Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Rob Gronkowski is retired from the NFL but he's not done giving back to his fans ... the future Hall of Famer recently surprised a retired U.S. Army veteran, wounded in combat, with an awesome, customized truck!

The G.O.A.T. tight end partnered up with USAA to deliver a 4-door truck to specialist Jonny Flores who served four years in a field artillery unit ... where he worked as a .50 cal gunner, among other jobs.

"Today I'm helping USAA give away a recycled ride to a deserving US military veteran," Gronk said on Tuesday.

"This is gonna be awesome. About to surprise Jonny."

The video of Gronk surprising the Purple Heart recipient in Tampa is amazing ... and from Flores' reaction, he had no idea he was meeting the Super Bowl champ.

"No way!" Flores said, clearly in shock ... "What a surprise!"

Then, when Gronk showed Flores the truck ... he was so stoked!!

It's a feel-good story for a man who has sacrificed mightily for his country. Flores was badly wounded after a vehicle he was in drove over a pressure-plate IED (improvised explosive device) on July 4, 2007 in Baghdad, Iraq. He ultimately had his left leg amputated. He also sustained other injuries in the attack.

Flores, who uses a wheelchair, will now be able to move around much more freely ... because we're told the ride was retrofitted and modified for his mobility needs, including installing a wheelchair lift.

"This means a lot to me," Flores said, "Being able to get my independence and get in and out of this with ease, you know, with no help. That wheelchair thing is something else!"

"This is a game changer. Oh my God. I can already see how many trips and things we're gonna do with the family. I'm so excited. I can't thank you guys enough for this man."

It's all part of the USAA's celebration of their 100th anniversary serving the military ... and the vehicle was the 87th car they gifted in 2022, Gronk's jersey number.

Gronk played 11 seasons in the NFL with the Patriots and Buccaneers. The 5-time Pro Bowler won 4 Super Bowls before retiring in June.

Gronk is BACK on the football field!!!

Recently retired NFL superstar Rob Gronkowski will have Tampa Bay Buccaneer fans drooling over the idea of a comeback ... after the tight end was spotted on the gridiron in Orlando over the weekend.

It's a clip that will have folks wondering if the 4-time Super Bowl champ has the itch to return to his day job ... considering he's still in incredible shape.

But, don't expect the 33-year-old to pull a Tom Brady and return to the league just yet ... 'cause he wasn't running routes and catching passes -- he was lining up for some field goals with his buddy/TMZ Sports TV show co-host Mojo Muhtadi.

The guys were at Camping World Stadium to check out a Pop Warner football game ... and we're told Gronk decided to hop on the gridiron and show off his boot.

Gronk's no Justin Tucker, but it doesn't matter -- he was still able to get the pigskin between the pipes for a successful attempt.

Gronk also had some fun talking to some of the kids at the game ... even joining their huddle for a cute moment.

There was not one, but TWO Bradys working out at QB at Buccaneers practice on Wednesday ... 'cause Tom's son got in some drills while visiting Dad -- and TB12 loved it!

15-year-old Jack swung by Tampa's day-before-Thanksgiving practice for a few hours -- and at points during the afternoon, he got to toss around the pigskin in front of Tom.

The high schooler -- who actually plays free safety and a little bit of quarterback for his H.S. team -- looked good ... rollin' out of the pocket with two hands on the ball, just like pops.

The younger Brady also showed off a similar follow-through as Dad as well!

Afterward, Brady spoke with media members about Jack -- his son with Bridget Moynahan --being around ... and he said he was super grateful for the opportunities.

"It's the best," Brady said. "I had him out here for training camp last year, which was amazing for a dad. It was pretty special. As much as I can be around him, the better it is."

TB12 said earlier this year on his 'Let's Go!' podcast that he never envisioned Jack following in his football footsteps ... but watching him play now is "one of the great highlights of my life."

In fact, Tom said the kid "actually moves better than I did at his age."

