New England Patriots

Tom Brady has been suspended the first 4 games of the 2015 NFL season for his role in Deflategate ... TWICE the suspension the league initially gave Ray Rice for beating a woman.

The NFL just issued a statement saying, "Tom Brady will be suspended without pay for the first four games of the 2015 regular season for conduct detrimental to the integrity of the NFL."

"Brady may participate in all off-season, training camp and pre-season activities, including pre-season games."

The league also dropped the hammer on the New England Patriots -- hitting the team with a $1 MILLION fine ... and taking away their 1st round pick in the 2016 Draft and their 4th round pick in 2017.

The two locker room attendants who are believed to have deflated the balls have also been suspended indefinitely without pay.

In a letter to Brady, NFL Executive Vice President of Football Operations Troy Vincent explained the league found "substantial and credible evidence to conclude you were at least generally aware of the actions of the Patriots’ employees involved in the deflation of the footballs and that it was unlikely that their actions were done without your knowledge."

"Moreover, the report documents your failure to cooperate fully and candidly with the investigation, including by refusing to produce any relevant electronic evidence (emails, texts, etc.), despite being offered extraordinary safeguards by the investigators to protect unrelated personal information, and by providing testimony that the report concludes was not plausible and contradicted by other evidence."

"Your actions as set forth in the report clearly constitute conduct detrimental to the integrity of and public confidence in the game of professional football."

So far, no comment from Brady.

Magic Johnson just spoke out on the suspension -- saying. "The Commissioner came down hard & fair."

Eli Manning told Ralph Vacchiano of the NY Daily News ... "It is about integrity and you have to follow the rules. If someone’s breaking rules they’re going to get punished."

He added, " "In no way am I glad to see this happen."

Will Smith tweeted ... "Tom Brady suspended 4 games, Thats Interesting!!!!"

Patriots running back LeGarrette Blount -- "THIS IS ABSOLUTELY RIDICULOUS!!! SMH 😡 #PATSNATION STAND UP!!!!!"

Donald Trump -- "They had no definitive proof against Tom Brady or #patriots. If Hillary doesn't have to produce Emails, why should Tom? Very unfair!"

Aaron Hernandez has just been charged with witness intimidation for allegedly shooting a man IN THE FACE ... a man who officials believe witnessed the ex-NFL star murder 2 other people.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Hernandez was sued by Alexander Bradley, who claims Aaron pulled out a gun and shot him on their way home from a strip club in 2013.

Officials say Bradley was present when Hernandez opened fire on a car in Boston in 2012, killing 2 people who were leaving a nightclub.

According to prosecutors, Hernandez "shot him in the face on the morning of Feb. 13, 2013, and left him to die on the side of the road in Riviera Beach, Florida, after [Bradley] made a remark about the homicides."

Officials say Hernandez shot Bradley "with the intent to impede a Suffolk County criminal investigation."

The JACK DIESEL apple doesn't fall far from the JACK DIESEL tree ... and the Gronkowski family is living breathing proof.

Check out these pics of New England Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski breakin' out the guns in Vegas this weekend ... right next to his almost-equally swoll father, Gordon!

The whole shredded family hit up the Rehab party at the Hard Rock Hotel to celebrate Rob's 26th birthday ... including Rob's bros Chris, Dan, Glenn and Gordie Jr.

BTW -- the people at Rehab gave Gronk a cake for his birthday. Can you guess what he did with it?

Tom Brady is finally getting some support from an NFL player who's NOT his teammate -- with Jacksonville Jaguars star Marcedes Lewis saying he hopes the league goes easy on "America's Child."

The tight end was cruisin' around Hollywood this weekend when he told he's personally rooting for Brady to play this season, despite rumors Brady could get suspended by the NFL for his role in Deflategate.

We also asked Lewis about the devastating injury to his newest teammate Donte Fowler -- the 1st round pick who blew out his ACL during practice last week.

Ball pressure was never on Tom Brady's mind back in his college days -- the obsession developed after he got into the pros ... TMZ Sports has learned.

