Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Baker Mayfield has a pretty polarizing reputation in the NFL ... but Lavonte David is here to set the record straight on who the quarterback REALLY is -- telling TMZ Sports the former No. 1 overall pick is actually very "humble" and a great guy to be around.

The retired Buccaneers linebacker played with Mayfield when the quarterback joined Tampa in 2023 -- and admitted he initially expected him to match the outside perception of being cocky and kind of a diva at times.

"He's nothing what people say," David said.

Well, that was quick.

10 days after a mansion that once belonged to Antonio Brown hit the open market ... TMZ Sports has learned the pad is now under contract.

Real estate sources tell us there were multiple offers on the house -- listed for just under $4 million -- but someone has swooped in and offered to buy it at full price in cash.

A mansion once belonging to Antonio Brown has hit the market ... and if you happen to have a spare $4 million hanging around -- it can all be yours!!

TMZ Sports has learned the pad -- located along Lake Keystone in Odessa, FL -- was listed for sale on Wednesday. AB owned it until he gave it up as part of his bankruptcy proceedings to pay back his creditors

The over 13,000-square-foot property, which includes climate-controlled garages for 11 vehicles, comes with six bedrooms and eight bathrooms ... and you're not gonna believe what all is packed inside the pad.

TMZ Sports has obtained footage from the night of Doug Martin's death ... showing the former NFL star acting erratically as he broke into a home before passing away in police custody.

The Oakland PD just released the 911 calls, body cam, and surveillance video of the October 18 incident.

In the first call, the homeowner said someone had broken into their home and asked responders to hurry. The caller stated this was the second time this happened.

As the first call came in, dispatch received another from Martin's mother ... who explained Doug had left his house on foot and was experiencing a mental-health emergency. She said Martin takes sleeping pills, but he hadn't slept for three days.

The sports world is finally hearing from Emeka Egbuka after an X account with his name shared a viral post questioning whether CTE is real ... and he's confirming what the Tampa Buccaneers said earlier this week -- he had nothing to do with it!!

Egbuka posted a statement on his Instagram Friday afternoon, clearing the air about his affiliation with the account.

"I haven't had twitter since high school," Egbuka wrote. "That account on X isn't me."

A bizarre social media controversy is swirling around Tampa Bay Buccaneers wide receiver Emeka Egbuka … after a viral post questioning whether CTE is real sparked outrage -- and now the team is insisting the account behind it isn’t actually his.

The drama kicked off on Wednesday when a blue-check X account claiming to belong to Egbuka fired off a short but explosive message at 2:27 PM ET: “Is CTE even real?”

The post spread quickly across the football world … with fans blasting the sentiment given CTE -- chronic traumatic encephalopathy -- is a brain disease linked to repeated head trauma in football.

But about an hour later, the Buccaneers’ communications department jumped in to try to put out the fire.

Before this cool kid in his jersey turned into a professional football player, he was just the star athlete of his high school's football, basketball and track teams ...

He played college ball at Texas A&M, and he's currently a Tampa Bay Buccaneer.

NFL player Tez Johnson's ex-fiancée just put him on blast times a billion -- claiming the Tampa Bay Buccaneers receiver cheated on her with sexual texts to a former partner before AND after he proposed last year.

The woman shared her side of the story on TikTok ... where she detailed how Feb. 21, 2025 was supposed to be one of the most memorable days of her life.

It certainly still is -- just not how she had hoped.

Only Bert Kreischer could equate Baker Mayfield to a walking, talking pressure cooker … and mean it as the highest compliment.

TMZ Sports caught up with the comedian this week in NYC ... and he declared the Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback the king of pressure -- and yes, he meant it literally.

"There's always pressure on Baker Mayfield, that's the way Baker Mayfield lives," Kreischer said. "He s***s with pressure, he pisses with pressure, he drinks with pressure, he takes his daughter to school with pressure -- that's why he's so f***ing great."

Kreischer went on to hype Mayfield as a "coal waiting to pop into a diamond" as the QB prepares to enter the final year under his current contract.

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers might have found their good luck charm for 2026 -- at least that’s what star wideout Mike Evans told rookie defensive lineman Elijah Roberts after his mother showed off her pipes last week!

Roberts’ mom, Shanda, sang the national anthem before Saturday’s season finale over the Carolina Panthers -- a game they won -- and Elijah tells TMZ Sports his teammates all want her to come back after the dub ... a proud son moment for the young player

“I knew she would kill it,” Elijah told us. “I knew she also would be super nervous, but I’m nervous before every game, too. It was just crazy it lined up that the game she sang was the game for us to win to have a chance to get into the playoffs too.”

We also spoke to Shanda, who has been singing anthems at big events, including several Miami Heat games, for years. So, when the Bucs asked her last summer to sing for them, she didn't think twice.

Shaquil Barrett -- who had a whopping 19.5 sacks in the 2019 season -- believes Myles Garrett will be the new sack king after Sunday's game against the Bengals ... telling TMZ Sports there's no way his accomplishment should come with an asterisk!!

We spoke with Shaq about Garrett's quest to surpass Michael Strahan and T.J. Watt's shared NFL single-season record at 22.5 sacks ... and considering those guys reached their accomplishments in a lesser amount (Strahan needed 16, Watt just 15), we asked how he feels the Cleveland Browns superstar's numbers should be received, considering he'll have required more chances at 17.

Garrett is currently sitting right behind the No. 1 spot ... and needs 0.5 to tie.

Barrett said it doesn't matter -- the schedule isn't Garrett's fault -- and the game gets harder as time goes on.

It's safe to say Todd Bowles wasn’t in a great mood after his Tampa Bay Buccaneers lost on a last-second field goal to the Atlanta Falcons ... going on an expletive-laced postgame press conference -- calling his team’s performance "in-f***ing-excusable."

Bowles met with the media after Falcons kicker Zane Gonzalez lifted Atlanta to a 29-28 win to send the Bucs to a 7-7 record following "Thursday Night Football," and he wasn’t hiding his feelings.

“It's inexcusable," Bowles said. "We don't make excuses. You gotta f***ing care enough where the sh*t hurts. You gotta f***ing care enough where the sh*t hurts. Gotta f***ing mean something to you. It's more than a job, it's your f***ing livelihood. How well do you know your job? How well can you do your job? You can't sugarcoat that sh*t.”

Bert Kreischer's a diehard Tampa Bay Buccaneers fan, and he LOVES Baker Mayfield ... and we now know why.

The uber-popular comedian joined Babcock on the heels of the Bucs' third straight loss, when we asked whether he'd lost faith in his squad.

Kreischer hasn't, saying "I still feel good" ... though it's the why that's notable.

A high-end trading card shop owned by Tom Brady was robbed in New York City of nearly $10,000 worth of baseball and Pokémon cards, according to police.

The NYPD says the incident occurred shortly before noon on October 20 ... when a man at CardVault by Tom Brady attempted to purchase items, but his payment declined.

The suspect then allegedly managed to trick the employee into believing the items were paid for, before ultimately walking out of the store with $9,710 worth of merchandise.

We're a few days away from throwback Thursday, but that didn't stop Baker Mayfield from strolling down memory lane during Monday night's "Manningcast," cracking a joke about his infamous 2017 arrest!

Mayfield was a guest on Eli and Peyton Manning's popular show, where the three quarterbacks were chopping it up with the 8-year pro and NFL star ... when they rolled a week 6 highlight of Baker scrambling, looking like a Mike Vick (not really) rather than the Bucs signalcaller.

The Giants legend then asked Bake when he got the time to practice scrambling ... and cue the comedy.