New England Patriots

Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady are back together -- at least they were on Monday -- with Gronk telling TMZ Sports the two worked out together at UCLA!

"It was great working out," a slimmed-down Gronk told us at the $50k Charity Challenge Basketball Game at Pauley Pavilion. 

"Tom needs someone to throw to so, you know, he calls Mr. Reliable Robbie G the one and only!"

Rob ran routes and caught passes from TB12 at the field at UCLA, where Tom usually works out while in L.A. for the offseason. Gronk is in town for the charity event, which raises money for Teen Cancer America. He's also expected to attend the ESPYs on Wednesday. 

Of course, the workout with Tom begs the question ... will Gronk come out of retirement for one last ride with his Hall of Fame quarterback?! 

It's possible ... while he admits he's enjoying retirement so far, Gronk told Rich Eisen last week that his attitude might change once the season starts.

"I can’t really say how I’m going to feel about it when the games start rolling around and everything," Gronk said. 

Mark Wahlberg is DOUBLING DOWN on his prediction that Baker Mayfield will be a New England Patriot, telling TMZ Sports, "He's the heir to the throne -- to Tom Brady!!"

Of course, Mark has been beating this drum for over a year ... it was June 2018 when he told us Mayfield would somehow end up on the Patriots' roster after TB12 retires.

But, since then, Mayfield has become the face of the Browns and the team's clear-cut franchise QB -- and if you're wondering if that's changed Mark's opinion at all -- spoiler alert, IT HASN'T!!!

Mark told us out in Bev Hills he STILL thinks Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft are going to find a way to make Baker their star QB after Brady decides to hang up his G.O.A.T. cleats.

It all begs the question, does Mark know something everybody else doesn't???

The legendary actor HAS been working out with Mayfield -- the two got in a lift together at Mark's F45 Training gym in L.A. just a few days ago ...

Here's Tom Brady clappin' back at EVERYONE saying his game is about to fall off ... posting a pic of a radar gun that showed he's firing footballs at 61 MPH!!!

The 41-year-old hit the practice field Thursday and decided to let the cannon fly ... and when the radar readings came back -- the Patriots legend was clearly impressed.

"He's gonna fall off a cliff," Brady wrote of the throw with an emoji of a guy scratching his chin.

Of course, football pundits have been predicting Brady's demise for YEARS -- after all, dude is entering his 20TH season in New England -- but he's makin' it clear he's nowhere near done.

In fact, if ya wanna know how fast a 61 MPH throw is -- check out Patrick Mahomes back in 2017 at NFL Network.

Tom Brady's avocado ice cream is the NY Jets of dessert ... as in, IT SUUUUCKS!

... at least according to Tom's #1 target Julian Edelman.

Tom has raved about the avo ice cream for years -- and even featured the recipe for the alleged treat in his book, "The TB12 Method."

Per the legendary QB, the healthy confection calls for an avocado, some cashews, some coconut, some dates, some cacao powder and water.

Brady's said of it in the past that it's "just as delicious but much healthier" than normal ice cream. Sure.

So, how does it REALLY taste!?!? We asked Jules ... and he hit us with a truth bomb!!!

"I DON'T LIKE IT."

That's it. Short statement. But, to the point. We finally have our answer.

Julian Edelman ... Super Bowl champ -- and Super Dad???

The New England Patriots star says his new documentary, "100%: Julian Edelman," is set to show off his father side ... and he tells TMZ Sports it's the coolest part of the film.

"There's some unbelievable shots of me and my daughter," the wide receiver says ... "That was dope."

Of course, Edelman had a baby girl with Swedish model Ella Rose back in 2016 ... and for one of the first times since, Edelman is giving a rare glimpse of his dad side in the documentary.

Edelman tells us the footage is unbelievable, saying, "It was, like, just great memories."

The documentary -- which shows off Edelman's ride from his ACL tear in 2017 to his PED suspension in 2018 to his Super Bowl MVP performance in 2019 -- is set to air on June 28 on SHOWTIME.

