Denver Broncos

Russell Wilson and Ciara are officially making Denver their new home -- 'cause the Broncos QB just plunked down $25 million on a gorgeous mansion ... an all-time high for a single-family home in the area!

The 33-year-old copped the new crib -- which sits on 5.34 acres -- earlier this month in Englewood, CO ... a 24-minute drive from the Empower Field at Mile High stadium.

The 20,060 square foot estate has plenty of room for Russ, Ciara and their three children. The house features four bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a nine-car garage and a large fireplace for those cold Rocky mountain nights.

There's also a 2,590-square-foot indoor pool, game room, home theater and full basketball court.

The Wilsons bought the place (in an off-market deal) for a record-breaking $26 million -- the most expensive price tag for a single family home in the Denver area.

The previous record was a penthouse at the Four Seasons building that sold for $16M in 2020 ... and former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan's mansion which sold for $15.7M.

It's definitely an upgrade in size for the Wilson family ... their Washington home -- that just went on the market for $36 million -- was a little over 11,000 square feet.

Of course, the recent real estate moves happened due to the Seattle Seahawks trading the 9x Pro Bowler to the Broncos last month.

Russell Wilson's love for Ciara is unliiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiimited -- the Denver Broncos quarterback was getting hot and heavy with his wife after the Oscars ... and they couldn't help but share the sexy moment on video.

Russ and Ciara hit up the Vanity Fair after-party on Sunday ... and as always, they looked incredible. Russ sported an all-black, double-breasted suit with black shoes ... while Ciara donned a revealing burgundy dress and gold shoes.

Ciara shared some BTS shots of their big night on the town ... with Wilson showing the singer a ton of affection as he kisses her on her cheek.

"An after party with you is My Type a Party," Ciara wrote on her post.

Of course, Wilson and Ciara are no strangers to PDA ... and have been practically bragging about how in love they are -- so Sunday's lovefest shouldn't come as a surprise.

No matter how great they looked, there was no upstaging Will Smith, who slapped Chris Rock just hours earlier in the night ... as he was also at the VF bash literally getting jiggy with it.

Empower Field at Mile High Stadium -- the home of the Denver Broncos -- caught on fire on Thursday ... and images from the scene are alarming.

No word on what caused the blaze ... but Denver Fire says suite and third-level areas of the stadium seats underneath John Lynch's spot on the Ring of Fame were affected.

Several sections of the stadium were destroyed ... but luckily, DFD says the fire has since been put out, thanks to sprinklers and brave firefighters.

Huge clouds of smoke are filling the Denver skyline ... with several witnesses posting their views of the fire.

Mile High opened in 2001 ... and has hosted Broncos games, concerts and soccer matches. It could become one of the game locations for the 2026 World Cup.

Denver fans are going to love this ...

Russell Wilson is already building up serious chemistry with his new star receiver Courtland Sutton -- hitting the dude in stride for a huge TD pass in a workout in the quarterback's backyard on Tuesday.

The new Denver signal-caller just posted the vid -- his first-ever in Broncos gear -- and even though he's on a new squad, his arm certainly still looks the same.

Watch the clip, Wilson fired off a 50-yard strike to Sutton, who came down with the ball while sliding into the endzone.

The two dapped up on the field after the play -- and following the training session, Russ was clearly hyped about his new teammate.

"Uh oh," Wilson wrote, adding a "😏" emoji.

Of course, the sight is going to make Seahawks fans cringe -- particularly after Seattle brass said in statements last week that it was Wilson who originally asked for a trade.

Breaking up is hard to do -- just ask Seahawks super fan Joel McHale ... who's not doing so well after finding out his favorite team shipped away star quarterback Russell Wilson to the Broncos.

TMZ Sports spoke with McHale out at LAX on Friday afternoon -- just a couple days after his Seattle squad parted ways with Russ -- and the comedian told us he's been pretty down in the dumps over the trade.

"I'm just as surprised as you are," McHale said. "I thought he was staying. Clearly, I was wrong. That was shocking news."

Joel had previously told us he thought there was no way in hell the 'Hawks would deal Russ -- but now that they have, he said he's downright sad.

"He's one of the best ever," Joel said. "He's a unicorn."

But, Joel said he'd always remember the good memories Russ gave him ... and said he's still sure Seattle will erect a statue honoring the QB eventually.

Move over, Tom Brady ... TMZ Sports has learned Russell Wilson's Broncos jersey has now supplanted the GOAT's Buccaneers uni as the NFL's top-seller this week.

