New England Patriots

"We’ve been rewarded with something that the scoreboard won’t show -- the satisfaction of knowing we gave everything to each other in pursuit of a common goal."

That's Tom Brady trying to sugarcoat one of the most disappointing seasons in recent Patriots memory -- saying the bond with his teammates is helping to make up for the lack of a Super Bowl ring.

TB12 just penned a sappy end-of-the-season letter to his teammates and fans ... thanking everyone for supporting him over "the past two decades."

Don't worry, it doesn't read like a goodbye note ... but it doesn't read like an "I'm Definitely Coming Back" note either.

Here's the message in full ...

"I just wanted to say to all of our fans, THANK YOU! After a few days of reflection, I am so grateful and humbled by the unconditional support you have shown me the past two decades."

"Running out of that tunnel every week is a feeling that is hard to explain. I wish every season ended in a win, but that’s not the nature of sports (or life). Nobody plays to lose. But the reward for working hard is just that, the work!!"

"I have been blessed to find a career I love, teammates who go to battle with me, an organization that believes in me, and fans who have been behind us every step of the way."

"Every one of us that works at Gillette Stadium strived to do their best, spent themselves at a worthy cause, and prepared to fail while daring greatly (h/t Teddy Roosevelt). And for that, we’ve been rewarded with something that the scoreboard won’t show - the satisfaction of knowing we gave everything to each other in pursuit of a common goal. That is what TEAM is all about."

"In both life and football, failure is inevitable. You dont always win. You can, however, learn from that failure, pick yourself up with great enthusiasm, and place yourself in the arena again."

"And that’s right where you will find me. Because I know I still have more to prove."

Adrenaline can make you do some crazy things ... just ask Chris Johnson -- who tells TMZ Sports he didn't mean to shade Tom Brady AT ALL after the Titans' epic win Saturday!!

"Let me get that right," Johnson told the guys on "TMZ Sports" (airing weeknights on FS1). "I was very happy for Tennessee -- you know that's my team -- but I can't even take nothing away from Tom Brady."

"He's the G.O.A.T., he's the greatest ever."

Of course, after Tennessee booted New England out of the playoffs this weekend ... CJ2K was SO hyped -- he was singing a much different tune, straight-up saying Tom needed to retire!!

But, after about 48 hours of cooling down from the big win ... Johnson told us Monday he didn't mean that at all -- and, in fact, he said Tom should keep playing FOR SURE!!

"Brady might as well retire!!!"

That's Tennessee Titans legend Chris Johnson gloating his face off after his squad beat the Patriots ... with CJ2K advising TB12 to hang it up for good!

Johnson -- who spent 6 seasons with the Titans back in the day -- was a VIP guest with the team at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night. And, when the team came out with the W in the Wild Card round, Chris got right in the middle of the action!

"I told you we was gonna smack this sh*t, man," Johnson shouted after the 20 to 13 victory ... "I already knew it!"

"We told 'em we was gonna get that sh*t!!!"

The bragging and the smack talk continued outside the locker room ...

"Brady might as well retire! We done painted that sh*t!"

Watch the video, Johnson is convinced we've all seen the last of Brady on the Patriots -- and maybe forever!

For his part, 42-year-old Brady didn't sound ready to retire in his post-game press conference ... telling reporters it's "hopefully unlikely" he quits pro football for good.

"I love the Patriots. It's the greatest organization," Brady said.

"Playing for Mr. [Robert] Kraft all these years, and for Coach Belichick, there's nobody who's had a better career, I would say, than me -- just being with them. So, I'm very blessed."

Bill Belichick was asked straight-up if he had given any thought to Saturday being possibly his last game EVER with Tom Brady -- and ya gotta watch the way he handles the question.

Of course, The Hoodie didn't give any bombshell answer -- it was the usual Belichick deflection -- but it's interesting to see him faced with the reality this weekend could be the end of the Patriots' dynasty.

Belichick and Brady have been dominating the NFL ever since TB12 took the Pats' starting QB reins in 2001 ... but at 42 years old, there's a lot of speculation Tom won't be under center for New England next season.

As for Bill, he's 67 years old and hasn't exactly guaranteed he'll return to Foxboro in 2020 either.

So, a reporter asked the coach bluntly Thursday if he had given any thought to Saturday's game against the Tennessee Titans being the Brady-Belichick finale.

Belichick's response? "Yeah, we're focused on the Titans. That's really -- that's all I'm focused on. So, do everything we can to get ready to go and play the best game we can play Saturday night."

If playoff history's an indicator, the Patriots will likely roll through Tennessee -- and there will be more Belichick and Brady playoff games coming.

The Navy football needs to fly from Annapolis to Memphis for Tuesday's upcoming Liberty Bowl ... and guess what, Robert Kraft just happens to have a spare plane!!

