NFL

Michael Sam is adamant ... his decision to join "Dancing with the Stars" does NOT mean he's giving up his NFL dreams ... saying, "Football remains my unquestioned number 1 priority."

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Sam signed on to join Season 20 ... which begins next month.

Some people have said the move is proof that Sam is throwing in the towel on his football career and wants to focus on exploiting his off-the-field fame.

But moments ago, Sam fired back at the critics ... saying, "Football remains my unquestioned number 1 priority, however, while I continue to train and stay ready, I am ecstatic to participate in a fun, athletic competition like so many players before me have done."

"Filming this off-season is very flexible and allows me to be part of the veterans combine 3/22 if accepted or any other workouts."

Michael Sam just dominated a TMZ photog at LAX like he was The Mountain ... and we were Oberyn Martell ... and it's pretty damn hilarious.

Here's how it went down ... One of our crack camera guys got the newly engaged Sam to not only tell us when and where he's getting married ... but who he's inviting and where he's registered.

Awesome, right?

Now for the twist ... He's getting married in Westeros with Tyrion and Tywin Lannister -- AND Daenerys Targaryen (good luck with those three) -- and he's registered at King's Landing.

Yeah, it's Red Wedding-level deception.

Here's the thing ... most of you probably got the fact that those are all references to the HBO show "Game Of Thrones" -- but the one dude who didn't was our camera guy.

Michael Sam will be competing in March, not on the football field, but on the "Dancing with the Stars" hardwood ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Michael -- the first openly gay player drafted in the NFL -- will be part of Season 20, which fires up next month.

Here's the problem. Sam -- who insinuated he was cut from the NFL because he is gay -- has vowed to get back in the league and said he'd take part in the first-ever veteran's combine on March 22.

But Sam needs to prove he has what it takes, and we're thinkin' some of the owners might question his commitment if he's focusing on the rumba rather than rumbling.

Philadelphia Eagles player Nate Allen was wrongly accused of driving around while pleasuring himself, and FL prosecutors have cleared his name -- partly due to a well-timed Red Lobster dinner.

Allen was detained last week in Fort Myers after a 16-year-old girl called 911 to report seeing a man driving a black truck with the windows down and masturbating. An officer responded to the area, saw Allen in a black Ford pick-up, and arrested him.

But the State Attorney's Office announced today that further investigation revealed Allen's truck was NOT the one the girl reported seeing.

Also, Allen was having dinner at a Red Lobster at the time the girl called 911. Prosecutors confirmed this from the time stamp on his bill ... and a photo he took with an employee. Great time for some cheddar biscuits!

State Attorney's Office spokesperson Samantha Syoen tells TMZ ... prosecutors thanked Nate for his patience and for cooperating with investigators.

Beast Mode went Surprise Mode on a bunch of middle school kids ... when he quietly rolled up to campus to kick it with the football team -- and the students went crazy!

It all went down at Brentwood School in L.A. -- where Marshawn Lynch's former Seattle Seahawks teammate Mike Williams is the coach for the middle school football squad.

Mike tells us he's still tight with Lynch -- and since Marshawn happened to be in L.A., he invited the RB to come hang with the kids ... and Lynch obliged.

"He came to campus for an hour and took pics with kids and staff and signed autographs," Williams tells us ... "That's who he is though, a guy who enjoys bringing joy to kids, and he's not fake with it."

And how'd the kids react?

"He was like a rock star to them."

Turns out ... Pete Carroll's pretty jacked.

The Seattle Seahawks coach was flexin' the guns during an island getaway in Hawaii ... and let's get serious, the dude's physique is pretty impressive.

Especially since he's 63-years-old.

#nosuperbowljokes #thistime

NY Jets wide receiver Eric Decker may have found his second calling ... MUSIC VIDEO VIXEN ... 'cause the guy plays "sexy model" in his wife's new video ... complete with bad fake guitar playing.

FYI -- Decker's married to country music superstar Jessie James ... who just released a video for her new song, "Clint Eastwood."

The video has all the traditional staples of a country song -- a trailer, daisy dukes ... and dudes playing guitars.

One of those guys is Decker ... who chews on a stogie and pretends to play along in Jessie's backup band while she belts out the main tune. It's pretty funny to watch.

He doesn't talk much, but when he does, it's powerful ... so when Marshawn Lynch took the stage at a rap show in Oakland last year, he had a strong message for the crowd -- STOP KILLING EACH OTHER.

TMZ Sports obtained footage of an emotional Lynch addressing the crowd at The New Parish in his hometown of Oakland, CA in the summer of 2014.

Beast Mode tells the crowd he's extremely proud to "represent where I'm from on the national mother f**king stage" ... but says, "I've been losing too many of ya'll."

Marshawn is obviously referring to the fact that Oakland is consistently ranked among the most dangerous cities in the country ... and had the 2nd highest rate of violent crime in 2014.

"We need to be here for each other," Lynch said ... who also explained why it's IMPERATIVE that the young people hear his message.

One of the escorts in the Warren Sapp hooker bust was arrested by the NYPD last year -- after cops say she ran an upscale sex scam ... and fleeced rich dudes out of tons of cash and jewelry.

The female (alleged) mastermind is Quying Boyd -- a 34-year-old escort who cops say ran her operation out of Manhattan in 2014.

According to police, Boyd would lure rich guys to their hotel rooms under the guise they were gonna bang -- only to swipe everything from money to credit cards to watches when they weren't looking.