Julian says he was super active in the editing process, and joked he's spent so much time on the project, he's "sick of it!"

By the way, Edelman also spoke with us about Rob Gronkowski earlier in the day ... and ya gotta watch the clip to find out if he'll miss off-the-field Gronk more than on-the-field Gronk!!

Look at Bill Belichick's face ... that's the MOST we've ever seen him smile -- and it's all because he's on a sick vacation with his beautiful girlfriend ... and still reppin' Boston, HARD!

Bill and Linda Holliday are vacationing off the coast of Greece -- where they're riding on yachts, playing on the beach and visiting some of the historic sites ... including Stadium at Olympia!

FYI, the stadium is said to be the oldest in the world -- and Linda commented, "Someone feels right at home!"

By the way, check out Bill's hat ... it says VII Rings ... the name of his boat back in the United States, which was named after all of the Super Bowl titles he's won.

The hat is clearly an older one because he changed it to "VIII Rings" after the latest Super Bowl win back in February.

Bill and Linda have been dating for years -- and some think it's just a matter of time before she gets a ring of her own!

Tom Brady RAGED Thursday night -- pounding beers, dancing with his teammates and SHOWING OFF HIS 6TH SUPER BOWL RING!!!

The G.O.A.T. -- along with most of his 2018 Patriots teammates -- rolled over to Robert Kraft's mansion on Thursday night for the ring presentation ceremony for winning Super Bowl LIII ... and the party was LIIIT!!!

Even head coach Bill Belichick cracked a smile and flexed a little bit ... showing off his hardware too.

Rob Gronkowski ... you know he turned up -- and the future Hall of Famer was giddy like a kid when he saw the Super Bowl LIII Lombardi Trophy still has that DENT in it from that time he used it for batting practice at Fenway Park!

Josh Gordon was also on hand to get a Super Bowl ring -- despite being suspended for the back end of the season for violating the league's substance abuse policy. Before the suspension, Gordon had racked up 40 catches for 720 yards and 3 TDs.

The rings are sick -- each piece contains 422 diamonds, totaling 9.85 carats ... and 20 sapphires representing 20 AFC East Division Championships.

There are also a few sayings engraved into the rings -- including the playoff rally cry," Still Here," and the Patriots team motto, "We Are All Patriots."

Tom and the Patriots famously beat the L.A. Rams 13 to 3 in Super Bowl LIII -- with Julian Edelman winning the Super Bowl MVP award.

As for Robert Kraft, he seemed super happy and unfazed by the other drama in his life ... the ongoing Asian massage parlor prostitution case in Jupiter, Florida.

State prosecutors have appealed the judge's decision to throw out the video evidence in the case ... so it's an uphill battle for officials -- but a great situation for Kraft.

In a crazy turn of events, Tom Brady says he hates the "Tom Terrific" nickname ... and only filed for the trademark to preemptively block people from using Tom Seaver's signature moniker to praise him.

In other words, TB12 wants everyone freaking out over him filing to lock the trademark to CHILL OUT ... 'cause he's never gonna use it and he wasn't trying to erase Seaver from existence.

The Patriots superstar explained his reasoning with reporters on Thursday ... saying he did it to prevent exactly what ended up happening.

“It’s unfortunate. I was actually trying to do something because I didn’t like the nickname and I wanted to make sure no one used it because some people wanted to use it," Brady said.

"I was trying to keep people from using it, and then it got spun around into something different than what it was. Good lesson learned, and I’ll try to do things a little different in the future.”

Of course, fans went nuts when the news broke earlier this week ... thinking TB12 was trying to steal the nickname Seaver made famous back when he was pitching for the Mets in the '60s and '70s.

In fact, politicians from both sides of the aisle --Rep. Peter King [R] and Rep. Tom Suozzi [D] -- came together earlier this week to condemn Brady for the move.

