benefit from #27.

But while Game says he's happy to see Rice reinstated -- there are 2 big things that could get in the way of the 9ers bringing the running back to S.F.

Multiple active NFL stars from multiple NFL teams tell TMZ Sports they would ABSOLUTELY welcome Ray Rice on their squads ... because as one player put it, "everyone deserves a second chance."

Of course Ray is now eligible to sign with a team ... if a team decides to make an offer ... and we're guessing there are several owners currently trying to take the temperatures of their players and fans to see how signing Rice would go over.

Of the NFL stars we spoke to ... all of them said they were open to playing with the former All-Pro running back.

"I know Ray and his wife. I believe they've forgiven each other," one prominent player told us ... adding, "I would accept him, and I think that my teammates would accept him."

Another major NFL star told us, "I believe that everyone in life deserves a second chance."

A third player -- who played with Rice at one point in his career -- says, "He seems very remorseful. As much as I am against domestic violence, I do believe in second chances. No more chances after that, though."

Didn't take long for Fantasy Football owners to forgive Ray Rice -- because just hours after he was reinstated, Ray has become the MOST picked up player in Yahoo! fantasy leagues.

As we previously reported, Ray's fantasy stock sank like a stone after TMZ Sports published the inside-the-elevator footage back in September.

But now, according to Yahoo! "Transaction Trends" page, Ray has already been added to more than 168,000 fantasy teams ... the #1 added player today ... BY FAR.

In fact, the #2 guy is Vikings running back Matt Asiata who was added to 14,000 teams.

Funny thing is ... Ray hasn't been signed to a real team yet.

Ray Rice just issued a statement about the judge's decision to overturn the NFL's indefinite suspension -- saying, "I am thankful that there was a proper appeals process in place to address this issue."

Here's Ray's statement in its entirety:

"I would like to thank Judge Barbara Jones, the NFL Players Association, my attorneys, agents, advisors, family, friends and fans - but most importantly, my wife Janay."

"I made an inexcusable mistake and accept full responsibility for my actions. I am thankful that there was a proper appeals process in place to address this issue."

Janay Rice has finally broken her silence about the ENTIRE Ray Rice elevator saga ... from the fight to the cover up to the reason she decided to NOT divorce the NFL star.

Janay spoke with ESPN on November 5th in an interview that the network agreed to hold until after the U.S. District judge issued their ruling on the NFL's actions.

In the interview, Janay says she doesn't remember what she and Ray were fighting about in Atlantic City back in February ... but says she does remember Ray got physical first.

"As we were arguing, he was on his phone and not looking at me. I went to reach for his phone, and when he grabbed it back, he spit at me and I slapped him."

On Apologizing for Her Role in the Incident at Ravens News Conference:

" I know some people disagreed with me publicly apologizing. I'm not saying that what Ray did wasn't wrong. He and I both know it was wrong. It's been made clear to him that it was wrong. But at the same time, who am I to put my hands on somebody? "

On What Ray Was Thinking After He Hit Her:

"I asked him how he felt when he saw that I was unconscious. He told me he was in shock. I asked him what happened when we got out of the elevator. He told me he was terrified because security was there. I asked him how he felt seeing me like that. He said he was thinking, "What did I just do?" I didn't watch the video again."

On What Ray and Janay told Roger Goodell:

"Ray told the commissioner, and his colleagues, everything that happened. There was no reason to lie because we knew that there was a video and we assumed the NFL knew what was in it, even though we didn't know whether or not they saw it.

On Anger at Baltimore Ravens for Cutting Ray:

"I was extremely surprised and angry that the Ravens released him, because they know him. They were our family, but I felt like the Ravens completely disregarded the past six years with him. Anytime the Ravens needed someone for a community event, Ray was their man.

On Being a Martyr for Domestic Violence: