Cincinnati Bengals

The Battle of Ohio is getting an offseason showdown this year ... 'cause the Cincinnati Bengals just went after the Cleveland Browns over their white throwback helmets -- claiming they're a blatant rip-off!!

The Browns announced the bold new look on Tuesday ... revealing players will rock non-orange helmets for several games this season -- something the franchise hasn't done in more than 70 years.

While famous Browns supporters like LeBron James praised the clean combo, the Bengals -- who rocked alternate white domes last season -- were far from thrilled ... calling out the team for jacking their swag.

The Bengals shared old footage of team owner Mike Brown discussing the two teams' similar jerseys and colors back in the day ... saying former Browns honcho Art Modell believed Cincy "ripped off" Cleveland's look.

In other words, the Bengals think the roles have been reversed.

The Browns clapped back with their own tweet ... pointing out the fact the team rocked white helmets from 1946-51 -- way before the Bengals even existed.

Incredibly powerful moment at the ESPYs just now ... when Damar Hamlin presented the Buffalo Bills staffers who saved his life back in January with the Pat Tillman Award for Service.

The 25-year-old safety took the stage and was visibly emotional as a video tribute played for the star-studded crowd in attendance ... with Hamlin detailing his commotio cordis incident against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday Night Football.

"I didn't wake up that morning in January thinking that I would need someone to save my life that day," Hamlin said in the clip, "and I doubt the training staff thought that they would have to do what they did either."

"That, as much as anything else, is what I took away from what happened to me 6 1/2 months ago ... that any of us, at any given time, are capable of doing something as incredible as saving a life, and living a life in service of others."

After the video, the audience gave Hamlin a standing ovation as he welcomed the staffers on stage to accept the award, which is given to sports figures who served others like Tillman, who died while deployed in Afghanistan in 2004.

Hamlin shared a hug with several staffers for a bit before head trainer Nate Breske gave a touching speech.

"Damar, first and foremost, thank you for staying alive, brother," Breske said. "Seriously, we are so honored to be standing up here with such a strong and courageous human being."

Breske also stressed the importance of CPR training -- something Hamlin has campaigned for in the months following the incident.

Deion Sanders is slated to have emergency surgery on Friday ... after a blood clot was discovered in his groin.

Former Cincinnati Bengals cornerback Adam "Pacman" Jones shared the news just minutes ago ... saying Prime Time will go under the knife at 6 AM to fix the issue.

"I had a chance to talk to him this morning," Jones said on "The Pat McAfee Show" on Thursday. "I said, 'Man, I hope they don't have to cut off your d***.' That's what I told him."

"I said, 'Bro, it would be bad if they have to cut off your d***, bro. Just cut the leg off.'"

Of course, Sanders is no stranger to blood clot issues -- he previously had two toes amputated and underwent multiple surgeries due to a lack of circulation in his left leg ... and doctors feared he was at risk of losing his foot if his condition did not improve.

Jones said he's seen Prime fight through his obstacles ... and it's been difficult to watch.

"I just want him to get healthy, man."

It appears the Cincinnati mayor is taking Travis Kelce's advice by knowing his role and shutting his mouth ... 'cause Aftab Pureval just helped the Bengals announce their Week 17 matchup with the K.C. Chiefs -- and poked fun at his misfired trash talk in the process.

The team just dropped the funny clip on Wednesday ... showing newly-acquired offensive tackle Orlando Brown helping him record the promo inside his office.

"The Bengals play the Chiefs Week 17 ... and I've got nothing else to add," Pureval said in the clip.

When the mayor asked Brown how he did, the lineman jokes it "was better than the last time."

Remember, Pureval put his foot in his mouth days before last season's AFC Championship Game ... calling on Joe Burrow to take a paternity test to determine if he's Patrick Mahomes' dad, as he was 3-0 in head-to-head matchups at the time.

But, as we all know, the Chiefs ended up coming away with the 23-20 win ... and Kelce made sure to call out the Cincy mayor right after the game by channeling his inner Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson.

"Know your role and shut your mouth, you jabroni!!" Kelce said after the game.

