NFL

Stephen A. Smith was on the ESPN airwaves Tuesday morning when he had quite the slip of the tongue while breaking down the Texans' playoff win over the Steelers ... mistakenly referring to Houston's star wide receiver as Charlie Kirk.

"We saw Charlie Kirk catch 8 receptions for 144 yards," SAS said on "First Take," before host Shae Cornette corrected him.

"I'm sorry. Christian. I apologize. I apologize. Oh my God. Christian Kirk," Stephen A. quickly responded.

Clearly, Smith meant no harm by what he said -- the guy spends hours and hours talking each week, and mistakes happen.

George Kittle is usually the guy smiling through contact ... but even the NFL’s toughest tight end is admitting this one stings.

The San Francisco 49ers’ All-Pro team captain tore his right Achilles on Sunday, ending his season during the team’s 23-19 victory to dethrone the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles in the playoffs.

Kittle later took to Instagram with a raw, emotional post of him and his wife, Claire, in the locker room, straight-up telling fans "football sucks sometimes."

Not exactly the rah-rah cliché you'd expect, but Kittle didn’t stop there.

The Pro Bowler made it clear he’s far from broken ... saying he loves the game, his teammates and is overwhelmed by the love pouring in.

"Heartbroken but have felt so much love and support from everyone reaching out," Kittle wrote. "I’ll be good. Thank you. We aren’t done yet!"

The grueling injury often takes about nine months to fully recover from -- placing the 32-year-old’s NFL future in jeopardy as he enters his 10th season.

Teammates such as Christian McCaffrey, Ricky Pearsall, Eddy Pineiro and Demarcus Robinson were among the flood of comments offering support to Kittle, who also seemingly confirmed reports of the bottle of Patrón delivered to the locker room after he was carted off.

Kittle said, "You know you’re in a special place" when team owner Jed York is the first person to meet you in the locker room. York was reportedly the one who sent the bottle.

C.J. Stroud didn’t just beat the Steelers on the scoreboard -- he got the last laugh, too.

The Texans’ QB trolled supporters of the black and gold hard after Houston’s 30-6 playoff win Monday night ... jogging off the field with a grin and shouting “You mad?” while laughing as boos rained down from the stands.

Ice cold.

Video of the scene shows Stroud soaking it all in as he heads toward the Acrisure Stadium tunnel, clearly enjoying the hostile environment after carving up the Steelers on their own turf.

Fans were hot ... but Stroud kept cool, flashing a smile.

Aaron Rodgers went to bat for his coach, Mike Tomlin, after the Pittsburgh Steelers' season ended in the Wild Card Round on Monday ... calling it an "absolute joke" to think the guy could get fired.

Rodgers met with the media following the Steelers' 30-6 loss to the Houston Texans, and despite it being Steel City's seventh playoff loss in a row, he can't wrap his head around the chatter Tomlin's tenure might be over.

"The way that the league is covered now, the way there is snap decisions and the validity given to the Twitter experts and all the experts on TV now who make it seem like they know what the hell they are talking about, to me that's an absolute joke," Rodgers said.

Jeremy Shockey has never been bashful ... and his message to the New York Giants is simple ... go get John Harbaugh!

The four-time Pro Bowl tight end -- who won a Super Bowl with the Giants in the 2007 season -- tells TMZ Sports the ex-Ravens coach would be his pick for the Big Apple.

“A coach of that caliber with that kind of pedigree and experience doesn’t come around often,” Shockey said, adding the G-Men shouldn’t be chasing “one-hit wonders” or rolling the dice on another untested hire.

Sam Beal -- a former NFL Draft selection by the New York Giants in 2018 -- has been missing for the last seven months ... and now his sister has gone to social media to plead for the public's help.

"We've done everything we could on our end to piece things together and at this point we're in desperate need of support on all ends," Beal's sister, Essence Zhane, said. "I'm not here to answer a bunch of why's and how's I just need this to land in the right direction to gain some form of answers or closure."

According to his profile on the National Missing and Unidentified Persons System, the 29-year-old was last seen in July 2025 after dropping his girlfriend off at her house. He was supposed to use her car to drive to work, but instead, allegedly made his way to Virginia Beach.

Buffalo Bills wide receiver Gabe Davis is showing off his battle scars after leaving Sunday's AFC Wild Card game with a busted knee ... an injury that still looks horrible a day later.

Davis took to his Instagram Monday morning to show off his wounds after he was carted off in the 4th quarter of a tight game against the Jaguars in Jacksonville ... which Buffalo ultimately won 27-24.

Despite nearly a full day passing, Gabe's knee is still clearly screwed up ... with bad bruising and swelling around the area. Still, the veteran wideout isn't sweatin' things, writing “Nothin but a bit of a flesh wound.”

