New England Patriots

Dry your tears, Patriots fans ... if Chicago Bears star Kyle Long is right, Rob Gronkowski isn't going anywhere anytime soon, 'cause Long tells TMZ Sports all the retirement talk is just that ... talk.

After the Super Bowl, Gronk said he was pondering his future in football -- some think he'll actually retire.

But not Long -- who strongly believes Gronk has a lot of football left in him and will return to the Patriots next year.

"Who the hell wants to go to the Colts organization and play for [Jim] Irsay. I mean, that place is an absolute s**t show" -- says ex-Patriots tight end Jermaine Wiggins.

Wiggins would know ... he played for the Colts back in 2002 and tells TMZ Sports he's convinced Josh McDaniels made the RIGHT choice in backing out of the Indy coaching job.

"[If McDaniels] goes to Indy, if they suck in two years, they'll be looking for a new head coach and he'll be out," Wiggins says.

Tony Dungy is ripping into Josh McDaniels -- saying there's "no excuse big enough to justify" screwing over all of the asst. coaches who are getting burned in his coaching flip-flop.

"It’s one thing to go back on your word to an organization," Dungy said ... "But having assistant coaches leave jobs to go with you then leave them out to dry is indefensible. For COMFORT??"

This all stems from Josh's last minute decision to back out of a deal to coach the Indianapolis Colts and go back with the Patriots ... AFTER he lured a team of assistants to leave other jobs and sign contracts with Indy.

Now Indy will have to hire a new head coach -- and that person will likely blow out McDaniels' entire team and bring in his own guys. Dungy clearly believes the assistants are getting screwed big time.

"Has nothing to do with the Colts. It’s about the families of those assistant coaches that he totally disregarded. But who cares about them???!"

TMZ Sports obtained the 911 call Rob Gronkowski PERSONALLY made to police when he realized his Boston area house was burglarized while he was at the Super Bowl.

During the call, placed Monday evening when Gronk came back from Minnesota, the Patriots tight end said:

"This isn't an emergency ... this is just uh, Rob Gronkowski calling. And while I was gone, my whole house got robbed while on the Super Bowl trip and I just got back."

According to the police report, the crook or crooks broke into the house through a window and raided several rooms.

Fortunately, Rob's bedroom door was locked and the burglar(s) didn't get inside. However, Rob has two roommates -- and both of their rooms were raided.

According to the police report, the burglary occurred on Sunday evening at 8:50 PM ET -- right when Gronk was playing in the Super Bowl.

Cops have not said what items were stolen -- but have assured the public they are on the hunt for the perps.

Good news for the Philadelphia Eagles ... they're getting FAT ASS league-issued playoff bonus checks for winning the Super Bowl.

Bad news ... it's WAYYY less than what the Houston Astros got for winning the World Series.

Here's the math ... each Eagles player gets $28k for the Divisional round game, $51k for the NFC Championship and $112k for winning the Super Bowl.

Grand bonus total -- $191,000.

Not a bad haul (in addition to whatever playoff bonuses individual players have in their contracts with the team).

So, how does it stack up to playoff bonuses in other sports?

The Houston Astros got $438k per player in league-issued bonus money after their 2017 playoff run.

Obviously, MLB teams have less players on the roster to play -- but let's take a look at the ratings.

The Super Bowl reportedly drew in 103.4 million viewers.

The World Series averaged 18.9 million viewers per game -- but it went SEVEN GAMES!

And don't forget, before the WS the Astros played a 7-game ALCS with the Yankees. Game 7 reportedly drew 9.9 million viewers.

As for the NFL, the players agreed to the bonus structure in the collective bargaining agreement -- and the bonus goes up every year.

So is anyone gonna complain? Probably not. Enjoy the paycheck that most people don't make in a year!

Rob Gronkowski's New England mansion sits behind a gate -- surrounded by spiked fencing -- with a security system ... but it wasn't enough to deter burglars.

The media has already arrived to Gronk's home to cover the story ... that the Patriots' home was targeted by criminals who raided the place while Rob was in Minnesota for the Super Bowl.

The Foxborough Police Dept. says it's investigating the incident and hopes to bring the crooks to justice.

He's a Pennsylvania boy through and through ... but Carson Kressley says if push comes to shove, he'd rather bang Tom Brady over Nick Foles.

Yeah, turns out Brady is still very attractive ...

The good news for Foles -- Kressley says he's still "just a little baby QB" and has room to blossom -- where Brady "is like a wolf."

Gay Fun Fact: A "wolf" is generally a semi-hairy, muscular man with a lean build. Typically, wolves are older men ... according to GayPopBuzz.com.

