Philadelphia Eagles

Eagles fans, stock the bubbly ... 'cause a bunch of local Philadelphia pastors tell us with the signing of Tim Tebow ... the team gained a very powerful ally ... GOD!!

TMZ Sports spoke with 5 church officials who rep 7 churches in Philly... and the sentiment was universal ... Tebow's faith -- and relationship with God -- will have a HUGE impact on the Eagles.

Here are some of the highlights ...

-- Rev. Bill Golderer (Broad Street Ministries) -- "Our legacy [as Eagles fans] has been over 50 years of futility. Tebow's close to God, so we wouldn't have to sell our soul to the devil to win a Super Bowl."

-- Rev. Safford (Christ Church) -- "Having a faith-based person with the Eagles can only help the team."

-- Pastor Kent Jacobs (Epic Church) -- "We love Tim. He's awesome! Everyone needs people to encourage them and he's that type of guy. So he'll help the locker room."

Two major Philadelphia rivals -- Pat's and Geno's -- are finally uniting on something ... they both have no idea what the Eagles were thinking in signing Tim Tebow.

We spoke with managers from both of the legendary Philly cheesesteak joints (Anthony from Geno's and Tommy from Pat's) ... who tell us they're just trying to make sense of the whole thing.

Anthony from Geno's -- "We’re all very confused by this whole off-season. Last time I checked you have to be able to throw in order to be a successful QB."

Tommy from Pat's -- "We can only play one QB at a time, and now we have one that hasn't played since 2012!? Does he still know how to play? I don’t know where Chip Kelly is going with this one."

Artie Lange says the best football players ... are the ones who get laid ... which is (partly) why he's TRASHING the Philadelphia Eagles for signing Tim Tebow.

Lange -- HUUUUGE sports fan -- was out in NYC this morning ... when he crapped all over the Bird Gang ... "I don't think Tim Tebow can help you on any level."

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.

The Philadelphia Eagles tell TMZ Sports the fact that Riley Cooper was selected as the photo for February in the official team calendar was an "honest mistake" ... and they're looking into it.

Of course, Cooper made national headlines at a Kenny Chesney concert back in 2013 when he was caught on camera saying, "I will jump that fence and fight every n***** here."

The Eagles fined Cooper for his actions at the time. He later apologized and then-QB Mike Vick vouched for him and said he wasn't a racist.

Which is why it was surprising that the wide receiver was picked to represent February -- Black History Month -- in the official team calendar.

"If anything, it was an honest mistake," Eagles PR rep Brett Strohsacker tells TMZ Sports.

Strohsacker says an independent company was used to put the calender together -- and says the Eagles are investigating to find out why Cooper was selected to be February.

He adds, "I will look into this issue and see what the thought process was."

3:50 PM PT -- The Eagles have issued a new statement saying, "We do not oversee the production of the annual team calendar. We do not provide any input about the players who are featured or where those pictures appear in the calendar. The NFL licenses the production of that calendar to a third party and we do not have an opportunity to review the material."

Charlie Sheen is taking sides in the "Tip War" involving NFL star LeSean McCoy -- claiming he's giving $1,000 to the waiter McCoy stiffed after a controversial lunch earlier this week.

Actually, it wasn't a technical "stiffing" -- the Philadelphia Eagles running back tipped a waiter named Rob 20 cents on a $61.56 meal at PYT restaurant in Philly. McCoy reportedly felt he was mistreated inside the restaurant.

The receipt -- with the 20 cent tip -- was later posted on social media by the owner of the restaurant, Tommy Up.

Now, Charlie Sheen is getting involved ... issuing a statement saying, "dear Tommy Up at PYT in Philly. Please tell Rob K I'm pledging 1000 dollars to him for the tip debacle just wanna help. c #NoJudgement"

Mike Vick tells TMZ Sports ... he will not fight to wear #7 on his jersey during his stint with the NY Jets -- and says it's all out of respect for Geno Smith.

The Philadelphia Eagles made a huge upgrade this off-season in the fashion department -- their new safety Malcolm Jenkins has plans to dominate the rough and tumble world of bow ties.

The ex-Saints star tells TMZ Sports he's not abandoning the Rock Avenue Bow Ties biz he started last year in New Orleans -- and instead plans to expand in his new hometown.

Jenkins says, "I'm gonna go around the city and see about getting the bow ties into retail stores."

Jenkins started rocking the Pee Wee Herman look back in 2010 -- his 2nd NFL season -- and says he decided to launch his own company when he couldn't find enough variety in stores.

Malcolm joked he really needs a sales spike in Philly to pay off a lost bet with his wife -- ""I owe her a G Wagon."

Something tells us his 3-year, $16.5 million Eagles contract will take care of that.

Still, MJ's company got a nice boost last week when his ex-teammate Roman Harper wore a Rock Avenue t-shirt ... while getting baptized!

Don't count out Michael Vick just yet -- the guy could still be a STARTER in the NFL, so says the former Governor of Pennsylvania ... who says he wishes Vick well after his stint in Philly.

FYI -- Vick is a free agent and there's rumors that he's accepted the fact he might have to resign himself to being a backup if he wants to keep playing in the league.

But ex-Gov. Ed Rendell is taking issue with that ... telling us the guy could still be the #1 for a handful of teams including the Jets, Raiders and Vikings.