We spoke with Jon Falk, the legendary equipment manager at Michigan during Brady's playing days -- who says he's 100% SURE Brady NEVER screwed around with the balls before a college game.

"At Michigan he never messed around with any footballs because he never got the chance to touch them! That's the way it was, I prided myself on those game balls."

It was a different story for Brady in the pros -- with TB admitting he's maniacal about the PSI of every game ball because he wants to make sure he gets the "perfect grip."

As for Deflategate, Falk says he doesn't believe "Tommy" could be a cheater because back at UM, he was one of the most "standup guys I've ever met. I never saw [him] mess with the footballs."

Robert Kraft isn't crawling into some deep dark hole of depression after his star QB was accused of cheating ... he's doing the opposite -- hitting NYC fully DECKED OUT out in Patriots gear.

The New England Patriots owner took a stroll through Central Park with his girlfriend Ricki Noel Lander ... clearly trying to send the message that he's not embarrassed by Deflategate.

There are rumblings that the NFL could suspend Tom Brady for several games this season for his role in the scandal ... but this afternoon, Robert didn't seem fazed one bit.

The Mayor of Boston is also standing by his star QB -- basically saying Wells Report investigators did a crappy job ... and maintaining that his Patriots won the Super Bowl "fair and square."

Mayor Martin L. Walsh -- a hardcore Pats fan -- took on the issue last night ... calling the report "vague" and saying it returned no real "concrete answers" about Tom Brady's involvement in Deflategate.

"Usually when you have an investigation you come back with some concrete answers, 'This is what was known, this is how we did it.' It seems like somebody's stretching something."

He continued, "I don't know if the NFL is stretching their report and they don't have any facts and they're just trying to make it look bad for the Patriots or the Patriots haven't responded properly."

Tom Brady's high school still has the QB's back -- telling TMZ Sports he's NOT a bad guy ... and they're praying for his family in the wake of Deflategate.

We spoke with the people at Junipero Serra High School in San Mateo, California -- where he was a 3-sport superstar before he graduated in 1995 ... and they all say the "real" Tom Brady is a caring and generous person ... not the cheater the Wells Report has made him out to be.

In fact, Serra President Lars Lund tells us ... "The Brady's are an important part of our community, and we will keep them in our thoughts and prayers as they move forward through this difficult time."

Retired Serra Chaplain Fr. Joe Bradley -- who has known the Brady family for years -- added, "I have great respect for Tom and his entire family. He has a generous spirit and a caring heart. His willingness to reach out to the Padre community is legendary, but always offered with joy and humility."

Tom Brady's agent is calling B.S. on the Wells Report -- claiming it paints the star QB as a cheater ... without any real significant proof.

Brady's agent Don Yee just came out swingin' ... saying the entire investigation was not only flawed, but carried out by people who have a "limited understanding of professional football."

In a statement, Yee says ... "The Wells report, with all due respect, is a significant and terrible disappointment. It’s omission of key facts and lines of inquiry suggest the investigators reached a conclusion first, and then determined so-called facts later."

Yee even suggests that the NFL cooperated with the Indianapolis Colts to run a "sting operation" with the end goal of embarrassing Tom and the Patriots.

Yee also suggests that Ted Wells was not truly running an "independent investigation" -- because his firm makes a lot of money off the NFL ... and is heavily influenced by the league.

There's more ... Yee says Tom was NOT difficult with investigators and "made himself available for nearly an entire day and patiently answered every question."

Yee continues, "The Wells report omitted nearly all of Tom’s testimony, most of which was critical because it would have provided this report with the context that it lacks."

Deflategate is stupid ... Tom Brady is still awesome ... and the Patriots shouldn't have to give their Super Bowl rings back ... so says supermodel Crissy Tiegen.

Tiegen -- who happens to be a Seahawks fan -- says the Wells Report is just "beating a dead horse" ... with the Pats already having been shamed in public AND by the President of the United States.

Fully inflated balls wouldn't have changed the outcome of the AFC Championship game ... the Pats still would've won BIG ... so says someone who was there, Colts linebacker Erik Walden.