Shannon Sharpe says it might be the beginning of the end for the Patriots dynasty ... 'cause recent statements by Robert Kraft prove there are real problems between him, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady.

Remember -- ESPN dropped a bombshell report last month alleging their relationships were fractured ... and in the lead-up to the Super Bowl, Kraft admitted to "tension" and needing to "get their egos checked in."

Shannon told TMZ Sports those words prove there's "a crack in the foundation" ... and the co-host of FS1's 'Undisputed' wouldn't put it past Belichick to leave the Pats over all the infighting.

No, Super Bowl LII was NOT Bill Belichick's final game in the NFL ... at least according to John Harbaugh who's convinced the Patriots coach is coming back.

With rumors swirling that Bill and Tom Brady could finally call it quits after the big game ... especially with 2 key assistant coaches likely leaving and Rob Gronkowski pondering retirement.

But Harbaugh -- the head coach of the Baltimore Ravens -- just ain't buyin' it ... telling TMZ Sports both Brady and Belichick are super tight and neither one is ready to live the civilian life just yet.

For the record, Belichick and Brady are adamant they're coming back next year.

Robert Kraft -- who's brought 5 championships to New England -- was all apologies after the Super Bowl ... telling fans, "Sorry we disappointed you."

The Patriots owner took center stage at the official team after-party in Minnesota -- telling fans they had planned a shindig as if they were going to win the game ... complete with A-list entertainment that included Jennifer Lopez, Gucci Mane and Florida Georgia Line.

Obviously, the loss affected the mood ... and Kraft poured his heart out on stage.

"I'm really sorry we didn't close it out tonight," he said ... adding, "We're sorry we disappointed you. We feel bad."

Cardi B's mouth is coming back to bite her in the ass ... though it's close to being frozen shut.

We got the "Bodak Yellow" rapper Sunday night arriving at The Armory in Minneapolis and asked her about Super Bowl 52 (the Eagles won, btw) and Justin Timberlake's halftime tribute to Prince.

Cardi could barely utter a couple of F-bombs ... that's how cold she was, which is odd since back in November 2015, she straight up said "A ho never gets cold." At -2 degrees, yes they do.

Brr.

It's a different Gisele this time around ...

Instead of complaining that her husband can't throw AND catch the ball after the Super Bowl (like she did in 2012), Tom Brady's wife is congratulating the Philadelphia Eagles on winning the big game.

She's also reminding everyone her husband's the greatest of all time.

"Congratulations Eagles for winning the Super bowl, what a game that was," Gisele posted on Instagram.

"Congratulations Patriots for giving your best and to my love, we are incredibly proud of you because we are able to see ever day all the commitment, sacrifice and hard work that you have devoted to become the best in what you do. We love you!"

The Philadelphia Eagles did the impossible with a backup QB -- they defeated Tom Brady to win Super Bowl LII ... and then melted their faces off in celebration.

Nick Foles and the rest of the Eagles soaked up the incredible victory Sunday after their 41-33 win over the New England Patriots, ahead of being presented with the Lombardi Trophy.

Some players hugged, others cried ... and some even did snow angels in the confetti on the field.

Meanwhile, Pats head coach Bill Belichick didn't seem too fazed by the loss ... dude's got 5 Super Bowl rings under his belt with Tom at the helm. He can afford to lose one.

Jonathan Casillas is putting his former teammate, Tom Brady, on the highest pedestal possible ... even though he doesn't think TB's a shoo-in to beat the Eagles.

We got the former New England Patriots linebacker (and current Giants starter) Sunday in Minneapolis ahead of Super Bowl LII, and asked if Tom had this game in the bag.

Von Miller almost didn't make it Super Bowl LII because his Uber ride broke down before he could even hit the road ... but luckily, the crisis was averted.

We got Von boarding an Uber Sunday in Minneapolis ahead of the big game between the Pats and Eagles, and his driver's car wouldn't start. The Broncos star wasn't about to sit around and miss the kickoff -- he bolted from the car and ordered himself a new one.

Super Bowl LII is shaping up to look a little bit like a militarized zone based on all the armed security running around Minneapolis ... with Humvees and whatnot.

Homeland Security's got their Special Response Team on the ground in and around U.S. Bank Stadium -- where the big game will be played Sunday night.

From the looks of these pics, HS staffers are strapped and ready to respond to anything ... with bulletproof vests, walkies and Humvees at their disposal. Makes sense ... big events like this have become targets for attacks as of late -- think Vegas, Manchester, etc.

Better safe than sorry.