Super Bowl

Akon's got a hot take on African-American singers and rappers blowing off the Super Bowl LIII Halftime Show, and it sounds like he's NOT exactly down with the boycott in support of Colin Kaepernick.

We got the singer/producer as he touched down in ATL, days ahead of the big game, and asked what he made of A-list celebs snubbing the NFL to stand in solidarity with Kap. Some are even calling for Travis Scott, Big Boi and Maroon 5 to take a knee during their performance -- but don't count Akon among that group.

For him, it's about time and place and he believes the Super Bowl is just too big a stage to opt out of playing on it.

Brandon Browner -- the guy who helped the Patriots win Super Bowl XLIX -- WILL be allowed to watch his former team in the Super Bowl from jail ... TMZ Sports has learned.

Browner -- who was just sentenced to 8 years behind bars after he pled no contest to attempted murder back in December -- is currently being held in L.A. County Jail.

But, law enforcement sources tell us they won't ban the guy from watching his ex-team if he wants to ... saying Brandon WILL have the ability to catch the game on Sunday.

Browner was a superstar for New England in his lone season there in 2014 ... and has even been credited by Bill Belichick for helping Malcolm Butler make the game-sealing pick against the Seahawks in the Super Bowl.

But, Browner found himself in big trouble last July after he brutalized his ex-girlfriend in front of her two children -- and was sentenced to 8 years in prison after he copped a no contest plea.

Brandon is currently trying to have a judge throw out the conviction ... with a court date set for next month.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft is spending his final hours before the Super Bowl dancing his face off with rap stars ... hitting the stage and showing off his moves with Cardi B!!

Kraft looked anything but nervous the day before the Big Game ... joining the "Money" rapper on stage at the Fanatics Super Bowl party in ATL, which was hosted by Sixers co-owner Michael Rubin.

There was hopping. There was finger pointing. The crowd loved every second of it.

As if Cardi wasn't enough ... Kraft had Meek Mill for a hype man pumping him up on the side of the stage.

Think this guy's worried about the game?

BTW -- we're told Cardi's not just having fun with Kraft and Meek ... she also made a significant donation to Reform Alliance, the criminal justice reform org formed by the 2 along with Rubin, Jay-Z, Van Jones and others.

12:45 PM PT -- Bow Wow's been released on bond.

12:20 PM PT -- Here's the mug shot for Leslie Holden, who we've learned is Bow Wow's on-and-off GF, and goes by Kiyomi Leslie. She's also on "Growing Up Hip Hop" with the rapper.

She's facing the same battery charge as Bow Wow, and her bond's been set at $8k.

11:15 AM PT -- TMZ's obtained Bow Wow's mug shot, which shows big scratches on his forehead and a mark below his eye.

According to the Fulton County Sheriff's Office ... the rapper's been charged with Battery Substantial Physical Harm, which is in conflict with what we were told earlier -- that both sustained minor injuries.

Bow Wow's bond's been set at $8k.

Bow Wow was arrested in Atlanta early Saturday morning for allegedly beating a woman ... a woman who was also arrested for allegedly beating him.

ATL cops tell TMZ ... there was some sort of dispute between Bow Wow and the woman at 4:15 AM Saturday. When they arrived, the woman claimed Bow Wow assaulted her. He claimed it was the opposite.

Both Bow Wow and the woman sustained visible, minor injuries.

Police identified the woman as Leslie Holden. We cannot find any relationship between her and Bow Wow.

Cops couldn't figure out which one was the true aggressor, so they arrested both and charged them with misdemeanor battery.

Bow Wow had been promoting a Super Bowl pop-up shop for his mom during Super Bowl weekend. He was also spotted at Shaquille O'Neal's SB event -- called Shaq's Fun House -- not long before his arrest.

Check it out ... he's introduced by Jermaine Dupri and gets a pretty big reaction from the ATL crowd.

Cardi B and Offset are clearly re-establishing the family unit ... by enjoying a night out together at a hot club!!!

The couple hit up OAK in Atlanta Saturday at around 3 AM. They hung out together and enjoyed the show, all the while protected by security.

Cardi's the headliner Saturday night at the Bud Light Super Bowl Music Fest at the State Farm Arena. Migos is performing at Shaq's Fun House Big Game Weekend.

Cardi's made it clear ... there may have been some bumps in the road in her marriage, but she and Offset are determined to make it work.

We've been waiting all season for this moment ... the WAGs of Super Bowl LIII!!!

