NFL

The Philadelphia Eagles fan who was captured on video over the weekend calling a Packers supporter a "dumb c***" has finally broken his silence ... claiming Wednesday his outburst was provoked.

Ryan Caldwell said in a statement to the New York Post the video that showed him going off on a female Packer backer at Sunday's playoff game at Lincoln Financial Field did not tell the full story.

Caldwell insists what took place just before his vulgar rant was "banter" between all parties. He then strongly implied that Alexander Basara and his fiancée, Ally Keller, egged him on.

Olympic Gold Medalist Shawn Johnson and her husband, former NFL player Andrew East, may be in retirement, but they're proving they've still got it ... one acrobatic challenge at a time.

The former athletes put their fit frames on display for a number of videos uploaded to social media, where they've tapped into their competitive spirit to pull off a series of acrobatic stunts.

Check it out ... a shirtless Andrew effortlessly lifts Shawn into the air ... just as she contorts her body and turns a full 360 degrees. It's flipping adorable, if we do say so ourselves!!!

The Eagles fan who berated a female Packers supporter in Philly is officially out of a job ... with the hotheads' now-former employer calling out his behavior ... while also knocking people who have trashed their business online!

TMZ Sports spoke to BCT Partners co-founders Lawrence Hibbert and Dr. Randal Pinkett -- who appeared on Season 4 of The Apprentice -- who slammed ex-project manager Ryan Caldwell for his actions in a now-viral video where he called the Green Bay fan a "dumb ugly c***."

"I can't say enough about how abhorrent the behavior that we observed was and how upset I was in seeing someone who was at the time associated with our company displaying that kind of behavior," Pinkett said.

Ryan Clark says it might be time for Mike Tomlin to pull up his stakes in Pittsburgh ... telling TMZ Sports a change of scenery could result in an Andy Reid-like run for his former head coach.

It's now been eight years since Tomlin last won a playoff game, and while many online are calling for his head, Clark said his old team should absolutely NOT fire the 52-year-old.

Instead, the ex-Steelers defensive back told us Tomlin should explore his other options ... because he truly believes the coach still has it.

Kelly Stafford says she felt massive guilt bringing her sick children aboard the L.A. Rams charter flight ... knowing the players had a hugely important playoff game on the horizon!

Stafford opened up on the situation on the latest episode of "The Morning After" ... just days after she documented her daughters' sickness on social media in the leadup to the Wild Card tilt vs. the Vikings.

"We were sick on that flight," Stafford said, "and there was a huge guilt factor to me going 'should we be on this plane right now because everyone surrounding us and everyone who has to play this game?'"

LeBron James is waving the white flag in the battle for Christmas Day ... admitting the NFL whooped the NBA's ass in the ratings department -- but claiming Beyoncé played a huge role in the L.

The King chopped it up with Jason and Travis Kelce on the newest episode of their "New Heights" podcast this week ... and at one point in the convo, they asked LeBron about his famous deceleration following the Lakers' 115-113 victory against the Warriors -- in which he stated Dec. 25 belonged to Adam Silver's organization.

Unfortunately for James, the viewership numbers didn't back his claim -- as the NFL drew in 65 million U.S. viewers for its two games ... which was much more than the NBA got for its five games throughout the holiday.

1:00 PM PT -- A spokesperson for Universal Music Group tells TMZ … “Not only are these claims untrue, but the notion that we would seek to harm the reputation of any artist -- let alone Drake -- is illogical. We have invested massively in his music and our employees around the world have worked tirelessly for many years to help him achieve historic commercial and personal financial success.

"Throughout his career, Drake has intentionally and successfully used UMG to distribute his music and poetry to engage in conventionally outrageous back-and-forth ‘rap battles’ to express his feelings about other artists. He now seeks to weaponize the legal process to silence an artist’s creative expression and to seek damages from UMG for distributing that artist’s music.

"We have not and do not engage in defamation -- against any individual. At the same time, we will vigorously defend this litigation to protect our people and our reputation, as well as any artist who might directly or indirectly become a frivolous litigation target for having done nothing more that write a song.”

Drake is not backing down in the war against his own label, in fact he's now upped the ante by suing Universal Music Group for spreading the "false and malicious narrative" he's a pedophile ... TMZ Hip Hop has learned.

Drake filed the defamation case Wednesday morning in federal court in NYC ... ripping UMG for releasing and promoting Kendrick Lamar's vicious diss track, "Not Like Us." In the docs, obtained by TMZ Hip Hop, Drake says UMG knew full well Kendrick's lyrics, and images in the music video, referring to Drake as a pedophile were false and dangerous.

In the suit he calls Kendrick's hit -- filled with "inflammatory and shocking allegations"-- was a "gold mine" for UMG ... and he says they had an ulterior financial motive in promoting it.