Damar Hamlin's near-death experience apparently brought him even closer to his Cincinnati buddies ... 'cause the Buffalo Bills safety spent part of his offseason hanging with the Bengals' trio of star receivers -- including Tee Higgins -- less than five months after his on-field collapse.

Of course, Hamlin was already tight with receiver Tyler Boyd ... as the two grew up playing against each other on the youth football field in Pennsylvania.

But, the longtime pals were joined by fellow Bengals route runners Higgins and Ja'Marr Chase when they decided to take a trip to the desert sometime recently ... with the four NFL stars posting up next to some ATVs.

"Hot Boyz," Boyd captioned the shot.

Remember, Damar was attempting to tackle Tee during the Jan. 2 Monday Night Football game before suffering commotio cordis and being rushed to a local hospital.

Higgins and his mother remained at the facility throughout the night ... and were there every step of the way to support Hamlin's family.

Now, five months later, Hamlin is thankfully cleared to return to normal life AND his football career ... and has since used his story to spread awareness for AEDs and CPR training.

Joe Mixon appeared in an Ohio courtroom on Wednesday to fight back in his aggravated menacing case ... pleading not guilty to the misdemeanor charge he was hit with earlier this month.

The NFL star wore a white button-down shirt and dark pants for the occasion ... and said nothing to reporters neither during his arrival nor during his exit at his arraignment hearing in Hamilton County.

During the proceedings, Mixon entered his plea ... and his bond was set at $10,000.

As we reported, Mixon was initially charged with aggravated menacing on Feb. 2 -- after prosecutors said he threatened to shoot a woman during a road rage incident on Jan. 21.

The charge was dismissed after officials said they needed "additional investigation" -- but it was refiled on April 7 after authorities said they found new evidence in the case.

Joe Mixon is facing a criminal charge of aggravated menacing once again ... police just announced the case against the NFL star has been refiled.

According to the Cincinnati Police Dept., "the discovery of new evidence during the investigative process" led to the refiling of the criminal charge on Friday.

Mixon was first hit with the misdemeanor in February ... after a woman claimed he threatened to shoot her during what she described as a "road rage" incident back on Jan. 21 -- the day before the Bengals' playoff game against the Buffalo Bills.

According to police documents, the 43-year-old woman claimed it all happened just after noon in Cincinnati, when Mixon "brandished a firearm and threatened to" fire on her.

A warrant for Mixon's arrest was filed on Feb. 2, but the case was dismissed a day later, after prosecutors said they needed "additional investigation before we would move forward with this case." Officials had maintained there was still a chance it could all be refiled in the future.

"To preserve a fair and impartial judicial process for all parties involved," CPD officials said in announcing the charge Friday, "no investigatory details or evidence will be disclosed outside of official court proceedings."

Joe Mixon's sister turned herself in to authorities on Thursday after she was charged for her alleged role in a shooting at the NFL star's home earlier this month ... and on Friday, she pleaded not guilty to all counts -- TMZ Sports has confirmed.

Shalonda Mixon, the 34-year-old sibling of the Cincinnati Bengals running back, was booked into Hamilton County Jail at 6:54 PM Thursday ... and spent the night behind bars, records show.

A Hamilton County court official tells us she had an arraignment hearing on Friday morning, where she pleaded not guilty to one count of tampering with evidence and one count of obstruction of justice.

Her bond, the court official said, was then set at $5,000.

Prosecutors have accused Shalonda Mixon of attempting to cover up a shooting that happened at Joe Mixon's house in the Cincinnati area on March 6.

According to prosecutors, Shalonda Mixon's boyfriend, Lamonte Brewer, shot at a teenager who was playing with a toy Nerf gun near the football player's backyard -- striking him once in the foot.

Shalonda Mixon then allegedly tried to scoop up the shell casings, before fleeing the scene with Brewer in a car. Prosecutors say she's facing up to four years behind bars if convicted.

Brewer has also been charged in connection with the shooting -- he was indicted for, among other charges, felony assault on Thursday -- and is facing up to 20 years behind bars if convicted.