As if Cleveland's season couldn't get any worse -- some rando allegedly broke into FirstEnergy Stadium and took a joyride on the field just days before the Browns' next home game ... resulting in a bunch of damage.

The incident reportedly went down early Tuesday morning ... forcing the Browns' grounds crew to rush to repair the grass before Sunday's matchup against Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

Pictures captured by News Channel 5 show tire marks throughout the field ... with a road roller working to improve the home turf.

Luckily, the team told the outlet the damage is superficial ... which means there's a good chance Sunday's game will go down without any hiccups.

Police believe the joyride occurred after someone broke into the stadium and got ahold of a golf cart. The whole thing is currently under investigation.

“We are aware of the incident that occurred early Tuesday morning at FirstEnergy Stadium and have provided the Cleveland Division of Police with all relevant information," the team said in a statement.

"Based on our internal evaluation, there was some superficial damage to the playing field that our grounds maintenance team is currently working to repair."

Super Bowl-winning NFL coach Bruce Arians was forced to take time away from his position with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last month ... after severe chest pain left him in the hospital for four days.

70-year-old Arians -- who has faced a number of health-related issues over the years -- revealed he experienced the most recent scare before a game against the Atlanta Falcons, when he had some friends over for dinner.

"We ate and I got these pains way up here, like two knives going in," Arians told Ira Kaufman. "The more I tried to take a breath, the worse it got."

The Bucs' special advisor says he took some antacids to try and ease the pain ... but when it continued to get worse, his wife, Christine, called 911.

Arians was then stretchered out of his home and taken to Tampa General Hospital.

The longtime coach says docs initially believed he suffered a mild heart attack or pericardial effusion ... before determining he had myocarditis -- an inflammation of the heart that makes it difficult to pump blood.

"Thankfully, the scans showed no fluid, no heart damage and absolutely no blockages," Arians added. "They had a cardiac radiologist look at everything and they ended up giving me anti-inflammatories."

The health scare kept him sidelined from the Bucs for a few weeks ... and he hasn't traveled to away games since.

Despite all he was going through, Arians says he stayed in contact with TB offensive coordinator Byron Leftwich to give his takes on the team's performance.

Tom Brady was deeply concerned with Antonio Brown's decision-making well before his shirtless exit from the NFL ... with the controversial receiver going public with a passionate text from his former teammate in May 2021.

AB has made headlines for all the wrong reasons recently -- from ripping his pads off and quitting on the Bucs mid-game in January, to allegedly exposing himself in a public pool, to showing his support for Kanye West's "White Lives Matter" movement ... and most recently, making disrespectful comments about TB12 amid his divorce from Gisele Bündchen.

But before all that, Tom appeared to have sent AB a heartfelt plea to get his act together ... saying, "You are demonstrating very poor decisions and poor communication to so many people who have gone above and beyond to help you."

Remember, Tom and AB were thick as thieves at one point -- the 7-time champ vouched for Brown twice to get the New England Patriots and Bucs to take a chance on him ... but things have turned sour in recent years.

It's unclear what exactly upset Brady -- AB had been previously accused of sexual assault and attacking a moving truck driver (just to name a few incidents), but seemingly kept out of trouble around the time of Tom's text.

TB12 only says he was upset with AB's behavior "over the past few months" ... and made sure not to mince his words when calling out the former star.

"You are acting selfish and unfortunately many of those people are exhausted by the erratic and unpredictable emotional behavior," TB12 says.

In the message, Brady claims AB was humble and ready to improve his life when they first met ... but something changed.

"Unfortunately you have reverted very much back to a young immature man that is selfish, self serving, irrational and irresponsible."

Brady seemingly blames AB's circle for being bad influences ... adding, "You have gone from hanging around good quality people that had genuine interest in seeing you succeed, to seeing others whose lives are erratic and out of control and leading you down a negative path."

Gisele Bündchen is getting super close to a handsome MMA teacher ... and sources connected to the former couple -- Tom Brady and Gisele, that is -- are questioning the timing.