Cops say Boyd jacked at least 3 dudes ... and scored more than $50,000 in cash and prizes (including a $40k Roger DuBuis watch).

She was eventually arrested in both 2013 and 2014 and charged with grand larceny ... but later released.

Which brings us to Arizona ... where she wound up in a room with Sapp -- though she claims she did NOT perform any sexual acts on the guy ... and has not been accused of stealing anything.

Marshawn Lynch may not like the cameras ... but his pal Pimpin' Silky can't get enough of 'em.

Beast Mode and his posse were out in Hollywood Wednesday night -- where they took in a movie at the famous TCL Chinese Theater ... and though he didn't say a word, Silky couldn't wait to talk.

So, who's Pimpin' Silky? He's all over Snoop's Instagram ... where he's always talkin' about pimpin' hoes and things of that sort.

But Thursday, he broke character when we asked if Marshawn thought there was any credibility to Mike Epps' theory that Pete Carroll and the Seahawks didn't hand the ball off at the end of the Super Bowl because they didn't want Marshawn to be the MVP.

Check out the clip -- and remember ... always keep it silky.

Warren Sapp told police he paid $600 for oral sex from 2 prostitutes ... and recorded one of the sex acts on his cell phone ... this according to the police report.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Sapp was arrested on Feb 2 in Phoenix for soliciting prostitution following an alleged incident at a hotel.

According to the police report, Sapp claims the whole situation came to be ... after he met two women in the hotel bar who claimed to be strippers.

Sapp reportedly offered the women -- a 23-year-old and a 34-year-old -- $300 each in exchange for a sex act.

According to the report, the women went to the room and began dancing for Sapp -- who threw $100 bills at them.

At one point, Sapp says he received oral sex from the 23-year-old ... who was wearing a Seahawks jersey ... and recorded it on his cell phone.

For some reason, cops say he SHOWED them the video.

There's more ... cops claim Sapp told investigators that the 23-year-old began asking for more cash for sex -- and that's when things started to unravel.

Sapp told cops he refused to pay more cash for sex -- and says the woman became "irate" and spit in his face.

"At one point, she used Warren's phone to call security to his room," the report says.

The woman told cops she grabbed her stuff and was going to leave when Sapp grabbed her by the arms and threw her into the hallway ... knocking her and the other woman down to the ground.

The 23-year-old told cops, "I do what I do, but that doesn't give him the right to put his hands on me."

Golden Tate is pissed that Russell Wilson didn't IMMEDIATELY put a stop to the rumors that he banged his former QB's wife -- telling TMZ Sports, "It's sad that he's letting it go on."

The ex-Seattle Seahawks WR (who now plays for the Lions) was out in Bev Hills Wednesday night with some friends -- and made it clear the wife-bangin' rumors are "a bunch of bulls**t."

But it's obvious Tate holds Wilson partly responsible for letting the rumors spiral out of control in the first place.

Of course, after the rumors began last year, the Seahawks got rid of Tate ... and Wilson and his wife announced they were breaking up.

We asked Golden if he thinks Russell actually believes the rumors -- to which Golden replied, "I don't know what he believes."

Tate says the two still talk -- "we're still alright" -- and adds that he wishes the best for Wilson.

The ex-NFL player who fell overboard during a fishing trip and swam 9 MILES to shore finally got his boat back -- but officials say it suffered roughly $70,000 in damages after crashing on a beach.

You know the story ... 38-year-old Rob Konrad says he lost his footing and fell off his boat in the middle of the ocean back in January ... and was forced to swim about 16 hours to shore.

The boat -- which was on autopilot at the time -- eventually crashed in the Grand Bahama Island near an area called "Deadman's Reef" ... and sustained major damage in the process.

Here's a summary of the damages, according to the incident report, obtained by TMZ Sports:

-- Damage to the gel coat and fiberglass on the bottom and side rails
-- Damage to the gear cases on both motors along with the skegs
-- Stress fractures on the top frame
-- Damaged windows

Houston Texans star Arian Foster is putting his nasty baby mama feud behind him by settling their child custody and support battle ... before it went to trial.

According to court records, Foster and Brittany Norwood decided they didn't want to take the case to trial and have come to an agreement on their own. The two were supposed to appear in a Houston court next week, but that's been cancelled.

As TMZ Sports first reported, Norwood filed court docs last year claiming when she got pregnant with Foster's kid ... he harassed her to get an abortion. She gave birth to a boy last summer.

Foster responded by claiming she was lying about him in public to shake him down for cash. The judge eventually placed a gag order on both of them.

Pete Carroll deliberately called a pass play at the end of the Super Bowl to stick it to Marshawn Lynch for being a thorn in the NFL's side ... this according to Mike Epps.

The comic is dead serious ... telling "Larry King Now" he believes the Seattle Seahawks organization wanted to take the ball away from Lynch at the end of the game because they didn't want him to get the glory.

"They didn't want Lynch to get the MVP. They wanted Russell Wilson to get it."

Epps also says the team didn't want to glorify Marshawn's behavior and what he represents -- "the hood."

Jerry Rice ain't the only one in his family with some serious talent -- his daughter is a neo-soul singer ... and the girl's got pipes.

Her name is Jaqui Rice ... aka Qui ... and she just dropped a new music video for her song, "Everything Is Roses."

Qui has been singing for years ... and has worked with some serious hip-hop heavyweights, including rap star David Banner.