But Brady explained, "I don’t like the nickname. I don’t like when people probably give me many nice compliments, certainly that. It wasn’t spmething I was trying to do out of any disrespect or ill-manner or anything like that.”

Republicans and Democrats have just reached across the aisle to agree on one thing ... STOP STEALING NICKNAMES, TOM BRADY!!!!!

TB12 reportedly filed for a trademark a few days ago for the name, "Tom Terrific" -- the same nickname Tom Seaver made famous back when he was pitching for the Mets in the '60s and '70s.

A bunch of people have blasted the Patriots legend for the move ... and now, both Republican AND Democrat congressmen are ripping the guy too!!!

We got New York reps Peter King [R] and Tom Suozzi [D] out at Reagan Airport this week and they both dumped all over Brady ...

"I feel like Tom Brady, it's bad enough he's deflating footballs, now he's deflating his reputation," King says ... "There's only one 'Tom Terrific' and that's Tom Seaver."

"Brady should stay up in New England."

Added Suozzi, "He's a Republican. I'm a Democrat. And, we both agree there will always only be one 'Tom Terrific' -- Tom Seaver is the man."

If Tom Brady took a knee for the national anthem ... it would change EVERYTHING -- so says Martellus Bennett, who says, "White America would be like, ‘Oh my God. What is this that Tom Brady’s talking about?!'"

TB12's former Patriots teammate joined a panel at the "Athletes + Activism" discussion on Thursday ... and said if QBs like Brady and Drew Brees knelt, people would be far more understanding of Colin Kaepernick's protest.

"The conversation in the NFL would change," Bennett says ...

"All these great white heroes that they have running around, throwing the football -- if they jump into the conversation, it would be projected to -- it would be so much bigger.”

Bennett says Brady and Brees kneeling would cause masses to actually dive into the real reasons behind Colin's initial protest ... and actually understand it, saying, "They would start doing research."

"They would join in the conversation," Martellus added ... "It would pique their interest. But since it’s a black guy taking a knee, it’s like, ‘Alright, these guys, here he goes again. It’s another one of these guys out here doing this.’”

There's more ... Bennett also sounded off on the NFL and domestic violence, saying if a player hits a woman, "you should not be playing football."

In fact, the 32-year-old -- who retired back in 2017 -- said, "I wanted to choke the sh*t out of Ray Rice" after his domestic violence incident back in 2014.

Demaryius Thomas says his violent car crash earlier this year scared the hell of him ... telling TMZ Sports he could have DIED after he flipped his SUV in Denver back in February.

"I could have been gone," the NFL star receiver says.

As we previously reported ... Thomas was doing 70 MPH in a 30 at around 12:20 AM on Feb. 16 when he lost control of his SUV and crashed it into a curb.

A witness says he saw Thomas' car flip several times in the air ... and the pics we obtained from the accident show the gnarly scene.

Thomas says it was a pretty traumatic experience for him ... and tells us he's not only thankful he can still play football -- he's happy to just be a functioning human being.

"I wake up every morning and thank the lord above," Thomas says ... "And, just thankful for just not even just being able to do what I do -- being able to talk, walk, eat, all those things that we forget about on a daily basis."

Thomas -- who signed with the Patriots just a few weeks after the wreck -- is clearly taking advantage of the second chance ... he helped give kids free haircuts and braids at his "Summer Break" event over the weekend.

Tony Gonzalez ain't ready to yield his "greatest of all time"-tight end label to Rob Gronkowski ... telling TMZ Sports his career is just as legendary as the Patriots'!!!

"Hey, we're both great," Gonzalez said at LAX on Monday night ... "We're both the G.O.A.T.s!"

Gronk just officially retired two months ago ... and many have wondered if he did enough in his 9-year career to take the best tight end EVER moniker away from Gonzalez.

The numbers don't seem close at first glance but remember, Gronk only played 9 seasons while Tony played 17.

Gronk -- 521 receptions, 7,861 receiving yards and 79 receiving TDs (plus 3 Super Bowls).