Walden -- who racked up 5 tackles in that game -- says it's "gross" that Brady would resort to cheating ... but says, "I don't think that s**t made a difference in our game."

For the record, the Pats beat the Colts 45-7.

"They're already hard to beat and now we know they do that extra s**t to win. They're coming at you from every angle."

Walden added, "It's unfortunate that they did this, but they're still the champs. You gotta give them credit, they did it, and they got away with it, and they won the Super Bowl."

Tom Brady consciously cheated in the AFC Championship "Deflategate" game ... the game before the Super Bowl ... so says the guy charged with investigating the scandal.

The NFL just released the results of Ted Wells' investigation into Deflategate ... which says it is "more probable than not that New England Patriots personnel participated in violations of the NFL Playing Rules and were involved in a deliberate attempt to circumvent those rules."

The report also says, "We also have concluded that it is more probable than not that Tom Brady was at least generally aware of the inappropriate activities of [the locker room attendants] involving the release of air from Patriots game balls."

The report says ... when people began to get suspicious about the balls, the locker room guys began communicating with Brady by phone and text messages with "significantly increased frequency."

Investigators also say the men who deflated the footballs "received valuable items autographed by Tom Brady the week before the AFC Champsionship game."

As for Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick ... Wells says the investigation shows there was NO evidence to support theories that they were involved in Deflategate.

New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft issued a statement saying, "To say we are disappointed in its findings, which do not include any incontrovertible or hard evidence of deliberate deflation of footballs at the AFC Championship game, would be a gross understatement."

Kraft added, "We will accept the findings of the report and take the appropriate actions based on those findings as well as any discipline levied by the league.”

Back in January, Brady adamantly DENIED having any involvement in Deflategate

MOST BALLER DAY EVER!!!!!!!

Rob Gronkowski -- along with some of his New England Patriots teammates -- just hopped on a private jet after watching the Kentucky Derby ... and are now headed to Vegas for the fight!!

BALLER!!!!!!

The Derby was a major team outing -- even Tom Brady made the trip out to Louisville -- but it looks like the QB tapped out when Gronk and Julian Edelman and Danny Amendola decided to charter a jet to Sin City.

It's good to be rich.

Wes Welker's horse just got thiiiiiis close to winning his first pre-Kentucky Derby race at Churchill Downs ... finishing in 2nd ... for the 2nd year in a row.

As we previously reported, Welker re-entered his horse "Undrafted" to compete in the Twin Spires Turf Sprint Stakes ... the same pre-Kentucky Derby race he competed in last year.

But for the 2nd straight year, Undrafted couldn't quite reach the winner's circle ... getting edged out at the finish line ... to take 2nd place.

The good news ... 2nd place still gets paid -- and it all went down in front of Welker's old Patriots teammates including Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski.

Hey, could be worse.

Rob Gronkowski's new girlfriend just scored her first big modeling campaign -- landing a gig as the "brand ambassador" for a big watch company ... and she looks good.

As we previously reported, Gronk is all BF/GF with Camille Kostek ... a former New England Patriots cheerleader, news anchor and model.

Now, Kostek is the "fresh face" for the Benrus Watch Company -- which says it hired Kostek because "she represents all of our standards; beauty, intelligence, and a commitment to excellence."

Weird, that last one is more of a Raiders thing ...

Anyway, congrats!

Former NFL superstar Brian Urlacher clearly believes Roger Goodell treats the New England Patriots like they're above the law ... and Deflategate is the definitive proof.

Urlacher was hanging with Jay Glazer at their Unbreakable Performance Center in West Hollywood ... when we asked how he felt about President Obama joking about the scandal yesterday.

That's when the former Chicago Bears star attacked the issue with biting sarcasm.

"That didn't happen right? I thought it went away. No one ever got fined for it right? I haven't heard anything since the Super Bowl."

Urlacher proceeded to explain how the Falcons and the Browns got in trouble for far less serious infractions ... yet the Patriots have yet to face ANY consequences for the alleged cheating scheme.