ESPN

3:44 PM PT -- Kelce's remarks on the city of Dallas reached Mayor Eric L. Johnson, who told TMZ Sports he's laughin' it off.

"We have to consider that this may have been meant as a compliment from the guy who is most famous for leading the ‘Tush Push'," Mayor Johnson said.

"Or perhaps he has spent too much time at the bottom of piles to recognize a city on the rise. As we say here in Texas, bless his heart."

Jason Kelce's rivalry with the Cowboys is still going strong even in retirement ... check out the barb he threw Dallas' way Monday night -- it was so fierce, even his ESPN colleagues winced!!

The jab went down just before the Cowboys kicked off their "Monday Night Football" matchup with the Bengals ... as Kelce and the rest of the "Monday Night Countdown" crew were previewing the game live from AT&T Stadium.

Scott Van Pelt was attempting to switch segments from ESPN's "The Simpsons" coverage back to live action -- when he informed the audience of where they were located.

Tragedy has struck the Herbstreit household ... Kirk Herbstreit just revealed his famous dog, Ben Herbstreit, has died.

The renowned football commentator said on his X page Thursday morning that he and his family were forced to let their pooch go after vets said the cancer the dog had been battling had spread to his organs.

"I've had dogs my whole life," Kirk said in announcing the sad news, "but Ben was 1 on 1."

Cam Newton didn't disappoint on the first day of his new job ... the NFL MVP trolled new co-worker Shannon Sharpe over his Instagram Live sex sesh with "Michelle"!

ESPN recently hired the former All-Pro signal-caller to sit opposite Stephen A. Smith and Sharpe on "First Take" ... and he made his debut on Friday for their HBCU road show.

Newton -- who already has a popular podcast, 4th&1 -- and the crew were discussing Smith's top five homecoming essentials, from the band to Greek life.

But, Cam felt like the group missed an essential ... parties!

Good news for Shannon Sharpe ... the viral video of his Wednesday afternoon romp won't affect his day job -- as TMZ Sports has learned ESPN isn't going to discipline its star for his accidental sex stream.

A source at the network tells us ... Sharpe's absence from Thursday's "First Take" had nothing to do with what went down on his Instagram some 24 hours ago -- as his usual days off are Thursdays and Fridays.

The source says Sharpe is expected back on Monday -- and no punishment whatsoever is coming his way.

Jason Kelce's "Monday Night Football" debut shirt -- and his NSFW comment that accompanied it -- had nearly everyone in stitches ... including Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift!!

At least, that's what the Kansas City Chiefs star said on Wednesday's episode of "New Heights" ... revealing that when he and his girlfriend saw the whole scene unfold on ESPN this week -- they giggled hard.

"Me and Taylor were watching that," the tight end said, "absolutely dying laughing at it."

There's growing skepticism Donald Trump was hit by a bullet, and the latest to join the chorus is former ESPN host Keith Olbermann.

TMZ reported hours after the shooting, a well-placed source who had spoken with Secret Service told us ... Trump was hit by pieces of glass that had shattered during the gunfire.

The narrative changed almost immediately when the official word came out ... that Trump was grazed in the ear by an errant bullet, and had he not turned his head he would have been dead.

Nick Saban is getting another tribute at Alabama -- the school just announced it is renaming the Bryant-Denny Stadium field in his honor.

Bama will hold a ceremony on September 7 ... when the Crimson Tide host the South Florida Bulls.

The university shared a special video to reveal the news ... featuring several memorable soundbites from Saban's historic career.

Madison Keys' fiancé found himself in a pick-le ... 'cause ESPN jumped to him at the wrong time -- and, they caught him fingertip deep in his nostril.

The American tennis star was in the third set of her round of 16 match against Italian player Jasmine Paolini Sunday when ESPN's broadcast flashed over to her coach and fiancé, Bjorn Fratangelo.

Check out the clip ... Bjorn's hanging out and chatting with a woman to his right, when he brings his fingers up to his nose and decides to drag out a bothersome boogie.

Prince Harry has key figures in his corner amid the outrage over ESPN's decision to honor him with the Pat Tillman Award for Service -- at least 2 former winners say Harry is definitely deserving.