Gonzalez -- 1,325 receptions, 15,127 receiving yards and 111 receiving TDs.

Tony says "there's a great argument" for Gronk to be called the NFL's best ever ... but it sure doesn't seem like he's the one making it!!!

Sick of seeing Tom Brady flash his SIX Super Bowl rings on land? Well, you're gonna hate the new Patriots' team plane paint job!

The NFL's most dominant organization just freshened up their official team jet -- touting their 6th NFL title after crushing the L.A. Rams in Super Bowl LIII back in February.

The team also added the 6th Lombardi Trophy to the tail of the plane -- but there's a HUGE problem ... it's missing the DENT that Rob Gronkowski inflicted on the hardware last month.

Remember, Gronk used the trophy as a baseball bat during some hitting practice before the Red Sox game at Fenway Park ... and when he squared to bunt, the baseball left a sizable dent.

The team jet isn't the only vehicle that got more smug after the Super Bowl -- Bill Belichick already renamed his personal boat, "VIII Rings" ... to reflect the 8 NFL championships he's won during his career.

The Patriots win ... again, and this time it's their owner, Robert Kraft, who gets to spike the football -- the judge says police video of him inside the Orchids of Asia spa can't be used in the case.

According to docs, obtained by TMZ Sports, the judge had big problems with the search warrant that was issued, allowing police to plant cameras and secretly record Kraft and others inside the spa. The judge said police didn't minimize their recordings -- meaning they didn't do enough to protect people who were inside the spa getting perfectly legal massages.

The judge also said the police didn't do enough to minimize the impact of recording female customers inside the spa.

Detectives who testified in recent weeks said their only direction while monitoring the cameras was to "look for illegal activity." The judge said that's not nearly specific enough ... they needed to have written guidelines as to when to turn the cameras on and off.

In his ruling, the judge said, "The fact that some totally innocent women and men had their entire lawful time spent in a massage room fully recorded and viewed intermittently by a detective-monitor is unacceptable."

The bottom line for Kraft is ... the video can't be used as evidence in his prostitution case. Also, the traffic stop police made as Kraft left the spa has also been tossed from the case.

Rob Gronkowski will NOT be successful transitioning from the NFL to Hollywood if he doesn't take it seriously ... so says ex-NFL star Thomas Jones -- who says the move is hard as hell!!!

Of course, TJ knows first-hand what it takes to go from on-the-field stud to on-the-screen star ... he spent 12 years in the league before becoming a respected actor.

And, he tells us the only way Gronk is going to have similar success is if he truly devotes himself.

"Just commit yourself to the industry, man," Jones says of his advice to the future Hall of Fame tight end ... "You can't really halfway do this. You have to really, really buy into it."

The reason? Jones says football players have to train themselves to be "inhumane" to be a beast on the field ... but acting requires more vulnerability.

In fact, Jones says he took acting classes for 4 YEARS to get that all down ... saying, "I took the craft seriously."

The good news for Gronk? Jones says the ex-Patriot will be a natural once he decides to put all his energy into it.

Sean McVay is finally coming clean on why the Rams were so bad against the Patriots in the Super Bowl last February ... saying he straight-up "over-prepared" for the big game.

Remember, Los Angeles came into SB LIII as one of the most potent offenses EVER ... but threw up just 3 points against Bill Belichick's boys in an epic loss.

Now, after reflecting on the sorry performance for 3 months ... McVay told Sports Illustrated he finally has the answer as to why it happened ...

"You have so much time that you can over-prepare and get away from some of the things that helped you get there."

McVay says he poured over ALL of New England's 18 games in the 2018-19 season ... and even went back to look at how the Pats played in their Super Bowls against the Eagles and Falcons.

Sean says doing all that extra work killed the Rams, saying, "You can watch so much film that you lose perspective."

The good news for L.A.? Per Sports Illustrated, McVay seemed disgusted that he let his team down -- and seems he learned his lesson.