There's a new meaning to Hotlanta this weekend ... with the wives and girlfriends of the New England Patriots and the L.A. Rams invading Georgia for the big game.

You've heard of the Giseles and Camille Kosteks of the bunch ... but, don't let those Pats WAGs superstars distract you from the heat over on the Rams' end, like Ndamukong Suh's girl Katya Leick and Brandin Cooks' wife, Briannon.

Here's a 24 year old version of the Dallas Cowboys' starting quarterback Tony Romo in a team headshot back in 2005 (left) ... and 14 years later the eerily psychic 38 year old Super Bowl LIII analyst earlier this month (right).

His future is looking good ... and he knows all about it.

The question is ...

Seems the ice has thawed between Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Donald Trump -- because Kraft just praised POTUS on live TV ... and thanked him for his support of the team in the Super Bowl.

Kraft appeared on "Fox & Friends" early Friday morning where was asked how he felt about Trump sending a congratulatory tweet to the Patriots following their big win in the AFC Championship game.

"We can use every fan who wants to support us from wherever they are in their standard of life," Kraft said.

When asked if he's spoken with Trump -- or gotten advice from the President -- Kraft continued to throw nice words Trump's way.

"I have a lot of people who give me advice and he's been very supportive and I know he's working very hard to serve the best interest of the country."

It's interesting considering the relationship between Kraft and Trump has been rocky over the past few years.

The two were VERY close for years but then clashed in April over Trump's handling of the Colin Kaepernick kneeling situation.

Remember, Trump called for NFL owners to fire any "son of a bitch" who doesn't stand for the anthem.

Kraft called Trump's statements "divisive" and "horrible."

But, it seems it's all water under the bridge now.

Makes us wonder if Trump is also repairing his relationship with Tom Brady -- who he was also very close with.

However, Gisele has become a very outspoken critic of Trump ever since he took office and Tom and Trump have seemingly had a falling out.

But now, with Trump publicly supporting Brady again ... it'll be interesting to see if Tom returns the love.

WWE superstar Adam Cole thinks it's a joke that he's not the reigning 'NXT' champion -- and says he plans on making a massive violent statement when he gets in the ring on Sunday.

Cole is teaming up with Johnny Gargano and Tommaso Ciampa for a 6-man tag team match at WWE's 'Halftime Heat' show ... and tells TMZ Sports it's an opportunity to show the world why he deserves a shot at the title.

"I'm a guy who feels like I should be a champion at 'NXT' ... I think it's an outrage that I'm not."

By the way, Cole also has a message for his Super Bowl halftime competition, Adam Levine -- but it's more of an olive branch than a declaration of war ... unlike the WWE promo for 'Halftime Heat.'

In the running back battle of L.A., it's Melvin Gordon over Todd Gurley ... at least, according to Melvin Gordon.

The L.A. Chargers star is feelin' himself after a pretty solid 2018 season -- he only played in 12 games due to injury, but still managed to rack up 885 rushing yards and 10 rushing TDs.

Not bad!!!

Gordon's a cool guy -- and even when he was braggin' about himself, he still showed respect for Gurley, who's getting ready to play in the Super Bowl.

Billy McFarland and Fyre Fest got nothing on this guy ... allegedly.

A Georgia man has vanished after cops say he ripped off friends and family members to the tune of more than $750,000 in a Super Bowl LIII ticket scam.

At least a dozen say Ketan Shah promised them primo seats to see the Patriots take on the Rams, and got a ton of money up front for those tickets ... but never delivered before going MIA. Cops say one alleged victim forked over $20k, and another gave him $500k.

Perhaps worst of all is a $36,000 payment Shah allegedly took -- from his own mother!! He also took out a half-million dollar loan against the digital printing shop he owns in Gwinnett County.

All the victims say Shah promised them 100 level seats, plus access to a concierge lounge and Super Bowl pre-parties. They're all getting bupkis.

BTW, Mama Shah wasn't having it ... she's among the alleged victims who dimed out Shah to cops. WSB in Atlanta first reported the scam, and says Shah's wife reported him missing in early January, and hasn't seen him since.

If Deion Branch had a Hall of Fame vote ... he says Julian Edelman WOULD get in -- telling TMZ Sports the Patriots star IS a legit HOFer.

Of course, Deion is biased -- he played for the Pats for 7 years and was a teammate of Edelman's for a couple of 'em -- but, he still insists the guy belongs.

"He knows I'm all for it. Put my brother in. He has earned it ... Me, personally, I'm saying, 'Yeah. Put my brother in and let's do it!'"

Is the argument crazy? Maybe.