A rep for Fanatics tells us after Wilson was introduced as the new QB in Denver on Wednesday -- sales for his new jersey skyrocketed, and ultimately leap-frogged over Brady for the #1 spot across their network of sites.

We're told that's quite the feat, considering that Brady's jersey had previously had a stranglehold on the pole position after he announced on Sunday he was unretiring.

No word on how much money was spent on the digital sports platform for the new orange and blue #3 to get it to the top spot ... but it's safe to say it was a lot of coin.

Russ, meanwhile, said this week he's fired up to be playing in Denver in the new uni ... telling reporters Wednesday, "It's an honor, it's a gift."

His head coach, Nathaniel Hackett, clearly felt the same ... nearly dropping an S-bomb with excitement at the Wilson press conference.

The newest 'Bachelorette' star is trading her pom-poms for roses ... 'cause Gabby Windey is a former Denver Broncos cheerleader!!

The 31-year-old current ICU nurse was announced as one of the costars for the next season of the ABC dating show ... after getting her heart broken by ex-NFL hopeful Clayton Echard in the final week.

Windey -- who handled the dumpster-fire ending of her relationship with Clayton like a champ -- spent several seasons on the Broncos sidelines ... joining the squad in 2015 before leaving in 2021.

On top of being a pro cheerleader, Gabby also worked on the frontlines as a nurse during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of course, Gabby is sharing the title of 'Bachelorette' with Rachel Recchia, who was also crushed by Clayton's lack of transparency at the end of his season.

As it turns out, Rachel also has a cheerleading background -- she was a member of the squad during her time at Ohio University.

In case you weren't following the season, Clayton was "intimate" with both Gabby and Rachel during fantasy suites ... which led the third finalist, Susie Evans, to break things off with him and go home.

Clayton then admitted to Gabby and Rachel he was in love with all three finalists and fought to keep them on board ... before eventually admitting his heart was ultimately with Susie and breaking up with the other two women at the SAME TIME (yeah, bad).

As it turns out, Susie eventually reached back out to Clayton after the show ended ... and now they're happily together.

Rachel and Gabby, on the other hand, will now try their luck with the show again ... this time, being on the other side of things.

The season airs later this year ... we'll be "cheering" for love.

The Russell Wilson trade to the Broncos shocked a lot of people ... but it pissed off famed celebrity jeweler Ben Baller ... who calls it one of the worst trades in NFL history.

Ben -- a huge Seahawks fan -- spoke with TMZ Sports just hours after the trade that sent the 9x Pro Bowl QB and a fourth-round pick to Denver in exchange for 3 players, 2 first-round picks, 2 second-round picks and a fifth-round.

"One of the worst trades in NFL history," Ben said Tuesday in Studio City, "and definitely the worst trade in Seahawks history."

Ben's also not too fond of swapping Wilson for QB Drew Lock ... saying there's no way the former Mizzou star is a starting QB.

FYI, Lock has started 21 games for Denver since 2019 -- throwing 25 TD's (he also ran for 5), and 20 interceptions. He's been sacked 33 times.

"C'mon bro. Like if he suits up, I'm gonna throw tomatoes at this guy," Ben said.

The 49-year-old basically says he wants anyone but Lock ... and even throughout a few potential Wilson replacements.

"I'm hoping that we may pick up Deshaun Watson, somehow someway we manifest that. I'd rather have Geno Smith. There's no way that Drew Lock is gonna be QB1 for us," Ben says.

"How do you replace a Hall of Famer?!"

Ben believes the 33-year-old QB could bring the Lombardi Trophy back to Denver -- something that hasn't happened since 2016 with Peyton Manning.

"I think so, bro," Ben tells us, "It's not far-fetched."

Russell Wilson's days in Seattle are over ... the Seahawks have just agreed to trade the star quarterback to the Denver Broncos.

NFL Network's Tom Pelissero just broke the news ... saying the 'Hawks received a "massive haul" of draft picks and players to make the move.

The Broncos celebrated the impending deal with a hilarious Tom Hanks "Wilson!" GIF just minutes after the report dropped.

Unclear on how many first-rounders the Seahawks will receive in the deal or which players will be sent over for the quarterback ... but Pelissero reported QB Drew Lock will be at least one of the players headed to the Pacific Northwest in the trade.

Wilson was initially picked by the Seahawks in the third round of the 2012 NFL Draft ... and he went on to become arguably the franchise's best QB ever.