The New England Patriots owner offered up the team jet to the #23 ranked Navy Midshipmen football team ... so they could travel in STYLE to play Kansas State on Dec. 31.

The players seemed STOKED by the fancy ride -- and who wouldn't be??? Wonder who gets to sit in Tom Brady's chair?!?!

"Thank you @Patriots and Team 125 for sending us to the @AZOLibertyBowl the right way," Navy said in a statement to Kraft's team.

Navy (9-2) is already a 2.5-point favorite over Kansas State (8-4) ... but flying over in a superjet like this will probably make them even more confident, right? Swag level off the charts!!!

As for the Patriots, they're not using the jet this week -- they're gearing up to play the Dolphins at home in New England on Sunday ... so no travel for them.

Meek Mill and a few friends teamed up to give back to kids who are sadly impacted by a broken prison system -- giving them major cash to blow ... and a chance to meet a G.O.A.T.

It all went down Saturday morning in NYC, where Meek, 76ers partner Michael Rubin, Brooklyn Nets co-owner Clara Wu Tsai, Nets player Caris LeVert and DJ Khaled himself all gathered with dozens of children and their families at the NBA Store for the generous holiday giveaway.

Saturday's event was put together by the REFORM Alliance -- the criminal justice org Meek and co. created to get people out from behind bars when they don't belong there.

Check out the clip though ... Michael, Meek and an apparent NBA Store employee explain to the group that each kid and family will get a minimum of $500 to spend on anything they want inside. Some bigger fams were given more to spend. All on the house, of course.

Julian Edelman says the New England Patriots are NOT cheaters ... calling the new Spygate II allegations "pretty much a joke."

"We haven't even thought about it, honestly," Edelman says. "We have been thinking about other things. It's funny, but it is what it is."

The Pats are being accused of cheating after one of their staffers was caught filming the Cincinnati Bengals' sideline just days before their matchup last weekend.

The video is pretty damning ... the staffer is clearly focused on the Bengals' bench and substitution packages -- and when he was caught by Cincy officials, he sure sounded guilty.

But, Edelman went on WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show" this week and said he believes his team when it says the video package was all for a special show -- NOT to cheat.

"Do you think -- I don't know, it's ridiculous," Edelman says. "My focus is on the Buffalo Bills."

Edelman's comments come just a few days after Tom Brady downplayed the whole situation too ... with the G.O.A.T. saying the video situation is nothing more than a mere distraction.

"I don't think any player gave it one second of thought," TB12 said.

For the videographer's part, he said in a statement, "I had no intention to provide footage to football operations, I did not provide any footage, and I was never asked to do so."

Here's the World's Strongest Man overhead squatting the World's Best Tight End ... and yeah, it's GLORIOUS!!!

Rob Gronkowski and superstar strongman Martins Licis hit up Jay Glazer's Unbreakable Performance gym in L.A. on Wednesday ... and they bro'd down over some weights.

Unclear why the two got in a lift sesh ... but we're all sure as hell glad they did -- 'cause at some point, Licis decided to ditch the barbells and use 6'6", 268-pound Gronk as gym equipment!!

Licis -- a 29-year-old who's considered the future of strongman sports -- picked the Patriots legend up, put him over his head and squatted the guy like it was nothing!!

Of course, it kinda is nothing for the guy ... Licis famously lifted over 1,000 POUNDS of atlas stones in his World's Strongest Man win over the summer!!

Gronk's girlfriend, Camille Kostek, was impressed nonetheless, saying of the workout, "All the muscles in my entire body are equivalent to his one bicep . I have to step it up."

As for Licis, he clearly thought Gronk was a worthy gymmate ... writing on his social media, "Overhead squatting the lord of mischief, @gronk, is no easy feat of strength."

"This guy’s a unit."

By the way, if you want the key to looking like Gronk and Licis ... they seemed to reveal one of their gym secrets -- WORK SMALL MUSCLES FIRST!!

See, Tom Brady DOESN'T have everything after all ...

The NFL announced the greatest quarterback of all time was NOT selected to the Pro Bowl on Tuesday ... the first time the 42-year-old hasn't made the all-star roster since 2008!

For context ... the last time Tom missed the Pro Bowl cut, Flo Rida's "Low" was #1 on the Billboard charts and "The Dark Knight" was the biggest thing at the box office!!!

The AFC QBs going instead? Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson and Patrick Mahomes.

Of course, it ain't like Brady's play deserved recognition this season ... his numbers are down in nearly every category -- and he has just an 86.5 quarterback rating.

In fact, some believe the Pats might be one and done in the playoffs this year because of how bad their offense is ... with the team in danger of losing the AFC East crown for the first time since 2008 as well!

But, the Pro Bowl rosters weren't completely void of 11-3 Patriots ... cornerback Stephon Gilmore, linebacker Dont'a Hightower and special teamer Matthew Slater all made it.

