Cincinnati Bengals

Here's the handsome Pittsburgh Steelers' Mascot "Steely McBeem" smiling for the camera (left) -- and the ferocious Cincinnati Bengals' mascot "Who Dey" pumping up the crowd (right).

Aaron Maybin's career took a surprising turn for the better last night -- 'cause after the linebacker was 86'd from the Cincinnati Bengals on "Hard Knocks," demand for his artwork went through the roof ... TMZ has learned.

Maybin's demise from the team was chronicled on the HBO docu-series last night -- along with his passion for painting. Cameras rolled as he worked on two pieces ... and his stuff was actually pretty good.

In fact, after the show ... Maybin tells TMZ his online gallery had “one of, if not THE biggest nights” of sales he’s ever seen.

AM says he was bummed out that his release from the team was televised -- telling us, "I turned my phone off last night, I just didn’t want to talk to anyone.” But when he turned it back on, Aaron says he was bombarded with messages from people asking how to get their hands on his artwork.

Maybin says he's feeling much better about his future today -- saying, "Regardless of whatever happens football-wise, I'm probably gonna make more money in my art career."

You saw the injury ... you saw the tears ... but Cincinnati Bengals lineman Larry Black tells TMZ he is DETERMINED to get back into the NFL after mangling his leg in a freak accident captured on "Hard Knocks."

Millions watched as Black's promising rookie campaign came to a heart wrenching end last week when he suffered a dislocated ankle and broken fibula during a routine practice drill.

The big man's tearful phone call to his parents to pick him up from the hospital was... gulp, tissue... was the most poignant scene in the gritty behind the scenes show's history.

"The outpouring of support has been crazy ... thousands of tweets and letters coming from all over the world."

Black says doctors estimate his recovery will take between 6 and 12 months ... but he's confident, the injury won't stop him from pursuing his NFL dreams.

"If for some reason I don’t make it back – I've got a degree in Sports Management from Indiana and I’ll try to get a job with either a college or pro team helping to work with the athletes."

"But honestly I’m not even thinking about that right now. I’m just focused on getting back as quickly as possible. I’ll definitely be back."

There's a silver lining for the big man, who was an undrafted free agent ... because the injury was sustained on the field, he'll still get paid for the season -- and will pull in a figure just north of $200k ... in addition to his medical care.

In the meantime, Black says he's still rooting hard for the orange and black -- telling us he expects nothing less than a Super Bowl season.

Cincinnati Bengals star Pacman Jones just pleaded NOT GUILTY to assault ... after allegedly socking a woman in the face outside of a Cincinnati nightclub last week.

Jones insists he was "protecting himself" during the June 5 incident ... after a woman appeared to pour a drink on the 29-year-old cornerback outside of a Cincinnati nightclub.

Just yesterday, surveillance video of the incident surfaced ... appearing to show the woman lunging toward Jones with a drink in her hand. The person believed to be Jones reacts by clocking her in the face ... hard.

The woman pressed assault charges ... police characterized her injuries as minor ... and just yesterday, Pac turned himself in to police.

Now, with Jones entering a not guilty plea ... it's clear he's digging in for a legal war.

New surveillance footage has surfaced appearing to show NFL star Adam "Pacman" Jones bashing a woman in the face outside of an Ohio nightclub after she seemingly poured a drink on him.

Pacman insists he was merely "protecting himself" during the Wednesday night altercation outside of a Cincinnati nightclub ... and judging from the video, it seems the woman made the first aggressive move.

The footage (around the 1:55 mark) shows a woman reaching over to Pacman with what appears to be a drink in her hand. It seems the woman poured her drink on Jones ... and he reacted by unleashing a punch to her head.

The woman filed a police report accusing Jones of assault -- and earlier today, the Cincinnati Bengals player turned himself in.

Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Pacman Jones (29) and former Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson (35) have both found themselves on the wrong side of the law in the past 24 hours.

Nick Lachey isn't just a heckler ... he CHOKED a San Diego Chargers fan at Qualcomm Stadium on Sunday and called the guy's wife a "f**king b*tch" ... this according to multiple people involved in the incident ... but Nick says it's all BS.