The 33-year-old won one Super Bowl with the team and made nine Pro Bowls ... and he also piled up a 104-53-1 record in 10 seasons.

Wilson had said just days ago that he was happy in Seattle -- explaining during an interview with "Today" that he thought the city was "great." Wilson, though, had reportedly been looking into a trade for a while, reportedly at one point targeting the Bears, Cowboys, Raiders and Saints as possible next destinations.

No word yet on how his wife, Ciara, feels about the move ... but somebody needs to check on huge Seahawks/Russ fan Joel McHale ASAP!!

Antonio Brown says he and Kanye West are dead serious about their efforts to buy the Denver Broncos ... telling TMZ Sports they're working hard to get a real deal done.

Brown and Ye have become best buds ever since the NFL star was booted from the Buccaneers in January -- and in their newfound bromance, Ye named Brown the president of one of his biggest ventures, Donda Sports.

And, as one of Brown's first actions in the exec role, he said back in February he wanted to purchase the Broncos.

When we got the free agent receiver out in Los Angeles just days ago, he told us the goal is still on their minds, and it's a legitimate one, explaining he and Ye are "extremely serious" about making it all happen.

"Tell Roger [Goodell] to call me," Brown said. "We're working on it ... We're working towards getting it done."

The Broncos just recently went up for sale, and many believe the price tag to ultimately land the team could be around $4 BILLION. If somehow the two are able to get that change together, a sale to Ye and Brown would also have to be approved by the rest of the owners in the league.

In the meantime, while they work on getting a deal in Denver done, Brown and Ye have more immediate goals of rockin' the Rolling Loud music festival in Miami in July.

NFL legend Shannon Sharpe supports Kanye West's Donda Sports bid to buy the Broncos -- where the former great TE starred -- telling TMZ Sports the league must have minorities in ownership positions.

We talked to Shannon as he was leaving SoFi Stadium after the Super Bowl ... and the HOF'er told us he supports Ye -- and other prominent Black men and women -- buying teams.

"I'd be happy, if a minority, Robert Smith, I see Byron Allen is interested," Sharpe said. "I'm all for it."

"That’s the organization that I played 12 years for. I have a lot of respect for the Bowlen family. They did a great job with me and my family."

All the talk comes from a social media message from Antonio Brown, who describes himself as Donda Sports' president, claiming Ye's company wants to buy the Broncos.

Sharpe says if Kanye could find some investors, he'd support him making a play at owning the Broncos ... assuming he could get the necessary 75% approval from other owners.

But, West might not need anyone else. Forbes lists his net worth at $1.8 billion ... but during a recent interview, Kanye claimed to be worth substantially more -- $10 BILLION.

Last year Forbes valued the Broncos at $3.75 billion.

As for Ye and AB ... they've been nearly inseparable since connecting after Brown's unceremonious exit from the Tampa Bay Bucs in January.

Kanye seemed to embrace Brown ... and the two formed a close friendship and business relationship.

Bottom line ... regardless of how the NFL owners may feel about Kanye, AB, or Donda Sports, Shannon tells us money talks.

Ex-NFL linebacker D.J. Williams is opening up about his time with the Denver Broncos and Josh McDaniels ... saying the only reason they were successful is because they were cheating.

Williams made the controversial statement during an interview on the "I AM ATHLETE" podcast with former NFL players Brandon Marshall, Chad Ochocinco, and LeSean McCoy ... saying the Broncos' hot start in 2009 wasn't as dominant as it looked on paper.

In the clip, Williams says he was never more prepared for a football game than during the time he played for McDaniels ... and as he continued talking, he alluded to the main reason why they were so on-point.

"Josh would lay out keys to victory on how we win the game," Williams said. "Every time we did exactly what he said, we won."

Williams said the team executed McDaniels' "strategies" to a T -- and they worked, as the Broncos started off 6-0 that season.

But, the wins weren't piling up because of McDaniels' predictive game-planning ... as Williams claims, there was some constant rule-breaking going on.

"We did that for six weeks. We get to San Francisco and we end up losing. We was supposed to beat San Francisco."

"Our film guy got caught because we had to share a stadium [in London]. Our film guy got caught filming their practice."

McDaniels was later fined $50,000 for failing to report the violation to the league ... and was eventually fired the next season after a poor start.

Of course, McDaniels is no stranger to controversy -- the current Patriots offensive coordinator was in the same role on Bill Belichick's staff when the org. got busted for "Spygate" in 2007.