It ain't like the Pats care much about the honors though ... the Pro Bowl is played a week before the Super Bowl, and, let's all be honest, TB12 and the guys will probably be game planning that week anyway.

As for the rest of the rosters ... the Baltimore Ravens led the AFC with 12 selections -- while Drew Brees and the Saints earned 7 spots on the NFC's team.

Here's Tom Brady being a G.O.A.T. teammate ... claiming the newly released Spygate II video didn't help the New England Patriots at all!!

... Sure, Tom. Sure.

As we previously reported, the Pats are in hot water once again after one of their scouts was caught filming the Cincinnati Bengals' sideline just days before their game last week.

Fox Sports' Jay Glazer released a portion of the footage ... and it sure as hell looks like the Pats were spying.

But, in an interview on WEEI's "The Greg Hill Show" ... Brady backed his team by claiming the video didn't help the Patriots one bit!!

"I don't think any player gave it one second of thought," TB12 said. "It's not something that registered."

Brady added, "You just move on, man. There's a lot of distractions out there."

Of course, as much as Brady downplays it ... the vid really is a rough look for New England -- which had previously been heavily punished for spying on opponents back in 2007.

In the new footage, you can hear a Bengals staffer giving the Patriots scout the business over filming their sideline ... saying, "C'mon, guys! I don't see the advanced scout in this footage!"

Here it is ... a KEY piece of the video at the center of the Patriots SpyGate II scandal -- and it's reallllllly bad for the Pats.

The footage, obtained by "NFL on FOX" reporter Jay Glazer, shows the moments the Patriots video crew is confronted by Cincinnati Bengals' security last weekend over concerns the crew was illegally shooting video of their sidelines.

During the exchange, you can hear Bengals security express major concerns over the video -- since it REALLY looks like the videographer was SPYING!!

Remember, the Patriots say the video team was tasked to shoot a behind-the-scenes segment on an advanced scout for a show on the Pats website called "Do Your Job."

But, as the Bengals security official points out to the video crew, there's a large chunk of the video where you don't see the scout ... only the Bengals sidelines.

Here's an exchange from the video ...

Bengals Security: "And, this is a piece your filming on your advanced scout?

Pat's video crew: "Yeah."

Bengals Security: "Yeah? C'mon guys! I don't see the advanced scout in this footage!"

Patriots video crew: "No, that's not. We were trying to get some field perspective. That's my bad."

The Patriots crew offered to delete the video but the Bengals security told him, "The damage is done my friend!"

The Bengals immediately referred the matter to NFL security and the league has launched an investigation.

The Patriots have admitted the video team broke league rules -- but they insist the video team was NOT tasked to spy, claiming the whole thing was an accident.

For his part, Glazer says there WILL be a punishment -- but it's unclear what it will be at this point.

Bill Belichick has denied involvement -- claiming the video team does not report to him.

During the "NFL On FOX" pregame show on Sunday, both Michael Strahan and Curt Menefee expressed how BAD of a look it is on the team.

Especially since the Patriots were caught in a video cheating scandal back in 2007 and were punished heavily for it.

Terrell Owens believes the NFL is screwing Antonio Brown ... claiming the league is slow-playing its investigation into the WR in order to keep the superstar off the field.

"I think that's probably, maybe a tactic of the NFL to drag it out to where, you know, he can't get on the field this year," Owens said.

AB is being investigated by the NFL for multiple reasons including allegations of sexual assault and claims he sent menacing text messages to a woman who accused him of sexual misconduct.

No team has signed Brown since the Pats cut him back in Sept. -- and it's pretty obvious everyone is staying away until the league concludes its probe.

Owens says he's been spending a lot of time with Brown -- and even visited the WR at his home ... and clearly doesn't believe the allegations against his friend.

T.O. does believe Brown could be handling the situation better publicly -- especially when it comes to his social media -- but tells TMZ Sports he understands why AB is frustrated and acting out.

"I don't condone everything he's doing but I understand where he's coming from," Owens says.

"Man, this guy's a loving father ... I don't agree with everything but I understand where he's coming from."

Of course, Brown went after the Patriots hard after he was cut -- and even made light of Robert Kraft's prostitution case -- probably not the smartest move on his part.

Brown later apologized for some of his social media posts ... but he's still out of a job.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell says the league is conducting a thorough investigation into the New England Patriots to see if they used a video crew to try and cheat.

"Obviously it’s under review," Goodell said to the media while in Dallas ... "We're gonna be thorough and we're gonna get all the facts and we'll go from there."

Goodell was also asked if the Patriots' history of using illegal surveillance -- aka the 2007 Spygate scandal -- would factor in to the investigation.

"Of course that’s a factor. The key things are the new information that we have. That [old] information we obviously already have. But, I think the issue is what information do we have from this incident?"