TMZ has obtained new video ... which shows Lachey getting aggressive with a Chargers fan who was wearing an Igor Olshansky #99 jersey (Igor played for SD from 2004 to 2008).

We spoke to the guy in the jersey ... who tells us Lachey and his buddies -- all die-hard Bengals fans -- had been talking trash to him about the jersey for most of the 2nd half of the game.

The Chargers fan says Lachey made one particularly offensive comment about Olshansky that crossed the line ... and that's when the fan's wife shot back to Nick, "Well, he lasted longer than your boy band."

We're told Lachey flipped out and called the wife a "f**king b*tch" ... along with "a host of other profanities."

Tensions exploded ... and the Chargers fan says Nick lunged towards him ... grabbed him by the throat and shoved him to the ground. The fight can be seen in the footage obtained by TMZ.

As we previously reported, stadium security quickly responded and ejected Nick and his buddies. The Chargers fans were NOT asked to leave.

After the incident, Nick went to Twitter and BRAGGED about the situation -- saying, "Just got kicked out of the chargers stadium and couldn't be prouder! Go Cincy Bengals."

He later acknowledged the altercation ... tweeting, "i simply don't appreciate someone turning around and putting their finger in my face. call me crazy, but that deserved a reaction."

We're told the Chargers fan plans to file a police report against Lachey.

Nick's rep tells TMZ, “This was a verbal exchange between sports fans of opposing teams that went too far. While Nick isn't proud of what happened, he did not choke anyone or use defamatory language to any women at the stadium -- which the video tape clearly supports."

2:15 PM PT -- Lachey has issued a statement about the situation on Twitter ... saying, "For the record, i was not kicked out of the chargers game for excessive 'trash talking'. no, that honor belonged to the guy in front of me!"

He added, "i simply don't appreciate someone turning around and putting their finger in my face. call me crazy, but that deserved a reaction."

Lachey also praised Chargers fans ... saying, "aside from a few exceptions, i had a great time hanging with Charger fans all afternoon. honestly, some of the nicest fans around."

Nick Lachey -- a HUGE Cincinnati Bengals fan -- was escorted out of the stands at the San Diego Chargers football game this weekend ... after security decided his TRASH TALK crossed the line.

It's unclear exactly what Nick said to piss off stadium security ... but after he was ejected, the former boy-bander actually BRAGGED about getting the boot, tweeting:

"Just got kicked out of the chargers stadium and couldn't be prouder! Go Cincy Bengals"

A short time later, AFTER Cincy defeated the crappy Chargers, Lachey tweeted again:

"Bengals win again. i'd talk trash to everyone in SD, but what's the point? you already had me kicked out of the stadium and you still lost."

As for the kid in the Chargers gear in the photo with Nick, he was just a random fan -- and after the game, the kid's dad fired off a tweet to Lachey:

"Thanks for taking the pic with my son and being cool to us. Congrats on the Bengals win!"

Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Jerome Simpson (left) is now the target of a massive drug investigation -- after police confiscated a mind-blowing 8.5 POUNDS of marijuana from his Kentucky home.

To put this in perspective -- casual pot smokers typically purchase by the gram ... and there are over 453 grams in a pound.

According to reports, cops searched Simpson's home after snagging a package that was shipped to his house -- containing 2.5 pounds of Mary Jane -- and then found another 6 pounds of weed, packaging materials, scales, and smoking devices.

A rep for the National Marijuana Initiative -- which coordinates marijuana enforcement operations around the country -- believes the house was set up as a "potential distribution network."

Bengals tackle Anthony Collins (right) was also present when police raided the home -- and he's being investigated as well. Police detained the two players during the search, but neither was arrested.

After throwing down 3 chicken wings, a waffle and some yams and greens on the side ... Ochocinco strutted out of the place and told us that his ribs are still "broken" from some brutal hits he took on the field.

FYI -- if you're wondering why Chad was in Los Angeles on his day off, dude tweeted earlier in the week that he was flying in to surprise his son.