The guy is Joaquim Valente, a jiu-jitsu instructor who lives in Miami. Gisele has known him for at least a year and a half. She took lessons from him, and then signed her 2 kids up for lessons as well.

Gisele and Joaquim were out to dinner in Costa Rica Saturday, with her kids, Benjamin and Vivian. It's especially interesting, because Tom and Gisele made Costa Rica their vacation spot during the off-season.

Gisele and Joaquim did a super sexy photo shoot together more than a year ago for Dust Magazine ... presumably about the art of jiu-jitsu.

Gisele has posted her fondness for Joaquim's MMA teaching skills, saying it gave her confidence and empowerment.

A source connected to Gisele tells TMZ GB and JV are not dating, noting many friends were present in Costa Rica. The source says there were 6 adults and 8 kids at the get-together.

Another source close to the ex-couple is not buying it, asking why this Miami guy is in Costa Rica with her. This source added, "It always seemed weird she just one day abruptly ended the marriage."

Page Six was the first to report on Joaquim and Gisele.

Tom Brady appeared to be on his own for trick-or-treating with the kids -- the Tampa Bay Buccaneers superstar threw on a grim reaper costume for the Halloween festivities ... with no sign of Gisele Bündchen.

Brady posted a pic alongside 9-year-old Vivian and Ben, 12, on Monday ... and he was seemingly in good spirits -- cracking a joke about his all-black attire.

The quarterback and supermodel were known to do cute couples costumes over the course of their 13-year marriage ... including their famous avocado and toast get-up.

TB12 previously said he always left the costume ideas up to the wife ... but given their recent divorce, that's probably out of the question now.

Brady's outfit is about as scary as the Bucs season ... they're currently 3-5 and on a three-game losing streak.

Tom Brady says there hasn't been bad blood between him and Gisele Bundchen during their recent divorce proceedings ... revealing Monday it's all been "a very amicable situation."

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers QB opened up about his split from his supermodel wife for the first time since she filed the docs in Florida last week ... speaking about the breakup and the fallout from it for around two minutes on his "Let's Go!" podcast with Jim Gray.

Brady never mentioned Gisele by name, and spoke largely in vague cliches, but he did say, thankfully, things haven't gotten nasty between the two former lovers.

"Obviously, the good news is it’s a very amicable situation," he said ... before adding his focus is now on two things -- taking care of his family, and winning football games.

"That's what professionals do," the 45-year-old said.

"You focus at work when it's time to work and then when you come home, you focus on the priorities that are at home. All you can do is the best you can do. And, that's what I'll continue to do as long as I'm working and I'm being a dad."

Brady also addressed whether or not it's all affected his play on the field this season ... and he said no -- explaining he's had to deal with a lot in his personal life throughout his 23-year career.

"Everyone is going through different things," he said. "We all have our unique challenges in life. We're all humans. We do the best we can do."

The ink on Tom Brady and Gisele Bündchen's divorce papers isn't even dry yet, but the oddsmakers are already taking bets on who they'll date next ... and go figure -- Pete Davidson is the favorite to be the supermodel's next fling.

The folks at BetOnline made a list of the former power couple's next potential suitors ... and there are some surprising names to say the least.

On Gisele's side, Pete has the best odds at +1200 ... with hunky actor Jason Momoa right behind at +1800.

There are other stars like Leonardo DiCaprio, John Mayer, Chris Evans and Bradley Cooper ... but there's one guy who would definitely stir the pot if it came true -- Brady's best friend and former teammate, Rob Gronkowski.

Naturally, his odds are set at +6900.

A couple never-gonna-happen options include President Donald Trump, New York Jets QB Zach Wilson and Antonio Brown ... who has been trolling TB12 incessantly over the divorce.

For Brady, he has a long list of lovely ladies ... with none other than Taylor Swift leading the pack at +1400.

Models Adriana Lima (+1600) and Alessandra Ambrosio (+1800) are also options ... with Kim Kardashian right behind at (+2500).