D.J. firmly believes that the Broncos were only winning games thanks to what he calls "Junior Spygate" ... citing that after their camera guy got fired, they lost 6 of their last 8 games.

"We was having breakfast, like, 'Damn, we not that good.'"

"We was cheating!!!"

An NFL fan was captured on video yelling an anti-gay slur at Patrick Mahomes' brother before the Chiefs took on the Broncos on Sunday.

The incident went down at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver ... when Jackson Mahomes and Patrick's fiancee, Brittany Matthews, were down on the field taking pregame pictures and videos.

You can hear in footage from the scene, a fan in the stands clearly yelling for Jackson with a homophobic slur repeatedly.

"Hey, Ma-H**o!" the fan screamed. "Ma-H**o!"

The offensive comments were so loud, Brittany actually heard them ... and yelled back at the man several times, "That's rude!"

It's unclear if there were further interactions between the Mahomes family, the fan and stadium security.

Eric Decker choked back tears as he remembered his friend and former teammate Demaryius Thomas on Monday ... giving a powerful speech at the former NFL star's celebration of life.

Past and present members of the Denver Broncos flew to Atlanta to pay tribute to Thomas ... with John Elway, Champ Bailey, Courtland Sutton, T.J. Ward and more attending the service.

Georgia Tech's McCamish Pavilion was filled with mementos of Thomas' career -- including game balls, jerseys, and a large #88 hanging behind the stage.

Decker and Bailey -- who both played with Thomas on the Broncos -- spoke to the crowd ... and it's pretty emotional.

"He was the brother I always wanted," Decker said, fighting tears.

Bailey added ... "I just hope that D.T. understands that I have tremendous love for him. And I hope he felt it, because I definitely felt the love he had for me. I was one of those people that he stopped and paid attention to."

"I don't know why he came into my life, but I'm sure glad he did. I'm going to miss him so dearly."

Demaryius Thomas was at the forefront of everyone's mind this Sunday -- especially for his former team, the Denver Broncos, who paid tribute to him ... with an assist from the Lions.

The late wide receiver -- who died suddenly last week -- was honored during the opening minutes of the game ... with just 10 men on the Broncos taking the field, and WR Courtland Sutton taking a knee on the sidelines as his team let the play clock run out.

It essentially served as a moment of silence -- the significance of leaving Sutton/Thomas' position vacated on the field was symbolic, almost like it was meant to be filled by him in spirit.

Denver was penalized for this, but the Lions declined the penalty ... and let them play on as if nothing had happened -- something the team seemed to be grateful for online. There was also a video compilation played on the jumbo screen before kickoff, which showed off some of Thomas' highlights from when he was playing for them.

In addition to the on-field moment and the video, there were a number of other tributes set up all throughout the stadium, including a memorial that had been set up for Thomas that Peyton Manning and his family visited before the game got underway.

There was also a portrait of the guy that was on display in the tunnel, which players kissed and tapped as they made their way to the gridiron. And even on the field itself, the Broncos emblazoned Thomas' former number, 88, right there onto the grass.

All this was to be expected ... as we reported, the Broncos were pulling out all the stops to make sure their guy was recognized properly, as he was a big part of their SB run in 2016.

Thomas was found dead at his home on Thursday, with a call for cardiac arrest triggering a police response. It's unclear what exactly happened to him -- an autopsy is pending.

No Denver Broncos player should ever wear #88 again ... so says Brandon Marshall, who tells TMZ Sports the team needs to retire the digits to honor Demaryius Thomas.

"It's just fitting, it just makes sense," said the former Broncos linebacker, who played with Thomas in Denver for years. "[He's] one of the greatest Broncos ever."

Marshall is making the push for his former team to go ahead with the tribute following Thomas' death this week ... telling us Demaryius is more than deserving of the honor.

Marshall explains Thomas' resume on the field was simply that good ... but he also says Thomas' off-the-field actions warrant the jersey praise as well.

"He's one of the greatest Broncos of all-time, point blank, period," Marshall said. "He's one of the greatest receivers of my era -- of our generation. One of the greatest receivers in Broncos history."

"And, as Peyton [Manning] said, he's an even better guy."

While no jersey retirement is in the cards yet -- the Broncos already have plans to pay tribute to the former Super Bowl champion before the Lions game this weekend at Empower Field At Mile High regardless.

Head coach Vic Fangio said the team will wear helmet decals and play a video tribute prior to kickoff. He also said a moment of silence will be observed.