Prosecutors say Joe Mixon's sister's boyfriend fired 10-to-11 rounds at a teenager outside of the NFL star's home earlier this month -- striking the boy once in the foot -- and now, the man is facing serious prison time over it all.

Hamilton County prosecutor Melissa Powers held a news conference on Thursday afternoon to give an update on the case ... revealing 34-year-old Lamonte Brewer, Shalonda Mixon's BF, has been hit with four criminal charges, including felony assault, after investigators say he shot at a 16-year-old who was playing with a Nerf gun near Joe Mixon's house in Ohio on March 6 at around 8:30 PM.

Powers said surveillance footage, obtained via search warrant on Joe Mixon's home, showed Brewer and Joe Mixon in the Bengals star's backyard as teens were outside of it playing a game called "Nerf wars."

She said video showed Brewer at one point open fire on a 16-year-old who was running near the yard with a toy gun ... nearly hitting the boy in the head.

"It's a miracle he was not killed," Powers said.

Video, the prosecutor claimed, showed Joe Mixon was in the yard at the time of the shooting and did have a gun on his person too, but never drew the weapon, and "as a legal gun owner, [Joe] Mixon had the right to possess the firearm and did not commit a crime."

She said the NFL player had been concerned for his safety recently after receiving death threats on social media.

She did say, though, that the video showed Shalonda Mixon -- Joe's 34-year-old sister -- picking up shell casings in the yard ... before she took off with Brewer in a car.

Powers said cops eventually stopped the vehicle -- and found the gun, a Zastava M92, that was used in the shooting earlier in the evening in the ride's trunk.

Powers said in addition to the four charges they've filed against Brewer, they also hit Shalonda Mixon with one count of tampering with evidence and one count of obstruction of justice. Powers said Brewer is facing up to 20 years behind bars if convicted, while Shalonda Mixon is facing four.

"It's unbelievable that something like this could happen," Powers said. "It's hard to fathom how anyone could aim a gun at a child, let alone fire 10 to 11 rounds at him."

Joe Mixon's agent, Peter Schaffer, released a statement following Powers' news conference ... saying the Cincinnati tailback "witnessed an individual carrying what appeared to be a rifle racing directly towards his property as the individual continued to bark instructions."

"When another individual discharged a firearm, Joe interceded to stop the person discharging a firearm. Joe hates that a young adult was injured during this incident."

While the NFL is in a free agency frenzy, Cincinnati Bengals stars Ja'Marr Chase and Tee Higgins are steering clear of the chaos ... by enjoying a yacht party with a group of women in Miami!!

Joe Burrow's favorite targets hopped aboard a fancy boat in Florida on Monday ... and they had plenty of tequila to go around for their day in the sun.

Higgins' Clemson teammate/Arizona Cardinals linebacker Isaiah Simmons and several female companions joined the Bengals stars for the trip ... and everything seemed pretty chill as they sat around and talked.

Of course, Chase is still in the middle of his rookie deal ... so he's not sweating all the deals being made left and right as the NFL's free agency period kicks off.

Higgins, on the other hand, is entering the final year of his current contract ... and the Bengals are hoping to lock him in long-term.

Safe to say he's not worried about his status ... sitting with a bottle of what appears to be Casamigos in front of him as he enjoys some R&R.

The teammates that party on yachts together ... win together??

Shalonda Mixon -- the sister of Joe Mixon -- has been named as a suspect along with one other in the shooting incident at the NFL star's home earlier this week ... this according to new police documents, obtained by TMZ Sports.

According to a Hamilton County Sheriff's Office incident report, several juveniles were playing a game called "dart wars" near Joe Mixon's house in Cincinnati on Monday at around 8:25 PM -- when the shooting occurred.

Police in the docs say two of the participants in the game told them one of the other players -- a 16-year-old boy -- had run alongside his house with a "Nerf" style toy gun when he suddenly came under fire.

Per the docs, "unknown suspect(s)" shot at the boy from Joe Mixon's backyard ... allegedly firing off a total of 11 rounds.