Halle Berry, Jennifer Aniston, Bella Hadid, Candice Swanepoel and Charlize Theron are among the names as well.

Tom's ex, Bridget Moynahan, is listed at +4000 ... so the oddsmakers don't see him rekindling that flame anytime soon.

Gronk's GF Camille Kostek is also at +4000 ... which means people thinking there will be a couples swap would rake in some serious dough.

Some silly options include former porn star Mia Khalifa (+20000) and Zach Wilson's mom (+50000).

We broke the story -- Tom and Bündchen finalized their divorce on Friday ... after 13 years together.

Tom Brady and Gisele Bundchen have reached a settlement ending their marriage, and divorce documents will be formally filed today ... sources with direct knowledge tell TMZ.

Our sources say lawyers for both Gisele and Tom have been working with a mediator to hammer out both property settlement and custody, and we're told they have come to terms.

Our sources say the divorce document will be short ... the terms of the settlement will remain confidential and sealed.

The divorce document, we're told, will be filed in Florida. As we reported, the embattled couple's attorneys have been working on this split since early September.

Since then, Gisele's been spending most of her time in the Miami area, where she's been visiting a spiritual healer. Tom, meanwhile, is struggling through a tough season on the field with his Buccaneers.

In fact, today's divorce filing comes right after Tom's team lost a close game in the 4th quarter on Thursday Night Football. It's the first time he's lost 3 consecutive games since 2002. When it rains ...

Story developing ...

Le'Veon Bell's decision to box former UFC fighter Uriah Hall has been questioned by many, and while almost everyone expects the former Pro Bowler to get rolled over, Bell tells us that's not how he sees it going ... he's planning to beat Hall's ass, and one day become champ!

"Honestly, I'm trying to be the best," 30-year-old Bell said when he joined Babcock on the TMZ Sports TV show (airs weekdays on FS1), adding ... "I wanna be a champion at some point."

The 5-time All-Pro is fighting 38-year-old Hall on the Jake Paul vs. Anderson Silva card on Showtime PPV ... and he's a heavy underdog against the former UFC title contender (Uriah beat "Spider," Chris Weidman, Gegard Mousasi in an MMA cage)

Bell -- who beat fellow NFL star Adrian Peterson in his first pro bout in September -- knows he has to go through tough opponents like Uriah if he wants to be a champion.

"The goal I have set in mind, I have to get in the ring with guys like Uriah Hall. He has a ton of experience, he has a lot of fighting background, and the direction I'm trying to go, I gotta beat guys like that. Step in the ring and beat him and Uriah Hall is the next guy."

And, Bell isn't content with just hanging in there ... he wants to end the night with his hand raised.

"I'm going in this fight like I'm trying to win. I got a mission. Uriah Hall is a guy who's on the route of my journey. He's one of those guys I gotta get through. He's gonna be probably one of the toughest guys I done fought because I done fought obviously, I only fought Adrian Peterson, but I haven't even sparred guys with 17 years of experience like Uriah Hall."

Le'Veon was previously rumored as an opponent of Jake Paul's ... so we asked LB if he was interested in fighting the Problem Child, should they both win.

"Yeah, the interest is definitely there, whether I'm the next opponent or whoever my next opponent is. I don't know. If Jake Paul wanna be fight number 2 professionally for me, that would be perfect."

Bell continued ... "Whatever guys that make sense and they put in front of me, I gotta take those guys out and keep on climbing up the ladder, 'cause like I said, I'm trying be a champion and whoever's in my way tryna stop me from that, I'm definitely willing to fight 'em."

Le'Veon last played NFL football in 2021 with the Bucs and Ravens ... and is still only 30. So, would he play again?

Check out the clip ... Bell says there's almost no chance he'd play again, unless one very particular situation presented itself.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers could save their season ... if Rob Gronkowski unretired?!

Warren Moon fully believes that -- with the Hall of Famer telling TMZ Sports he thinks the 3-4 Bucs could turn everything around if Gronk came back this year.

