Pittsburgh Steelers

Antonio Brown's good friend, Verne Troyer, is LASHING OUT at the NFL over the fines AB's been hit with for his cleats and his endzone celebrations ... saying the punishment is a bunch of "bulls***."

Troyer isn't just a Steelers superfan -- but he's tight with Brown and was his VIP guest at a game earlier this season.

So, when we asked about the NFL cracking down on Brown's customized cleats (which have featured AB's kids and tributes to greats like Muhammad Ali) ... the "Austin Powers" star went off.

#Mojo

He floats like a butterfly ...

He stings like a bee ...

Which is why Antonio Brown's new custom cleats are paying tribute ... to Muhammad Ali!!!

The Pittsburgh Steelers superstar is planning to make another statement with his feet on Sunday -- with cleats featuring images of the legendary boxer.

They've even got images of a bee and a butterfly, thanks to artist Corey Pane -- the same guy who designed AB's Arnold Palmer cleats from last weekend.

Verne Troyer lived out a lifelong dream as a die-hard Pittsburgh Steelers fan ... meeting all the players after watching them whoop-up on the Kansas City Chiefs at Heinz Field.

Verne's loved the Steelers since the '70s but never got to a game, so superstar wide receiver Antonio Brown made it happen. We're told Verne watched football with AB all day at his house, then scored pregame sideline passes.

He headed to Brown's suite to watch the Sunday night matchup -- a dominating 43-14 Steelers victory -- and hung out with the team afterward. Check out the pics ... he even met Bob Costas (guess who's taller).

Antonio says Verne brought him good luck -- he scored 2 TDs -- so there's a good chance he'll be back later this season. Keep your Terrible Towel handy, Verne!

Fresh off the heels of a cleat controversy, Antonio Brown just had ANOTHER sick pair of kicks custom made for his next game ... a tribute to golf legend Arnold Palmer.

We spoke with Brown who tells us he went to his cleat guy, Corey Pane, and asked for something that would show his respect to "The King."

The results speak for themselves.

Remember, Brown got into some trouble with the NFL officials last week for custom blue cleats that had images of his kids painted on them. He was told to change them at halftime or else ... in part due to the colors not matching the Steelers uniform.

These new cleats happen to be in Steelers colors -- so hopefully he'll avoid any sort of drama ... especially since they're super dope.

Snoop Dogg LOOOVED Antonio Brown's twerkalicious touchdown dance Monday night -- in fact, Snoop busted out a version of his own right after the game!

"You see that dance he did??? He just f***ed 'em," Snoop said.

"That was a cold dance move! I want to do it myself!"

Antonio got flagged for his dance. Snoop got high after his.

7:52 AM PT -- More bad news for the server ...

TMZ Sports spoke with Jimmy Marcos -- co-owner of Ledo Restaurant in Maryland -- who tells us DeAngelo's server will be TERMINATED over her handling of the tip situation.

Long story short ... we're told the restaurant policy is "the customer is always right" and tipping is a reflection of the service -- not mandatory.

"We were in the wrong," Marcos says.

He also has a message for Williams -- "I want to offer anything I can do. I'll be sure to apologize in person next time he visits and pick up his next meal."

Pittsburgh Steelers running back DeAngelo Williams is blasting restaurant workers who called him out on social media for not tipping ... saying point-blank -- THEY SUCKED AT THEIR JOBS.

It all started when the bartender at the restaurant went to Facebook and wrote:

"Just now at work I had Deangelo Williams come in and I waited on while tending bar. His check was $128.25. He left me $129 with no tip but .75 cents. So there you go Stealers fans, your running back is cheap as s**t!!! Smh."

Williams found out about the social media shaming and lashed back -- claiming the service was so terrible, a 75 cent tip was TOO GENEROUS.

"I tried to leave exact change but couldn't," Williams said ... "I waited on my food for over 1.5 hours."

(For the record, the waitress claims he was only there for 45 mins).

So, what was allegedly so bad?

For starters, "She never asked for refills," Williams says.

But what really pissed him off -- "I ordered chicken and shrimp in my pasta they put it on my salad."

When he pointed out the mistake, "They took it back and removed it from salad and put It in my pasta leaving a shrimp tail in the salad."

Williams says "terrible service" means terrible tip.

"I use to wait tables and use to be a bag boy so I know what I'm doing here."

NFL player William Gay just learned a very important life lesson ... sometimes when you win, you completely freakin' lose in a major way ... especially when the game is credit card roulette.

Gay and his Pittsburgh Steelers teammates went out to dinner recently and the whole group of very large -- and probably very hungry -- athletes decided to settle the bill by playing credit card roulette.

If you don't know what that is ... it's when everyone who ate puts their card in a hat ... and the one that gets drawn has to foot the entire bill.

That was the story for William ... and James Harrison made sure to document the entire thing on video.

This could get awesome!!!

