NFL

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 Arizona Cardinals reportedly fired their offensive line coach/running game coordinator for groping a woman in Mexico City ... just hours before the team played against the 49ers.

ESPN, citing sources, reported Wednesday morning Sean Kugler was accused of inappropriately touching a female on Sunday night. The outlet reports Mexican authorities were made aware of the allegations, and then told the Cardinals of it all. Kugler was fired a short time later and sent back to Arizona on Monday morning.

The Cards had arrived in Mexico on Saturday night for the big game against S.F. on Monday. The team went on to lose the contest, 38-10.

Arizona officials have yet to confirm the report ... in announcing the firing on Tuesday, head coach Kliff Kingsbury would only say Kugler had been involved in an off-field "incident."

Kugler had been on the Cardinals' staff since 2019.

A top H.S. quarterback recruit's use of the n-word will not spell the end of his football career ... so says ex-NFL star Jamal Anderson, who tells TMZ Sports he's confident the teen will get another scholarship offer.

Marcus Stokes -- a four-star athlete from Allen D. Nease High School in Florida -- had his full ride to the Univ. of Florida pulled on Sunday ... after he posted a video of himself rapping the n-word in his car.

He apologized for it all, calling it "hurtful and offensive to many people" -- but some have wondered if it, and the Gators' subsequent punishment for it, would mean he'd no longer have a chance to play college ball anymore.

When we got Anderson out at LAX this week, he told us he's sure another school will give him another shot ... saying, "Man, he's a kid still."

"You've got to have time to grow and make mistakes and learn and make amends for the mistakes that you make," the former Atlanta Falcons running back said. "So, I wish him all the best and I hope that it all works out for him."

Anderson tells us Stokes' coaches, teammates, friends and peers will help him rebound from it all ... explaining if those around him continue to report he had no racist intentions with his actions, it'll be easier to forgive.

"When you look at the reports of the people that actually know him," Anderson said, "The people that are actually around him, there's nothing like that."

As if Cleveland's season couldn't get any worse -- some rando allegedly broke into FirstEnergy Stadium and took a joyride on the field just days before the Browns' next home game ... resulting in a bunch of damage.

The incident reportedly went down early Tuesday morning ... forcing the Browns' grounds crew to rush to repair the grass before Sunday's matchup against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Pictures captured by News Channel 5 show tire marks throughout the field ... with a road roller working to improve the home turf.

Luckily, the team told the outlet the damage is superficial ... which means there's a good chance Sunday's game will go down without any hiccups.

Police believe the joyride occurred after someone broke into the stadium and got ahold of a golf cart. The whole thing is currently under investigation.

“We are aware of the incident that occurred early Tuesday morning at FirstEnergy Stadium and have provided the Cleveland Division of Police with all relevant information," the team said in a statement.

"Based on our internal evaluation, there was some superficial damage to the playing field that our grounds maintenance team is currently working to repair."

A couple L.A. Chargers fans turned on each other during the Chiefs game on Sunday night ... whaling on one another's faces at SoFi Stadium -- as their favorite team played on in the background.

Video, obtained TMZ Sports, shows that a man in a Joey Bosa jersey appeared to have started the melee ... when he threw a couple of punches at a guy in a row below him.

Unclear what caused the altercation to break out -- but soon after the first blow was thrown, another man got involved ... and all hell broke loose.

At least three guys traded haymakers for roughly 30 seconds, before other fans jumped in to slow down the action.

One witness tells us neither police nor stadium security guards ever arrived to check in on the situation ... but, fortunately, the parties left on their own without further incident.

Gisele Bündchen has begun the process of becoming Tom Brady's new next-door neighbor ... and if you look closely enough, you can see she's actually getting a hand with the move from an associate of the jiu-jitsu coach who vacationed with her earlier this month.

TB12's ex was spotted Monday outside the $11.5M Miami Beach home -- which is located just across the creek from where Brady is building a house -- directing traffic and handing off appliances.

Gisele pointed at different parts of the property with famed designer Constanza Collarte ... and, at one point, got some help with a toaster oven from none other than what appears to be a pal of Joaquim Valente.

The man -- donning a blue Valente Brothers jiu-jitsu T-shirt -- seemed to be chummy with the former supermodel, before leaving the premises with the kitchen item.

Of course, this is now the second time Gisele has been seen with Valente or associates of Valente outside of the gym in November ... you'll recall, she took a trip with the fighting instructor to Costa Rica just a few days ago.

Sources close to Bündchen have insisted they're just friends -- and Valente tagged along on the vacay merely to help coach her and her kids in the off time.

We're told Tom hasn't exactly bought it all, though -- and we're sure seeing Valente's friends help with his ex-wife's move isn't exactly assuaging that opinion.