The teenager, according to the docs, was struck in the foot by a bullet as he attempted to run away.

Police say in the docs a black Honda Accord was spotted leaving Joe Mixon's home just after the shooting. An ensuing police stop, cops say, revealed 34-year-old Shalonda Mixon and a 34-year-old man named Lamonte Brewer were the occupants of the vehicle. Both were ID'ed as suspects in the shooting incident.

Cops say the boy, meanwhile, was transported to the hospital, where medical personnel discovered he had a bullet still lodged inside his foot.

The HCSO said no arrests have been made and no charges have been filed.

"We understand that there is very specific interest in this story due to the nature of the home being connected to Bengals player Joe Mixon," an HCSO spokesperson said in a statement Thursday. "We cannot confirm additional details outside of what is outlined in the Incident Report. Our investigative team continues to review the evidence and conduct interviews."

Joe Mixon's trainer called 911 on Monday night from the NFL star's home to report hearing gunshots outside of the residence ... this according to new police audio, obtained by TMZ Sports.

Sean Pena -- a famed personal trainer who's worked out with high-profile athletes like Antonio Brown in the past -- put in the call from Mixon's Cincinnati-area house at around 8:25 PM ... police records show.

In the call, you can hear Pena say several "kids" were playing near Mixon's home ... and had, at one point, blocked off the street with their cars.

"One kid was running around brandishing a weapon and he went back to his car and it looked like it was a fake weapon," Pena said. "But then I kept watching, watching, watching and then he was screaming something and he went back to his car and he pulled out another weapon. It looked like a Kel-Tec or something and ran up the back driveway of this house that he had been going up and down, and said, 'F*** yeah.'"

That's when Pena said he heard what sounded like five gunshots.

"Then all the sudden I heard him running, running down there, and you heard 'Pop, pop, pop, pop, pop,'" Pena told dispatch.

Pena said three of the cars in the area then "sped off."

The trainer, who described the home he was in as "my athlete's house," went on to say he had been watching the group of individuals playing outside for 10-15 minutes.

Police documents show when officers arrived on the scene they found a juvenile suffering from a gunshot wound to his foot. They noted he did not want medical attention, saying his dad is a doctor. Later in the report, police noted the victim "believes he has a bullet fragment in his foot."

Police also said in the documents a shell casing had been found in the rear of Mixon's house.

The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office, meanwhile, has shed little details on the incident publicly. It said in a press release Tuesday officers responded to the area for a report of shots fired. It added that officials conducted a search warrant on a home in the area -- and did confirm a residence belonging to Mixon is "part of the crime scene."

"We hope to provide a more comprehensive update to the investigation later this week," an HCSO spokesperson said.

We've reached out to Pena for comment, but so far, no word back yet.

Multiple cops reportedly entered Joe Mixon's Cincinnati-area home on Monday night ... hours after they launched an investigation into an alleged shooting in the NFL star's neighborhood.

The Hamilton County Sheriff's Office said its officers headed out to the 7900 block of Ayers Road -- where Mixon lives in Ohio -- at around 8:25 PM after receiving a call of gunshots being fired.

A juvenile, according to cops, had been injured and transported to the hospital.

On-the-scene reporter Chancelor Winn said deputies cordoned off Mixon's home with caution tape after arriving -- and, at one point, knocked on his door while saying, "Sheriff’s Department. Come out."

Eventually, per Winn, they gained entry into the Bengals running back's home at around 1:30 AM. They left roughly two hours later. No arrests were made.

It's unclear if Mixon had any involvement in the investigation -- but WLWT News 5 reports his sister said the 26-year-old "was not involved in the shooting Monday night that injured a teenager."

Mixon has yet to publicly comment on the matter.

Story developing ...

The guy who got a million bucks for selling the record-breaking Powerball ticket didn't spend the dough on a new car or a fancy vacation ... so says his son-in-law, ex-NFL star Domata Peko, who tells TMZ Sports he gave $100k to his grandkids instead!!

Joe Chahayed -- who owns the Joe's Service Center gas station in Altadena, CA -- was the man of the hour in November ... after it was announced his shop sold the $2 BILLION ticket.

