NFL

Pitbull and Jennifer Lopez are already negotiating what would be the biggest -- and most in-demand -- cameo spot during the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

Almost immediately after J Lo and Shakira announced they were co-headlining the event ... fans started buzzing that Pitbull is a MUST-HAVE guest on the stage too. Turns out some big wigs in Miami feel exactly the same way.

Sources with direct knowledge tell us Pitbull's camp has had recent talks with J Lo's team and the NFL about making the guest appearance happen. More than that ... we're told honchos at Hard Rock Cafe International are pushing for Mr. Worldwide (formerly Mr. 305) to get on the stage. Remember, the game's being played at Hard Rock Stadium.

We're told everyone's aware of the groundswell to have an authentic Miami artist to rep the city -- and the obvious choices are Pitbull or Gloria Estefan.

Malik McDowell -- the ex-NFL D-lineman who attacked a cop during an arrest earlier this year -- is in more trouble ... he's back in custody after a judge ruled he intentionally tampered with his ankle monitor.

McDowell has been fighting multiple charges stemming from his February arrest where he got violent with a police officer ... but he had been out on bond while his case played out in the Michigan court system.

But, TMZ Sports has learned McDowell was ordered to be back in custody after a judge ruled he violated the terms of his bond.

A rep for the Oakland County Prosecutor's Office tells us it appears McDowell left town for a longer period of time than he was permitted ... and when he got back, he tried to tamper with his ankle monitor to cover it up.

At a hearing this week, a judge ruled it to be an intentional act ... and McDowell was thrown back in jail.

The rep says it's likely McDowell will remain in custody until he's due back in court next month.

As we previously reported, McDowell is facing 2 counts of felony assaulting and resisting, 1 misdemeanor count of operating while intoxicated and 1 misdemeanor count of driving on a suspended license for his cop fighting case.

Today in Baker Mayfield trash talk ... the Cleveland Browns QB is shooting right back at a troll for comparing him to Antonio Brown ... and calling out the controversial NFL superstar in the process.

The troll went to Bake's IG comments on Friday to criticize his post about being a college walk-on and beating the odds to becoming a Heisman winner ... saying the caption was "AB'ish."

"Win football games. That speaks louder than these AB'ish style posts..." the comment said.

If you know Mayfield, you know he ain't taking that lightly ... and he fired right back at the dude.

"you're right... let me call out my teammates and throw a fit about my helmet then go freeze my feet off."

Bake is obviously referring to AB's eventful past few months ... which has landed AB from the Steelers to the Raiders to the Patriots and now to free agency.

Mayfield is no stranger to speaking his mind ... just ask Daniel Jones, Rex Ryan and Colin Cowherd.

The war between Antonio Brown and a celebrity chef is getting uglier ... new court docs obtained by TMZ Sports show the cook is now accusing the WR of slander.

AB and a celeb chef named Stefano Tedeschi have been fighting it out in court since July when Tedeschi filed a lawsuit alleging Brown stiffed him out of $38,521.20.

Tedeschi claims he and Brown struck an agreement where AB would pay him to cook for him, his family and his friends for 3 days at the Pro Bowl in Orlando in January 2018.

But, Tedeschi says AB never paid up ... and claims it's all because of a frozen fish head.

Brown eventually called BS on Tedeschi in a motion to dismiss the lawsuit earlier this month ... going scorched-earth on the chef, writing, "[Tedeschi's] complaint is nothing more than a fledgling action to promote the career of a chef who will use any attempt or frivolous claim to seek fame and/or fortune."

Now, Tedeschi is firing back ... in new court docs, Tedeschi is accusing Brown of defamation.

Tedeschi says Brown's words were "slanderous, defamatory and not the type of language one would expect to see in a professional legal document."

Tedeschi -- who wants the court to deny Brown's motion entirely -- added, "This language can only be viewed as an effort to smear [Tedeschi]."

We reached out to Brown's attorney, Darren Heitner, for comment on the new docs ... and he told us, "There was simply no defamatory statement made."

Some Eagles and Packers fans got into an all-out brawl in the stands at Lambeau Field on Thursday night ... and cops tell TMZ Sports some of the fighters were taken to jail.

At some point during the Philly-Green Bay game on "Thursday Night Football," fans in Eagles jerseys started wrestling with fans in Packers jerseys.

The brawl got pretty intense ... punches and kicks were thrown -- and bodies were dragged all over the bleachers.

Eventually, cops came in to break it up ... and a Green Bay Police Dept. spokesperson tells us the three main culprits in the brawl were all arrested.

Great news for Eagles player Avonte Maddox -- head coach Doug Pederson says the cornerback is coherent and has feeling in his extremities after taking a scary blow from his teammate on Thursday.