As we previously reported, the Cincinnati Bengals told the NFL a Patriots staffer was illegally shooting video of their sidelines during a game. The Patriots admitted wrongdoing but insist it was a mistake and not intentional. The team is adamant they did NOT cheat.

There was A LOT more during the media event ... Goodell was also asked about Colin Kaepernick and Antonio Brown.

When asked about the Colin Kaepernick workout, Goodell said -- "It was about opportunity, a credible opportunity. He chose not to take it, and I understand that."

Colin famously backed out of the Nov. 16 workout -- organized by the NFL -- over a dispute regarding media access and the legal language on the workout injury waiver.

Instead, Kaepernick held his own workout at a nearby high school and called for interested teams to hit up his agent. So far, he's still unsigned.

As for Antonio Brown ... Goodell was questioned about the league investigation into sexual assault and harassment claims against the WR.

Goodell says his investigators DID meet with Antonio but "they have more work to do."

"They're following up on that and I'll get an update when they have more information."

Sorry, Patriots fans ... Rob Gronkowski is NEVER coming back -- so says Camille Kostek, who tells TMZ Sports straight-up, "He's done."

A Gronk return has been rumored almost since the day he announced his retirement this past spring ... and even after the NFL deadline passed for him to come back this year, people still think he might make a return next season.

But, when we got his smokin' hot GF out in NYC on Monday, she told us she doesn't understand why people think the ex-tight end is going to come back again.

"He's said like a hundred times that he's not coming back but everybody still asks. So, I don't know what to tell you any more!"

She added, "He's done."

As for his place in NFL history now that his career is officially over ... Camille tells us she has no doubts he's the G.O.A.T. when it comes to TEs!!!

The NFL has launched an investigation into the New England Patriots over allegations a team staffer illegally recorded the Cincinnati Bengals sidelines during Sunday's game.

Of course, the Patriots were at home playing the Chiefs on Sunday -- but the team claims they sent a video crew to FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland to shoot a behind-the-scenes segment on a team scout during the Browns vs. the Bengals game.

FYI, the Patriots are playing the Bengals next week ... which is why the scout was there in the first place.

But, a Bengals team official believes there may have something fishy going on -- and reported a possible incident to the NFL, which is now investigating.

ESPN's Adam Schefter says the Patriots were credentialed by the Browns (the home team) to shoot that day for a segment called "Do Your Job" which spotlights key Patriots staffers behind the scenes.

Schefter says a team official for the Bengals saw the videographer -- who was wearing a Pats shirt -- and reported it to the league.

The NFL confiscated the video, according to Schefter and they're currently reviewing the footage to see if there was an attempt to spy.

Earlier today, a reporter asked Bengals head coach Zac Taylor about the incident -- and while he didn't say much, Taylor confirmed a league probe into the matter.

"I'm aware that there was an incident but the league is investigating it, so I've got no comment," Taylor explained.

The Patriots, for their part, tell Schefter there was nothing scandalous about the incident -- suggesting it was just a misunderstanding.

NFL Network's Ian Rapoport says the Patriots got pre-game permission from the Browns to shoot but they didn't inform the NFL until after the segment was in the can. That could be why the Bengals weren't in the loop and may have suspected other intentions.

Of course, the Patriots have gotten in HUGE trouble in the past for videotaping another NFL team -- remember SpyGate?

That took place in 2007 when the Patriots illegally recorded NY Jets defensive coaches during a Sept. 2007 game.

Bill Belichick was fined $500k, the Pats were fined $250k and the team was docked a 1st round pick in the 2008 NFL Draft.

"This place is horrible."

That's Patrick Mahomes' girlfriend ... who says Patriots fans treated her like such crap at Gillette Stadium on Sunday, security had to physically move her to a "safe place."

Brittany Matthews and Patrick's younger brother, Jackson Mahomes, are regulars at Chiefs games -- but Brit claims their experience in New England was one of her worst ever.

Early in the Chiefs-Pats matchup, Matthews said, "As soon as we sit down, drunk dude 'hey everyone this is patrick mahomes girl and brother, let’s give them sh*t' This shall be fun."

Later, she said things got even more aggressive ... with fans yelling at her for standing and cheering on her MVP quarterback boyfriend.

"This place is horrible, people already yelling every time I stand up, am I not aloud to stand up for football game?"

Eventually, Matthews claims things got so bad with New England fans around her ... security had to move her and Mahomes' brother to another part of the stadium.

"Gillette security came and got us and moved us to a safe place," Matthews said ... "That’s how you know it was bad."

Good news for all? Matthews didn't seem too fazed by the alleged incidents ... she was seen smiling and kissing Patrick after the big 23-16 win.

"Everyone was sleeping on us, so we woke em up," Brittany said.

She later added some shade toward Patriots fans on Monday, writing on her Twitter, "All patriots fans 'we still have 6 Super Bowls' Lololol"