We spoke with 38-year-old Peko about Joe's million-dollar payday ... and he says it really wasn't so life-changing, 'cause he's still grinding every day at work!!

"That's the one thing about him, he's one of the hardest workers I know," Peko said. "He's been working forever. And even though he won and got that quick little million, he's still grinding, bro."

The former Cincinnati Bengals nose tackle says Chahayed didn't ball out with his winnings, but set his grandchildren up with an amazing financial gift.

"I'm like, 'hell yeah,' that's the type of person he is, man," Peko said. "He loves to give back. And that's why I think God keeps blessing him, man, because he loves to give."

As it turns out, good karma might be heading Chahayed's way ... 'cause Peko says he heard the person who won -- a man named Edwin Castro, who reportedly collected the prize as a lump sum of $997.6 million -- wants to give Joe a nice "thank you" gift!!

Peko also said there's now a line out Chahayed's door every time there's a huge drawing ... with customers hoping luck strikes again at his station.

Of course, a lawsuit was filed as a result of the lotto ... with a guy named Jose Rivera claiming he was the real winner, but his ticket was stolen.

Jason Derulo sees big things happening for women's pro volleyball after the star musician launched a brand new volleyball franchise in Nebraska ... and the org will be part of a league founded by Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow!

Derulo joined Babcock on the "TMZ Sports" TV show (airs nightly on FS1) ... where the "Trumpets" singer broke the news, announcing his new team will play in the Pro Volleyball Federation -- a league founded in part by the star QB.

"I'm excited because volleyball is on a crazy trajectory."

The league, PVF, will launch in February 2024, and they plan to play across the country in some of the biggest arenas.

FYI, volleyball's huge in the Cornhusker state. In fact, since 2013, the University of Nebraska's squad has led the nation in attendance, even setting a record last year when nearly 16K fans packed their arena to watch a match.

That's to say, Derulo, who has 57 million followers on TikTok, wholeheartedly believes the sport is on the come up in a big way.

"It's on the way up and to be a small part in what these ladies created is pretty incredible to me. I think it's gonna change sports forever."

And, unlike in a sport such as basketball, where the men's game is more popular, women run volleyball.

"Women's volleyball is actually leading. It's not the guys this time that are leading. I'd like for real pro volleyball to be the platform that just changes women's sports forever."

FYI, Jason also teamed up with his business partner, Danny White, who is from Omaha.

"The trajectory just seems so bright," 33-year-old Derulo said, adding ... "It's just been growing year after year after year and if it continues on this path, especially with this platform, I think it can absolutely be the next big thing."

Jason says he also wants to be the owner of the team with the "happiest players in the world," saying "I wanna make sure everybody is living their dream."

A.J. Green is moving on ... the star wide receiver announced on Monday he's retiring from the NFL after 11 seasons in the league with the Bengals and Cardinals.

"I’ve never been a man of many words, so I’ll keep this short," Green wrote on Instagram, adding ... "Thank you. Thank you to all who have supported, encouraged, and inspired me throughout my career."

34-year-old Green continued ... "Special thank you to the University of Georgia, Cincinnati Bengals, and Arizona Cardinals for the opportunity to pursue my dreams. I’ve stayed true to the game and it owes me nothing. Be blessed.. Love y’all! The next chapter begin."

Green was selected by the Bengals in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft ... where he spent the first nine seasons of his career playing in Cincinnati.

A 7x Pro Bowler, Green was one of the best wide receivers to ever put on a Bengals uniform, accumulating 649 receptions, 9,470 yards, and 65 touchdowns during his tenure.

Green finished his Bengals career second all-time in receptions, yards, and touchdowns, behind only Chad Johnson, who also played 11 seasons with Cinci (2001-2011).

In 2021, Green signed with the Arizona Cardinals -- joining forces with wide receivers DeAndre Hopkins and Christian Kirk -- where he spent the final two years of his career.

Green's former quarterback, Kyler Murray, praised the wideout after his announcement ... writing, "One of the best to ever do it. Appreciate ya bro."