Maddox was stretchered off the field with a little over 1 minute left in Philly's TNF win over the Green Bay Packers ... after his teammate, Andrew Sendejo, accidentally collided with him while trying to make a tackle.

FYI -- Sendejo has made a name for himself as one of the hardest-hitting players in the league ... and even wore a "Make Football Violent Again" hat during training camp last season.

Packers players JK Scott and Ty Summers took a knee and said a prayer for Maddox while he was put on the stretcher ... and the entire Eagles team came on to the field to make sure he was okay.

Maddox was taken to a local hospital to get checked out ... but was discharged and able to fly home with the team.

This wasn't the only violent moment in the game -- Packers running back Jamaal Williams was also stretchered off in the first quarter ... after a helmet-to-helmet hit with Derek Barnett.

Williams was taken to the hospital during the game ... and thankfully, had feeling in all extremities as well.

Jennifer Lopez runs her business like Tom Brady runs the 2-minute offense with the game on the line ... with fierce tenacity for a payday, which is the only way to describe her new perfume launch.

J Lo launched her new fragrance, Promise by Jennifer Lopez, Thursday night in NYC ... and just hours after she and Shakira were announced co-headliners for the Super Bowl Halftime Show. As you know ... artists don't get paid for the gig, but don't tell J Lo that cause the gig's gonna bring her even more attention, which could translate to big bucks.

As we reported ... J Lo has said performing at the Halftime Show had been a bucket list thing for her. Makes sense .... nearly 100 million people watched the Patriots beat the Rams in Super Bowl LIII. The gig guarantees a spike in sales for the artists performing during the break.

But, with the Super Bowl LIV still 4 months away ... odds are J Lo wanted to pounce and capitalize on the buzz surrounding her announcement.

Lamar Jackson's college coach, Bobby Petrino, says Jackson is 100% the real deal ... so much so, he has NO doubt LJ will hoist the Lomabardi Trophy one day.

Petrino coached Jackson during his Heisman Trophy run at Louisville, and told us he's always been impressed with Lamar's play at quarterback, despite early talk that LJ should switch positions.

"It wasn't how well he ran that impressed me, it's how well he threw the football."

Lamar's been tearing it up in NFL this season, sporting an INSANE 113.9 QB rating with 7 touchdown passes ... and Bobby says it's just the beginning of the ride.

"He said he wanted to win a Super Bowl, you see that commitment and drive there. He is very driven and works very hard, so I'm gonna expect him to win a Super Bowl."

Hold on, Ravens fans ... we're not sure if Bobby is talking about this year or sometime in the future, but his confidence is crystal clear.

A shirtless Philadelphia fan showed off the most incredible belly button tat ever during the Eagles-Packers game Thursday night ... and WE CAN NOT STOP STARING!!!

The ink is glorious ... it's a drawing of the Phillies' famous mascot, Phillie Phanatic, and because it fits so perfectly on the guy's stomach -- it's entrancing.

The face of the Phanatic lines up with the man's belly button ... which means where the mascot's nose goes, there's nothing but a black hole.

It's seriously hilarious.

Brandon Marshall says he's ready to bury the hatchet with Jay Cutler after 5 YEARS of not talking ... telling TMZ Sports he's down to get a beer with the guy -- if the ex-QB is buying.

"It would be an interesting conversation," Marshall says. "I've been killing him the last couple years."

Marshall and Cutler have had an epic feud that dates all the way back to their time in Chicago -- when Brandon was catching passes from Jay with the Bears.

Marshall says things soured in his final year with Cutler in 2014 ... telling us their personalities just stopped meshing and they could never talk it out.

Sorry, Tom Brady ... you AIN'T the best quarterback ever -- so says former NFL stud James Jones, who tells TMZ Sports Aaron Rodgers is the G.O.A.T.!!!

"I think Rodgers is the best quarterback that I've ever seen," Jones says. "Period."

Of course, James is a bit biased ... the 35-year-old ex-receiver played with Rodgers for 8 seasons from 2007-2015 -- but he swears he's NEVER seen a QB that tops Aaron.

"If it's a quarterback that can make special throws, and run out of the pocket and make throws on the run, the first guy you compare him to is Aaron Rodgers," Jones says.

"'Cause he's the first one that we've really seen do it consistently and do it at a very high level."

Rodgers' numbers don't exactly back up Jones' claim ... the Packers superstar is only 16th all-time in passing yards and just 9th all-time in passing TDs. Plus, he's only got 1 Super Bowl ring.

But, Jones says from a talent standpoint, there's just never been anybody better than Rodgers -- and now that Green Bay's got a defense ... Jones is telling the league to watch out.