A little cold never hurt anybody -- especially not Bills Mafia, 'cause the diehard fanbase sat in freezing temperatures at the airport to welcome their team home after a Wild Card win over the Jaguars!!

The Bills headed back to their frigid city in New York on Sunday night after a nail-biting 27-23 victory over Jacksonville at EverBank Stadium in Florida.

As the team touched down, Bills Mafia was waiting at the fences despite the 30-degree weather -- and offensive tackle Dion Dawkins had to capture the scene on video.

Cardi B could be a travel agent ... 'cause after Stefon Diggs and the Patriots booted Los Angeles from the playoffs, she wants to get the Chargers on a plane to Tulum!!

The "Outside" rapper didn't make it to Gillette Stadium to watch her man's team face the Bolts, but after New England's 16-3 win, she made sure to let her 164 million Instagram followers know she was watching.

"That's what I'm talkin' about!" Cardi said in her Instagram Story after the win, where Diggs accounted for two catches for 16 yards.

DK Metcalf's season could've ended when the NFL suspended him two games for hitting a Lions fan -- but it didn't -- and now he's got a chance to make amends, according to a 2x Super Bowl champ!

TMZ Sports talked to Charlie Batch, who not only played 11 seasons in Pittsburgh but now covers the team, and he says things could've gotten ugly if the Steelers lost to the Ravens and missed the playoffs.

Cooper DeJean's brother is in trouble with the law ... cause TMZ has learned Beckett DeJean was arrested for operating while intoxicated.

According to jail records, seen by TMZ, Beckett was taken into custody Sunday morning in Iowa on a first offense DUI/OWI, which is classified as a misdemeanor but still carries serious penalties.

Beckett was a defensive back for the South Dakota Coyotes, where he played as a redshirt freshman. Beckett's older brother Cooper is currently an NFL cornerback for the Philadelphia Eagles.

Steelers legend James Harrison says longtime head coach Mike Tomlin ain't goin' anywhere, telling TMZ Sports his job is "100% safe" for the 2026-27 season.

We spoke with the two-time Super Bowl champ ahead of Monday night's Texans vs. Steelers Wild Card game ... a matchup set up by Pittsburgh's stunning win over the Ravens last week.

In fact, the game's losing head coach, John Harbaugh, lost his job after taking the L.

Many people believe Tomlin could suffer the same fate with a loss in the playoffs, but Harrison doesn't think so.

The key to the Jacksonville Jaguars’ turnaround from one of the NFL’s worst teams last season to one of the best entering this year's playoffs is simple!

Kicker Cam Little tells TMZ Sports it all stems from first-year coach Liam Coen, who instilled a winning culture with a basic mindset change.

“Liam has harped on taking it 1-0 each week and that mindset is a tough one to beat,” Little said. “Whoever we play next week, that’s all we’re focused on. We’re not focused on the second round, third round, AFC, Super Bowl, we're not focused on anything besides who we play on the weekend. When you have that 1-0 mindset, it builds for a good culture because you’re playing for everything the next week.”

Carmelo Anthony is a diehard Baltimore Ravens fan ... and he tells TMZ Sports he was "shocked" to see John Harbaugh get fired -- but he's got faith the front office knows what it's doing in finding a new leader on the sidelines.

The Super Bowl-winning coach was handed his pink slip earlier this week -- a move that came after 18 years with the organization and 193 wins in both the regular season and playoffs.

We talked to the NBA great -- who grew up in Maryland for part of his childhood -- fresh off the news outside 30 Rock in NYC ... and he's not flocking over to a new team anytime soon over the change.

Mike McDaniel is gone -- is Tua Tagovailoa next? Terron Armstead hopes not ... telling TMZ Sports he believes he has what it takes to remain the Dolphins' No.1 quarterback!

Speculation's been mounting after Tagovailoa was benched for the final three games of this past season ...  following a year in which he threw a career-high 15 interceptions and was sacked 30 times.

The rumors intensified after McDaniel was fired this week ... with many thinking whoever the next Dolphins' next coach is probably moves on from Tua.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might have found their good luck charm for 2026 -- at least that’s what star wideout Mike Evans told rookie defensive lineman Elijah Roberts after his mother showed off her pipes last week!

Roberts’ mom, Shanda, sang the national anthem before Saturday’s season finale over the Carolina Panthers -- a game they won -- and Elijah tells TMZ Sports his teammates all want her to come back after the dub ... a proud son moment for the young player

“I knew she would kill it,” Elijah told us. “I knew she also would be super nervous, but I’m nervous before every game, too. It was just crazy it lined up that the game she sang was the game for us to win to have a chance to get into the playoffs too.”

We also spoke to Shanda, who has been singing anthems at big events, including several Miami Heat games, for years. So, when the Bucs asked her last summer to sing for them, she didn't think twice.