Jake Wood, a U.S. Marine and former college football player who won the award in 2018, tells TMZ … the Duke of Sussex is a natural fit for the Tillman honor because of Harry's military service and his dedication to veterans.

Jake feels Prince Harry is a good choice because he's dedicated his life to serving and supporting the military and veterans -- Harry served 2 tours in Afghanistan -- and that should be commended because there are hundreds of different ways a British royal could live his life.

ESPN is standing firm in its decision to honor Prince Harry with the Pat Tillman Award for Service at this month's ESPYs ... doubling down and saying the Duke of Sussex is a rightful recipient of the honor.

As we previously reported, Tillman's mother, Mary, was dissatisfied with this year's pick for the award ... saying there were plenty of lesser-known candidates that deserve some recognition -- and referring to Harry as "controversial and divisive" in the process.

ESPN talent Pat McAfee also dogged the selection ... claiming it felt like the network was purposely trying to strike a controversy.

A baseball fan who went to the College World Series is slamming ESPN for turning cameras on her while she ate ice cream -- because the shot's gone so viral, she's being compared to the "Hawk Tuah" girl.

In case you missed it ... during Monday's national championship baseball game, ESPN cameras zoomed in on 2 women in the stands quickly licking ice cream, racing to finish before it melted in 93-degree heat.

The video spread across social media like wildfire ... with folks leaving some explicit comments about the young women, including lots of "Hawk Tuah" references.

Brian Windhorst basically dropped a Kendrick Lamar-esque diss track on Luka Doncic following the Dallas Mavericks' Game 3 loss to the Boston Celtics on Wednesday ... going in on the NBA superstar for his "unacceptable" performance.

The Slovenian baller dropped 27 points before fouling out with four minutes left in the Finals matchup ... adding another chapter to his ongoing beef with officials as he visibly and audibly expressed his frustration with calls throughout the contest.

The ESPN analyst was clearly fed up with Doncic's on-court antics ... teeing off on the matter after the game.

Stan Van Gundy is going scorched earth on The Worldwide Leader ... after the network unceremoniously dumped his little brother Jeff Van Gundy after nearly two decades with ESPN, and he's PISSED!

Jeff -- an NBA head coach for 11 seasons (Knicks, Rockets) -- worked for ESPN for 17 years until he was laid off last summer.

JVG has largely been quiet about the shocking move ... but, not so much for his brother Stan, who aired out his frustrations on Dan Le Batard's "South Beach Sessions" show.

It apparently didn't take long for Jason Kelce to find work in retirement -- the Philadelphia Eagles great is reportedly joining ESPN's "Monday Night Countdown" pregame show this season ... after getting interest from pretty much every major network.

The Athletic shared the All-Pro center's next move on Monday ... saying ESPN landed the big fish over NBC, CBS, Amazon and more.

It's really a no-brainer -- Kelce is one of the most charismatic athletes out there ... and he already has experience breaking down games on his "New Heights" podcast with his brother, Travis.

ESPN is distancing itself from Aaron Rodgers' recent comments about Jimmy Kimmel ... chalking his controversial appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" up to a bad attempt at comedy.

The New York Jets quarterback sparked an intense feud with the ABC late-night host earlier this week ... when he suggested Kimmel could be among the famous names on Jeffrey Epstein's client list.

Kimmel was furious with Rodgers ... firing back by claiming the comments could put his family in danger -- and threatening to take legal action if he continued to bark up that tree.

Mike Foss -- ESPN's senior vice president of digital and studio production -- addressed the whole issue in an interview with Front Office Sports on Friday ... and he said the comments never should have came out of Rodgers' mouth.

"Pat announced today that he’s planning on Aaron joining the show Tuesday," Foss told the outlet. "Aaron made a dumb and factually inaccurate joke about Jimmy Kimmel."

"The show will continue to evolve. It wouldn’t surprise me if Aaron’s role evolves with it."

Based on the latter part of that statement, it certainly sounds like the network won't step in and prevent Rodgers from going back on the show ... but on Friday's show, Pat accused ESPN exec Norby Williamson of sabotaging his program amid the drama.

Of course, the beef between Rodgers and Kimmel is complicated -- McAfee and the TV personality are both in the Disney family and wildly popular in their respective fields.