Shedeur Sanders added a bit more fuel to all of the Deion-to-the-Dallas-Cowboys speculation on Tuesday night ... as he made a somewhat peculiar appearance at the Mavericks game in Big D.

The Colorado Buffaloes quarterback scooped up courtside seats for Dallas' tilt with the Nuggets at American Airlines Center ... and even though he's a native of Texas, the timing of his decision to hit the town sure got Cowboys fans buzzing.

Jerry Jones' team, of course, is looking for a new head coach after parting ways with Mike McCarthy on Monday -- and a whole lot of internet detectives wondered out loud if Shedeur's emergence in Dallas this week means his dad could very well be Jerry's next man up.

The Philadelphia Eagles fan who berated a Packers supporter during Sunday's playoff game is out of the job -- his employer just announced he has been fired as a result of the viral moment.

BCT Partners -- a consulting firm that specializes in DEI services and solutions -- announced the move Tuesday night ... saying project manager Ryan Caldwell's words during the altercation with the female Cheesehead were "highly offensive and misogynistic," which goes against the company's values.

The firm decided to cut ties after an internal personnel investigation ... and slammed Caldwell on his way out.

Mike McCarthy out ... Deion Sanders in??

If Drew Pearson were running things down in Dallas, he says that's exactly the way it'd go ... telling TMZ Sports Prime should be the Cowboys' "No. 1 choice" for their vacant head coaching gig after McCarthy's Monday departure.

"I think he's capable," the Hall of Famer said of the Buffaloes' current head man. "There's no question he has the qualifications to do it. He paid his dues. He came through the ranks and he's proven it each step of the way that he knows what he's doing."

Patrick Mahomes says his wife, Brittany, was an absolute rock star during her third childbirth ... praising her for crushing it -- and letting him watch football leading up to the big moment, too!!

The three-time Super Bowl champ met with the media just two days after the happy couple welcomed their second daughter -- Golden Raye Mahomes -- to the world ... and he talked all about what it's like to have the newest addition around.

"It's been cool to welcome another baby girl into our family and see how our other kids react to her and having baby sissy and stuff like that," Mahomes said.

Ex-NFL linebacker Jonathan Vilma is going from motivating teammates to ... restaurant owners?? Damn straight -- 'cause the Saints great teamed up with Gordon Ramsay to try and save a local business!!

The Super Bowl champion gave a football coach-esque pump-up speech on the upcoming episode of FOX's "Kitchen Nightmares: Road to Super Bowl LIX" ... having a sit-down with Bonnie, the owner of Iberville Cuisine & Oyster Bar in NOLA, to help her get ready for the thousands of football fans making their way to the area for the Big Game.

The 42-year-old -- who is co-owner of "Vilma's" in the Big Easy himself -- said the duty of being in charge of an eatery is very similar to the head coach of a football team ... and his words will have you ready to run through a brick wall.

Another Tebow is about to enter the world ... Tim Tebow and his wife just revealed they're having a baby this year!!

The former Heisman Trophy winner and his partner, Demi-Leigh, announced the pregnancy in an adorable video on Tuesday morning.

In the footage -- which the couple posted on social media -- Tim and Demi-Leigh can be seen walking through a field ... before they hug and unfurl a picture of an ultrasound.

Matthew Stafford’s toughness clearly got passed down to his daughters ... 'cause his kids braved through illness to watch the Rams' huge Wild Card victory in person on Monday.

The Super Bowl champ's wife, Kelly, documented the whole journey leading up to the playoff contest ... revealing two of her little ones were hospitalized during the Arizona trip.

One of the kids even had an oxygen mask as they made their way to State Farm Stadium for Monday's kickoff ... holding a teddy bear and yelling "Go Rams" as they rode the bus to the venue.

Olivia Ponton -- Joe Burrow's most famous "employee" -- has apparently accrued some big PTO -- because she's currently soaking up the sun on vacay in a tiny bikini in Turks and Caicos.

The Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model -- who told cops last month just after a burglary at Burrow's Cincinnati-area mansion that she worked for the Bengals superstar -- ditched the Midwest for some sand and blue waters ... and check out a few images she posted from the trip, she's obviously appreciating the R&R.

In a small black two-piece, Ponton enjoyed several dips in the Atlantic ... plus some pages of a romance novel. She did it all with a huge smile on her face, too.

The Eagles have identified the fan who berated a female Packers supporter at Philadelphia's playoff game over the weekend ... and TMZ Sports has learned they've now kickstarted the punishment process for the guy.

Our sources say that just two days after the man in a green Eagles jacket was seen on video unloading on a Packer backer during Philly's 22-10 Wild Card round win ... the team has found out who he is and is currently determining how they want to handle the situation.

It seems a ban is on the table ... however, we're told, for now, the Eagles are still evaluating the situation.