His sports knowledge is actually pretty damn impressive for a politician (especially when he starts talking about the 76ers).

Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver DeSean Jackson is a Crip ... and he ain't afraid to show it -- flashing gang signs with rapper (and fellow Crip) Nipsey Hussle.

Jackson and Nipsey were hanging out after a show in Philadelphia this weekend ... when they posed for a photo -- and DeSean threw a hand signal for Rollin' 40s Crips.

FYI -- Nipsey is a member of the Rollin' 60s Crips.

It ain't the first time Jackson has thrown the sign in public -- in fact, this past football season, he threw up the sign during a game against the Washington Redskins.

1:44 PM PT -- Our bad ... initially, we reported DeSean was at the YG party in L.A. In fact, the YG party was the following night in L.A.

Nipsey was at the YG party. DeSean was not.

He's big, he's strong and he's fast as hell ... but it doesn't mean JACK SQUAT until Jadeveon Clowney proves himself on Sundays ... so says DeSean Jackson.

The Philadelphia Eagles speedster was leaving Supperclub in L.A. last night -- when we asked if he was impressed with Clowney's blazing fast 40-yard dash time at the NFL combine.

"Faster than me? I don't think so," Jackson said.

"I can just congratulate him for being 260 and doing his thing ... but this Jackson speed right here is rollin' on anything in the NFL ... put it that way, you feel me?"

We feel you.

There's more ... "I just need to see him get to the NFL and do his thing ... the NFL is a big man sport."

"I know he's 260 ... that fast sh*t cool ... but I got homies right here that's bigger than that, that poundin' sh*t in the streets. So, if he gonna get on that field and pound sh*t, I can't do nothing but respect him."

*Note -- we know our guy totally botched Jadeveon's name ... sorry.

The feud that divided the Eagles is officially OVER .... so says Terrell Owens who tells TMZ Sports he's buried the hatchet with Donovan McNabb ... ten years after they were at each other's throats.

T.O. was out in Venice to shoot a promo for a piece of workout equipment called "The Rack" -- dude's still frickin' ripped btw -- when we asked about the beef with his old QB.

FYI -- McNabb and Owens hated each other back in the day ... and famously went after each other in the media after losing the Super Bowl.

But the beef has been dying down in recent years ... and McNabb even considered attending an event that honored Owens in Philly earlier this month.

Despite the olive branch, T.O. couldn't help himself from taking one last shot at D.M. ... and it's all over soup. Check out the clip.

Bad news for Mike Vick ... his friend Bow Wow won't be helping him sell special hair brushes to black people ... after a high-profile business deal fell through, TMZ Sports has learned.

It was just last year that Vick announced plans to release a line of "wave brushes" called WaveMasterz -- brushes that come complete with a mirror on the back so users can ensure they look fresh at all times.

Bow Wow was reportedly involved in the project ... and at one point, his name was on the top of the WaveMasterz website ... but now, the rapper tells us the plans have changed.

"It was supposed to go down," Bow Wow said ... "but all deals don't go down the way you want them to."

Bow Wow says he didn't want to spread himself too thin -- since he's already involved in a clothing line, a vodka line and hosting "106 and Park" on BET.

BW -- who was at Last Kings clothing store in L.A. -- said there are no hard feelings between him and the QB ... explaining, "Michael Vick is still a close friend of mine, I wish him the best."

Donovan McNabb's people were IN NEGOTIATIONS for the former Philadelphia Eagles QB to appear at the roast of his arch-enemy Terrell Owens Thursday night ... but things fell apart days before the event, TMZ Sports has learned.

We spoke with comic Joe Conklin -- one of the organizers behind the charity event -- who tells us roast honchos initially reached out to McNabb hoping to reunite the former teammates.

We're told McNabb's people responded -- and said D.M. was interested ... for the right price. We're told McNabb's people threw out a number and roast organizers considered it for a couple of days.

But when roast organizers finally called back to agree to Donovan's rate -- the QB changed his mind and decided it wasn't worth it ... and ultimately, didn't appear at the event.

According to Conklin, there was talk that McNabb didn't bail because of T.O. -- but rather because he heard boxer Bernard Hopkins was considering attending the event and he didn't want to be in the same location. FYI -- B-Hop's been talking all sorts of smack about McNabb lately.

We reached out to McNabb's camp for comment -- so far, nothing back.

He may be retired, but former Philadelphia Eagles running back Brian Westbrook says he's still a SPEED DEMON ... and could put up a 40-time that's faster than most pro backs.

In fact, the 34-year-old tells TMZ Sports ... he's FASTER now than he was as a rookie in 2002, when he clocked a 4.57 at the NFL combine.

It's unlikely Westrbrook is thinking about coming out of retirement at this point, but if he's telling the truth ... he would make a HELLUVA flag football teammate.

Ex-NFL linebacker Bill Romanowski tells TMZ Sports ... there are a handful of dirty plays from his NFL career he wishes he could take back -- like the time he SNAPPED A DUDE'S FINGER!!!

Bill -- one of the most ferocious defensive players of all time -- is out in NYC for the Super Bowl ... and says he still feels bad about the time he was in a pile with running back Dave Meggett, grabbed the guy's finger and "cracked it like a chicken bone."

"I heard it and felt it ... and then heard the scream at the bottom of the pile."

Still, Bill admits, "There are probably 5 plays I'd love to take back ... but I can't."