Now that Ryan Fitzpatrick has reportedly re-signed with the Jets, Brandon Marshall is getting all sorts of cocky ... betting HIS PORSCHE that he'll have more receiving yards this year than Antonio Brown.

The NY Jets wide receiver took to social media to issue a very expensive challenge to his Pittsburgh Steelers rival.

"If you have more receiving yards than me, I'll give you the Porsche ... if I have more recieving yards than you, then you gotta give me the Rolls-Royce."

So far, no response from Antonio ... but you can't imagine he's gonna back down from this!

Game on!

The Pittsburgh PD just announced an arrest warrant has been issued for a former Steelers running back -- whose alleged graffiti exploits have made him the Banksy of the Steel City.

The player is ex-RB Baron Batch -- a 2011 draft pick who was cut in 2013.

Cops say the 28-year-old has been tagging all over the city -- and caused more than $16,000 in damage after hitting the Three Rivers Heritage Trail, the Hot Metal Bridge and the Mon Wharf Parking lot.

He's been hit with 30 counts of criminal mischief.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are "disappointed" in wide receiver Martavis Bryant -- who's been suspended for at least one year after failing a drug test -- and say the 24-year-old is at a crossroads in his life.

Bryant just announced that he would be dropping his appeal of the suspension and begin to serve his punishment immediately -- and Steelers GM Kevin Colbert says the guy needs to take the time for some serious self reflection.

"We are very disappointed that Martavis Bryant has put himself in this current situation of being suspended by the League," Colbert says.

"He is at a crossroads of his professional life, and he needs to understand significant changes need to occur in his professional life if he wants to regain his career as a Pittsburgh Steeler."

"We are hopeful that Martavis will take the necessary steps to develop the discipline in his personal life to become a successful player and a good teammate."

Steelers linebacker James Harrison says there's a damn good reason he's strict with his kids -- he doesn't want them growing up to be privileged buttholes.

Harrison appeared on the "Steve Harvey Show" to talk about his famous parenting choices -- specifically his decision to not allow his kids to accept participation trophies in sports.

Harrison says he knows his kids have a privileged life -- but doesn't want them to be spoiled. Instead, he says he wants them to appreciate hard work and dedication.

That's when Steve dropped the money line -- "Privileged kids man ... if you don't teach them early, they grow up to be privileged buttholes."

They says it's better to be lucky then good ... and that's exactly what the Broncos are according to Steelers RB Le'Veon Bell ... who says it'd be his team in San Fran if he'd never gotten hurt.

Bell's been out with a knee injury since November and when we saw him at the Madden party at Super Bowl 50 we had to know ... would things have been different if he was 100%?

Check out the clip -- Bell seems confident that had he and other Steelers been able to give it a go, it would have been them trying to stop Cam and the gang ... and NOT the Broncos.

Pacman Jones can hold on to that Oscar ... or Grammy ... 'cause Antonio Brown's father insists his son is NO ACTOR ... and didn't fake hurt after taking that shot from Vontaze Burfict.

TMZ Sports spoke with Eddie Brown who tells us he has already checked in with the Pittsburgh Steelers receiver to make sure he's okay after taking a shot to the head during Saturday's playoff game.

"He is doing well. I talked to him but I didn't go into detail. I just wanted to make sure he was okay. That was my biggest concern as a father and parent."

We asked what he thought about Pacman accusing his son of faking hurt -- and Eddie told us the thought of Antonio bluffing an injury is simply unfathomable.

"It's not in his character. I don't have to defend him because you can just look at his track record. Check his and then check the track record of the ones accusing him ... he's taken big hits before and he's gone right back to the huddle."

We also asked if he thought Burfict should be punished by the league for the hit:

Michael Keaton should've been celebrating after his Pittsburgh Steelers yanked the Bengals' beating hearts out of their chests -- but, NO ... instead he was pissed about Antonio Brown's concussion.

Pittsburgh Steelers superstar Antonio Brown had an early Xmas gift for a local high school football team -- taking the entire squad to a screening of "Concussion" ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Brown hooked up the kids at Clairton High School in Pennsylvania -- a team he's essentially adopted since joining the Steelers.

Clairton head coach Wayne Wade tells us ... Brown organized a bus to take the players to a nearby theater and treated the kids to a night at the movies.

Wayne says Brown is always doing cool stuff for the high school -- "A couple years ago he paid for the whole team to go to Dave N Busters after the season."

So, why Clairton??

"He loves the whole small town, small team, small program thing. We are the winningest program in Pennsylvania, piled up 66 wins in a row (Pennsylvania record), won state championships."

Plus, Wayne played Arena League football with Antonio's dad.

So, what did we learn today ... people actually ARE going to see movies other than 'Star Wars.'

The Pittsburgh Steelers TRIED to sing a fun football themed Christmas carol for their fans this week ... what ensued was maybe the worst vocal performance of all time.

It's so bad, it's good.