Jennifer Lopez and Shakira's hips won't be lying in Miami come February ... the superstars are co-headlining the Super Bowl Halftime Show.

The singers made a cryptic announcement Thursday on social media ... posting images of each other in very similar outfits -- but without revealing their faces. They captioned their posts, "Get ready" and "This is happening."

Pepsi then posted the big reveal image showing both women's faces. BTW ... makes sense the NFL would draft co-headliners for the Miami event, because deuces are wild -- the Super Bowl date is 02/02/20.

When the NFL announced its new partnership with Jay-Z, it said his company, Roc Nation, would be helping secure talent for the Super Bowl Halftime Shows. We're told Roc Nation was heavily involved in closing this deal -- and we also hear ... there will be a few more surprise acts joining J Lo and Shakira.

Antonio Brown ain't playing in the NFL ... but he's trash-talking like he still is -- the WR is going after Eric Weddle on Twitter, calling the L.A. Ram a "dummy" and a "jabroni."

Brown's been active on social media Thursday ... and one of his tweets, in particular, sparked a feud that involved Weddle AND New York Giants receiver Golden Tate.

Here's the deal ... AB tweeted "The game need me I'm like test answers." Tate responded, "What???"

Weddle jumped into the conversation, writing, "Def dont." Weddle also wrote to a fan who said he couldn't guard AB, "Dont need to. Isnt on a team."

AB saw the shade ... and immediately clapped back, writing, "U need some attention lil man glad I put that stuff arm in your neck in pittsburgh u deserved it Lil Weedle."

Weddle fired back ... saying, "When are u gonna learn that it isnt about you. Never was and never will be. Got a game to get ready for. Good luck my guy!"

Of course, Brown didn't let it stop there ... 'cause he told the safety, "Bro I don’t even know you don’t call me AB that’s my NFL name dummy ! I’m not on your team never been shut your mouth Jabroni."

Terrell Owens is suing the hell out of an Atlanta storage company, claiming in a new lawsuit they stole $1 MILLION worth of his stuff ... and sold it without him even knowing!!!

TMZ Sports broke the story ... back in April, one of Owens' old storage units was auctioned off after the company that housed it claimed the Hall of Fame WR stopped making payments to them.

The unit was full of amazing items ... there was a custom bust of TO, old playbooks, autographed helmets and sweet Nike cleats.

But, TO says he was NEVER made aware that the storage company still had his stuff ... and in a federal lawsuit filed this summer in Georgia -- he's claiming Atlanta Peach Movers straight-up stole it.

In the lawsuit, Owens says on July 14, 2014 ... he and the storage company had talks over his unit that left him under the impression all of his stuff had been returned to him.

He alleges he has written proof from the company that says his debt was all paid off and his items were out of the unit and back in his possession.

But, he's claiming the company lied to him on purpose in order to steal his stuff and eventually sell it at auction this past spring.

In fact, Owens claims the first time he had heard the company still had his gear was when we reached out to him for our story back in April.

Owens is now suing the company for fraud and breach of contract -- among other things -- claiming he had over $1 MILLION worth of items in that storage unit.

Owens wants to be compensated for the loss of his stuff ... which he claims is "unique, irreplaceable, and priceless."

The man who bought the unit at auction, James Rice of Jan's Used Furniture in Griffin, GA, told us back in April he was willing to give the stuff back to Owens -- but, clearly, that hasn't happened.

Antonio Brown DEFINITELY ain't retiring from the NFL ... the troubled wide receiver says he still wants in the league, saying Thursday, "I'm still the best why stop now."

The wide receiver's future has been in doubt for the past week ... 'cause after the Patriots cut him Friday -- he tweeted, "Will not be playing in the @NFL anymore."

But, his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, said Wednesday AB still wants to play ... and on Thursday, Brown echoed those comments.

"The game need me I'm like test answers," Brown said.

Of course, now the question is, does anyone in the NFL want HIM?

Melvin Gordon is BACK ... well, almost.

The L.A. Chargers superstar running back will end his holdout and return to the team on Thursday ... but will NOT play this weekend against the Dolphins.

Gordon has been holding out since July while he demanded the team either give him a new contract or to trade him to another team.

The holdout is officially coming to end 3 weeks into the season ... with Ian Rapoport reporting Gordon is rejoining his team.

We spoke with Chargers legend Antonio Gates on Tuesday about Gordon's status with the team ... and he said his old teammate deserves to be paid like Ezekiel Elliott, who just agreed to a $90 million extension with the Cowboys.

No word on whether that'll happen -- Gordon's in the final year of his rookie deal, making $5,605,000.