Antonio Brown is continuing to cross the line in his feud with Tom Brady -- this time, he posted a clearly photoshopped nude pic of Gisele Bündchen on social media.

The troubled ex-NFL receiver shared the image to his Snapchat on Monday ... showing Gisele's face edited on top of another woman's naked body.

A caption was not included, so there's no explanation behind the decision to take another shot at Brady's ex-wife. The slide was later deleted ... but screenshots of AB's post quickly made rounds on Twitter.

It's yet another example of AB burning his Brady bridge to a crisp -- he's completely turned his back on his former teammate in recent months, despite TB12's continuous support throughout his off-field troubles.

Brown has also posted several times about Brady's divorce from Gisele after 13 years together ... including a pic hugging Bündchen after the Bucs' Super Bowl win in 2021.

He also went the bad photoshop route another time ... by putting his face onto Brady's body as Gisele had her arms wrapped around him.

AB seemingly tried to expose Brady by sharing a text conversation from 2021 last week ... in which the 7-time champ called Brown out for acting like "a young immature man that is selfish, self serving, irrational and irresponsible."

Mats were nowhere to be seen on the sidelines during the Chargers vs. Chiefs game on Sunday night ... just days after a Broncos player sued L.A., claiming the previous use of the ground coverings at SoFi Stadium caused him to tear his ACL.

The mats had been there for the Broncos vs. Chargers game back on Oct. 17 -- and during a special teams play in the overtime period of the contest, outside linebacker Aaron Patrick stepped on them and blew out his knee.

In a lawsuit filed on Nov. 15, he claimed it was a mistake by the Chargers, ESPN, the NFL and others to allow the mats to be placed so close to the playing field ... explaining all parties should have known they presented a dangerous hazard for players.

He sued for unspecified damages, including lost bonuses and future earning potential.

On Sunday -- the first Chargers game at SoFi Stadium since the suit was filed -- no mats were present in any area of the field.

It should be noted the game was an NBC broadcast, not an ESPN one ... but cords and cables were either covered in a different way, or carried by officials.

Unclear if the Chargers imposed the changes as a result of the suit ... they declined to comment due to the pending litigation.

Patrick's attorney, William M. Berman of Berman & Riedel, tells TMZ Sports he and his client still aren't happy with the changes ... saying, "The guys holding the cables/wires were still in too close proximity to the field, creating what we believe to still be a very dangerous condition."

Roquan Smith has only been a member of the Ravens for a few weeks ... but the former Bears linebacker is already making his presence felt in the community, handing out Thanksgiving food to Baltimore families ahead of Turkey Day.

The 25-year-old -- traded from Chicago to Baltimore last month -- showed up with his teammates at a local elementary/middle school to hand out food to 200 families, per WBALTV.

The outlet says Smith and other Ravens pulled their money together to purchase turkeys and side dishes for the families to enjoy on the annual holiday.

Baltimore shared videos Monday of Smith and the team packing boxes of food into cars as families came to pick up the items in time for Thursday's celebration.

Smith and his teammates did more than just hand out birds, though ... they took time to interact with community members -- and Roquan even offered to take a pic with a little kid eager to meet him.

The youngster had the warmest smile as he stood next to the linebacker ... and even said "cheese" while throwing up the peace sign as he posed for the camera.

Zach Wilson might be side-eyeing some of his defensive teammates (and they him) after multiple players, including Sauce Gardner, liked a tweet calling out the quarterback following the team's heartbreaking loss to the Pats on Sunday.

After the soul-crushing 10-3 loss, Wilson told reporters he didn't feel like the offense owed the defense, who were spectacular (like they've been throughout the year), anything ... which raised many eyebrows.

The Jets punted 10 times ... one more time than Wilson had completions (he was 9-for-22 for 77 yards). Plainly put, Wilson and the Jets' offense was putrid against New England.

"You don't owe your defense anything @Zach Wilson," wrote Cowboys cornerback Jourdan Lewis, who also posted a video of Wilson overthrowing a wide-open receiver.

Lewis' tweet made its way to at least a few Jets defenders ... Sauce and defensive end John Franklin-Myers were caught liking the post.

Of course, fans and media immediately pounced on idea of beef between the two units ... something the first-round draft pick and NFL star tried to quell.

"I swear I didn't mean to like this tweet. I only found out because yall started tagging me. We gon' be straight!" Gardner tweeted.

He attempted to further clarify ... writing "If I liked it purposely, I just wouldn’t of said anything,"

"I always mistakenly like tweets on here, but y’all made sure y’all caught this one. Y’all toxic on here."

Franklin-Myers, like Sauce, also seemed to feign ignorance, writing, "I ain't mean to like that tweet! We got faith in Zach for sure! Ya'll stop looking for problems, we got 7 games left to ball."