Moon tells us he got the opinion based on everything he's seen out of Tom Brady on the field through seven games. He says he's witnessed the GOAT struggling in the pocket ... and missing an old reliable on important downs.

"He's been a security blanket for [Brady] for so long," Moon said of Gronkowski. "Whenever there's a key play that needs to be made, especially down in the redzone or whatever -- and they had a tough time scoring in the redzone last week -- that's the guy he would usually go to, Rob Gronkowski."

Brady's numbers haven't been horrible so far in 2022 -- he's got 8 passing TDs to just 1 interception -- but something does appear to be off. He only has one multi-TD game this year, and just two performances of over 300 passing yards.

Moon clearly believes Gronkowski could change all of that, and even help out the locker room with his "infectious personality" ... but there's just one problem -- he's not sure if the tight end is even considering coming out of retirement.

Gronk has said repeatedly over the last few months he's done, although his agent, Drew Rosenhaus, has claimed it wouldn't surprise him to see a comeback.

The NFL has completed its investigation into whether two referees asked Mike Evans for an autograph ... and after speaking to both officials, it was determined the postgame interaction did NOT involve getting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers star's Hancock.

Video appeared to show Jeff Lamberth and Tripp Sutter running up to Evans with a piece of paper and a pen after the Bucs' 21-3 loss to the Carolina Panthers ... with many assuming they were taking advantage of an opportunity to get his signature.

The league just released a statement on the matter ... and said despite what it looks like, the refs weren't hunting for a signature.

"After speaking with the individuals involved, we have confirmed that the postgame interaction between Jeff Lamberth, Tripp Sutter, and Mike Evans did not involve a request by the game officials for an autograph," the NFL said.

"Both Lamberth and Sutter have been reminded of the importance of avoiding even the appearance of impropriety when interacting with players, coaches, and club staff on gameday -- including during pregame and postgame time periods."

So ... consider Autographgate over??

Two referees appeared to ask for Mike Evans' autograph following the Buccaneers game on Sunday ... and the optics of it were so bad, the NFL is now investigating it all.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero reported Monday that the league launched its review into the incident shortly after the two men were seen on camera asking the Tampa Bay star for his signature.

Footage shot from inside a tunnel at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte shows the two refs -- ID'ed as side judge Jeff Lamberth and line judge Tripp Sutter -- running up to Evans with a piece of paper and a pen.

They both had the receiver sign the paper -- before the trio hastily headed deeper into the stadium.

According to Pelissero, the NFL-NFLRA CBA says officials are prohibited from asking "players, coaches or any other team personnel for autographs or memorabilia."

It's unclear what punishment -- if any -- the duo is facing over it all.

Antonio Brown is continuing to show no chill whatsoever to his old pal Tom Brady .... he trolled the Bucs star yet again on Sunday -- with another pic of Gisele.

AB released the savage post on his Snapchat just before Brady's Buccaneers took on the Panthers in Carolina ... showing an old pic of Tom and Bundchen -- but with his head photoshopped over Brady's.

In the photo, Brown is smiling ear-to-ear ... and it's another clear shot at his former teammate, who is in the middle of a messy breakup with his longtime partner.

Brown didn't stop there, though ... 'cause after Brady's Bucs got walloped by the lowly Panthers -- Brown took to social media again to continue to roast TB12.

In that post, Brown photoshopped Brady over his own body ... from his infamous MetLife Field incident last season. AB captioned the photo with nothing more than some dancing finger emojis and the hashtag, "#Putthats***On."

Of course, this is not the first time Brown has gone after Brady this season ... you'll recall, just a few weeks ago, he threw up an old picture of him hugging Gisele following Tampa Bay's Super Bowl win over the Chiefs.

Brown also shaded Tom over his mid-training camp hiatus in August ... writing on his Twitter page, "Tom Brady manipulate the game gets 14 days go home get his mind rt lol."

The two used to be good buddies -- in fact, Brady actually let the former star receiver live with him and Gisele when the two first teamed up in New England and then again in South Florida.