32-year-old Edelman has 499 career catches for 5,390 yards and 30 TDs ... while every WR currently in the Hall averages over 800 receptions, more than 10,000 yards and around 100 TDs.

But, Deion says if ya take playoff performance into consideration ... Julian should get a bronze bust some day.

"His postseason performance, is it better than, probably, every receiver that's in the Hall of Fame? Probably so."

"Me, personally, like I said, I'm biased, yeah, Julian -- my brother -- he should be in."

Edelman IS second to only Jerry Rice in all-time playoff receptions ... and he DOES already have two Super Bowl rings.

NFL star Josh Norman says the Los Angeles Rams got LUCKY ... because, had his QB Alex Smith not suffered a GRUESOME injury, it'd be his Washington team in the Super Bowl and not Goff's guys.

The Redskins were in 1st place in the NFC East until Smith broke both his fibula and tibia in his right leg against the Texans in November.

Smith was replaced by Colt McCoy (who also got injured) ... followed by Mark Sanchez (who was terrible) ... followed by Josh Johnson (who was basically signed off the street).

When we ran into Norman in ATL on Wednesday, we wanted to know what would've happened if Smith wouldn't have cracked his leg open ... and Norman let loose.

"We win the Super Bowl."

BTW ... Norman is dead serious, and even after our guy asks him SEVERAL times, he doesn't relent, and actually doubles down on his championship claim, saying they could've gotten by the Rams AND Saints.

"Why not?"

Julian Edelman was SO impressed with the way a 7th-grader handled being bullied by her classmates ... he straight-up gave her 2 tickets to this weekend's Super Bowl!!!

Dejah Rondeau is a badass 13-year-old who just so happens to play quarterback for her New Hampshire school's football team.

Problem was ... some of her classmates had an issue with a girl being their signal-caller -- and her parents say she was bullied over it.

"Some people don’t want to accept a female quarterback. She’ll have to put in 110 percent when others are putting in 50," Dejah's mother told Seacoastonline.com.

But, Dejah overcame it all ... and managed to thrive for her team -- and that caught Edelman's eye.

The Patriots and their star WR invited her to the team's facility last week for being so brave in the face of adversity ... and gave her TWO tickets to see them play the Rams on Sunday!!!

"My respect level for you is just through the roof because you just ignored all the noise and you played the game we all love -- and that’s football," Edelman told the girl.

Dejah's reaction??

"That was crazy! I never knew -- I never thought that would ever happen. I was just really excited to go!"

Cardi B's family is together again -- she and Offset are under the same roof, and the hip-hop power couple is officially back on ... TMZ has learned.

Sources close to the couple tell us ... Cardi's returning to the Atlanta home they shared before the breakup. We're told this is the first time she's been back to stay there with Offset and Kulture since December ... when she ripped into her husband for allegedly cheating.

There have been numerous signs lately of a reunion. Cardi posted last week, "I wanna go home" -- but our sources say it's a done deal now, because Offset proved himself to his wife.

We're told one of the key factors was Offset changing his phone number, in order to show Cardi he's serious about being honest and faithful. Our sources say the new digits are strictly for Cardi and business calls.

More importantly, there's a new, "no groupies" rule, which will be in full effect this weekend. We're told Offset's not allowing any female fans near him during his Super Bowl appearances in ATL. He wants Cardi to know he's serious about their marriage.

The Rams and Patriots ain't the only ones with a lot to lose this weekend.

Forget diamond Super Bowl rings ... Sean McVay's smokin' hot GF is opting for crystals for Sunday's big game -- 'cause she just got a custom jacket made with 4,000 of 'em in it!!!

TMZ Sports has learned Veronika Khomyn hit up Leah Miller at Bella Artistry to have a one-of-a-kind piece made to cheer on her BF during the Rams-Pats game ... and the fit came out GREAT.

We're told, the satin bomber jacket was hand-cut and hand-sewn ... and had 4,000 Swarovski crystals hand-placed into it.

The jacket also features a "Mob Squad" patch and a whole bunch of Rams logos ... and, in total, took about 14 HOURS to complete.

We're told similar jackets run for around $1,000 ... and Khomyn completed the outfit by adding a custom Rams hat that featured 600 crystals hand-set into it!!!

Veronika won't be the only WAG stuntin' at the Super Bowl ... tons of BOTH Rams and Patriots wives hit up Leah to get their own one-of-a-kind gear made for the game.

So, you be the judge ... who's winning the Rams-Pats swag battle in the box suites this weekend???