Chiefs wide receiver Mecole Hardman, watching at home with an injury, missed the wild ending between his team and the Chargers on "Sunday Night Football" ... all because he broke his TV during the game!!

The Kansas City wideout -- who's on the IR with an abdominal injury -- was live tweeting during the game, and at one point said the drama was too much for him to watch, and he almost threw his remote at the TV.

Almost.

But, Hardman finally gave in to his emotions as the Chiefs and Chargers continued to exchange blows, writing, "Update I threw the remote at the TV! Now I gotta go get a new TV."

As proof, Hardman posted a pic of his TV, and judging from the damage, he appears to have gotten it good.

Hardman's squad, trailing the Chargers for most of the night, ended up winning due to some late-game magic from Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.

Mahomes, who threw three touchdowns to Kelce, connected with the superstar tight end for his final TD pass with 31 seconds left ... putting KC ahead, 30-27.

Hardman, expected to be out at least four games, has only been in the NFL for four seasons ... but the 24-year-old shouldn't have any issue replacing the TV (especially at those Black Friday prices!).

Better hurry up, though ... Chiefs play in 6 days!

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.

If Jay-Z can pull off a deal for the Commanders, Shannon Sharpe tells TMZ Sports it'd be HUGE for the NFL.

The Hall of Fame tight end broke it down for us at LAX earlier this month ... explaining having a guy like Hov in the Washington owner's box would do wonders for the league.

"It's a good look," Sharpe said. "It shows we're trying to diversify and we're trying to expand. And we're trying to do the right things."

It's unclear if Jay has formally put in an offer to Daniel Sndyer for the team -- but we do know he is interested in eventually submitting one with Jeff Bezos ... if the two haven't already.

The titans had a secret dinner in Los Angeles on Nov. 7 to discuss it all ... and it seems if Snyder is truly willing to part ways with the org., the duo wants it.

Sharpe told us he thinks it'd all be "great" -- adding that he hopes D.C. native Kevin Durant somehow finds a way to get involved too.

The Washington Commanders will pay tribute to the three UVA football players who were tragically gunned down on campus last weekend ... by putting three stickers on their helmets for their game on Sunday.

The team just announced the homage ... revealing decals with the numbers 1, 15 and 41 -- the jersey digits of D'Sean Perry, Lavel Davis and Devin Chandler -- will be placed on the back of their players' headgear while the team attempts to get a win over the Houston Texans.

"Our hearts are with @UVAFootball and the UVA community affected by the tragedy," the team said in a tweet while unveiling the uniform honor.

The Commanders added the hashtags #UVAStrong and #FootballIsFamily.

Perry, Davis and Chandler were all killed on a bus on Sunday night after they had returned from a class field trip. Two others, including Cavaliers running back Mike Hollins, were injured in the shooting as well -- though they're both expected to survive.

Former UVA football player Juan Thornhill, a safety for the Chiefs, announced earlier this week he, too, will be paying tribute to the victims on NFL Sunday this weekend ... wearing a pair of custom cleats with homages to Perry, Davis and Chandler all over them.

Tennessee Titans offensive coordinator Todd Downing was arrested on Friday morning ... just hours after he helped his team beat the Packers on "Thursday Night Football," TMZ Sports has confirmed.

A police spokesperson tells us Downing was arrested by the Tennessee Highway Patrol in Williamson County, TN. on Friday morning ... and booked on charges of DUI and speeding.

Records show the 42-year-old bonded out of jail at around 6:46 AM.

Further details surrounding the arrest were not made immediately available.

Just prior to his arrest, Downing put on a great performance in Tennessee's 27-17 win over Green Bay at Lambeau Field. He dialed up several trick plays, and was partly responsible for a big night from quarterback Ryan Tannehill, who completed 22 of his 27 passes for 333 yards and two touchdowns.

The Titans have yet to publicly comment on the arrest.

Yeah, the NFL probably made the right call to move the Bills vs. Browns game out of Buffalo this weekend ...

Check out insane photos of Highmark Stadium taken on Friday morning -- showing the field, seats and just about everything else at the venue covered in several FEET of snow.

In the pics, you can't even get a glimpse of green grass -- let alone the chairs where Bills supporters were supposed to sit for Sunday afternoon's contest.

According to weather reports, Orchard Park has been hit with 36 inches of snow in the past few hours ... and it's expected to get pelted with a bunch more in the near future as a massive storm continues to pound the Western New York area.

Things have gotten so bad, the Bills had to cancel their Friday practice over it all.

Meanwhile, at star quarterback Josh Allen's home near the stadium -- his doggo and girlfriend are struggling with the effects of the storm too.

Brittany Williams posted pics of her falling in the powder while trying to get the couple's pup to go to the bathroom.

As for the game on Sunday, it's been moved to Detroit -- with the NFL saying Thursday the conditions just weren't safe enough for all involved to play.