Pittsburgh Steelers

'Tis the season!

Antonio Brown was feeling extra saucy Tuesday night -- and decided to spend some of his hard earned cash ... on the Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh!

The Steelers superstar cut a $100,000 check to the hospital -- and showed it off on social media ... hopefully inspiring other people to give as well.

Brown has a great relationship with the hospital -- in fact, he hosted a softball game to raise money for the place earlier this year.

#Boomin'

Le'Veon Bell is firing lyrical shots at any other athletes daring to pick up a mic ... saying there can be only one king of the rapping athlete scene ... and he wears BLACK & YELLOW.

No, not you Roethlisberger.

Bell joined the guys on the "TMZ Sports" TV show and talked all about his second love of hip-hop ... and when we asked if he was a better spitter than rapping baller Damian Lillard ... he didn't hesitate.

Check out each of their skills below ... and you be the judge ... can you say BATTLE?

The Steelers broke Snoop Dogg's heart again -- and the rapper says it's all because his squad still hasn't been able to replace Troy Polamalu.

Snoop vented about Pittsburgh's last second loss to the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday -- and placed the blame on the Steelers' secondary.

"Since Polamalu left, our DBs ... very, very skeptical."

Snoop Dogg has GREAT news for pissed off Steeler fans -- the rest of the year is gonna be nothin' but a W thang, as in wins ... 'cause he says Pittsburgh is about to hit a big win streak.

TMZ Sports ran into Uncle Snoop out in Hollywood, when he assured us he ain't bothered by the 21-14 loss to Baltimore ... and even broke down his high expectations for Steel City's future.

Here's super cool video of the Pittsburgh Steelers joining in the latest Internet craze ... the "Mannequin Challenge."

It's basically a bunch of guys standing still in a fixed poses ... which doesn't sound all that impressive admittedly ... but when you see it in action ... it's insanely dope.

They pulled it off in the locker room with big names in on the action like Antonio Brown completely motionless talking to reporters ... and James Harrison not moving a muscle but still showing how strong he is.

The Bengals ain't gonna like this one ...

Steelers running back Le'Veon Bell -- who's also a rapper -- just dropped a NEW TRACK taking aim at Cincinnati ... just 7 weeks before they're set to do battle on the field.

The song is "Rapping Athlete" -- in which Bell spits the lyrics:

"All these haters @ me ...
You need to check my rap sheet ...
You better take the backseat like you play in Cincinnati."

There's a ton of bad blood between the Steelers and the Bengals -- in fact, it was Bengals LB Vontaze Burfict who ended Bell's season last year during a Week 8 matchup.

As far as the rivalry goes, the Steelers have won 6 out of the last 7 matchups ... so, advantage Le'Veon.

By the way, he also name drops Johnny Manziel ... saying he's balling the ex-QB -- but back when he was in college!

Never fear, Steeler fans ... Snoop Dogg has a explanation for Big Ben's injury ... and a GUARANTEE for Sunday's big game against the hated New England Patriots.

Pittsburgh Steelers safety Robert Golden is going after the company he hired to plan his wedding, 'cause he says they wrecked his big day ... and were even responsible for sending a guest to the hospital.

If it looks like the Pittsburgh Steelers defense has baggage ... it's because Cam Heyward just hooked everyone up with $15,000 in Couture backpacks ... TMZ Sports has learned.

To show his love to his defensive unit, Heyward hit up Prime Society Boutique and locked down 31 personalized Crown Collection backpacks, which run about $500 a pop.

Plus, he also hooked up the guys with toiletry bags and elevation masks (training first!) ... and we're told it was all because he just wanted to show the guys he appreciates 'em.

It also helps that Cam signed a 6 year, $60 million contract last year!

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.