Truth & Rumors > NFL

08:41 AM ET 05.18 | Former Notre Dame/future San Diego Chargers linebacker Manti Te'o stopped by Maxim's Hot 100 party at Create Nightclub in Hollywood on Wednesday night to support his fake girlfriend, who made the magazine's annual list of the world's 100 hottest women at No. 69. Yes, people are still making that joke. Maybe they'll stop when Te'o gets a real chick. Funny you should mention that... While hanging out among the beautiful people at the Maxim Hot 100 party, Te'o took time to pose with Yahoo! sports reporter Melanie Collins, and he took another pic with model/actress and Tennessee grad Courtney Caldwell and professional beach volleyball player/possible Jimmy Claussen girlfriend Jess Gysin. Collins loves sports, Caldwell loves the spotlight and Gysin, who went to USC, actually seems to be a Te'o fan.

Busted Coverage

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09:25 AM ET 05.18 | Attorneys for former Texans defensive lineman Mario Williams and his former fiancee met with a mediator for three hours on Friday but were unable to reach an agreement in a lawsuit that Williams filed seeking to recover a 10.04-carat diamond engagement ring valued at $785,000. "Texas law says that if the man breaks off the engagement, the woman keeps the ring," the woman's lawyer said. "Mr. Williams experienced dramatic mood swings throughout the engagement. It was during one of his low points that he broke off the engagement for the last time this past December. It was only after Ms. Marzouki refused to take him back that he became angry and filed this frivolous case. "He should have not filed a case out of anger. Ms. Marzouki will not be bullied. In the court system, no matter how rich you are, everyone is treated equally." With depositions and other matters to be completed, it could be several He said in the suit that Marzouki "unilaterally terminated" the engagement on Jan. 21, 2013, and has refused Williams' request to return the diamond engagement ring, which she had promised to do if the engagement ended. Buzbee, however, countered that Williams broke the engagement at least five times and made the final decision to end marriage plans. He also said Williams lied when he said in the suit that he gave Marzouki an American Express card on which she charged $108,000 in personal expenses. Most of those expenses, Buzbee said, were for expenses at Williams' homes. Buzbee has attempted to paint a picture of Williams in his replies to the lawsuit as emotionally unstable and unable to decide his plans for or against marriage. Friday, he released a three-page series of text messages sent to Marzouki's mobile phone in which Williams wrote on Nov. 11, "I took 3 hydrocodones this morning and no one knows" and "I'm going to take 2 more on the plane and fade away." He also texted "No money in the world should leave me with suicidal thoughts."

Houston Chronicle

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08:47 AM ET 05.18 | Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski will have a fourth arm surgery on Monday. But that's three days away. OK, two days and change. Still, that's time for plenty of living. And Gronk will be living it up one more time in Las Vegas. Jumpseat.me, a jet-sharing service, circulated an email late Friday afternoon offering four seats on the private plane that will take Gronkowski a teammate to Nevada. "This Saturday night, share a cabin and fly privately with Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman from Boston to Las Vegas for a last minute get away before Gronk goes for yet another surgery," the email explains. "This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to spend time with a living Patriots legend. Gronk is offering 4 seats in the cabin." While there's no reason to believe that Gronkowski's penchant for partying caused or contributed to the infection that invaded his arm following his second surgery, he's contributing to a perception that, if he would back off on the shirtless slam dancing and everything that goes along with it, he'd be healthy by now.

ProFootballTalk

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09:06 AM ET 05.18 | Brandon Carr's football career almost ended after one workout. Explaining his biggest inspiration to VYPE DFW, Carr told the story of the day one of his buddies got a home personal trainer in his garage. A basketball player, Carr got involved in football because he wanted to be like his older brother. He even started by playing quarterback like his brother. "I was the smallest kid, goggles, wore glasses, scrawny, but I liked competition," Carr said in the video. In Carr's sophomore year at Carman-Ainsworth High School in Flint, Michigan everything change. "My second year, we finally get this trainer," Carr said. "The first day: culture shock. We got after it. I'm like, 'Oh my God. I don't really know if I want to do this anymore.' The last drill we did, we were in the back room alternating between pushups, situps. We did about 300. I'm 15 years old. I'm scrawny, trying to hang. So that night I go home in my mind, 'I'm not going back. I'm done. I can't do this training.' I'm having nightmares. I'm getting up every 10 minutes thinking I'm still in that room, tossing and turning.'" The next day came and Carr's friends called him for the second day of training. He didn't pick up. So they showed up to his door. "I'm on the toilet," Carr said. "They show up. My mom, 'Brandon, such and such is here, Will is here.' No. They did not come to my house?" Eventually they convinced Carr to come back for the second day. It was then that Carr said his entire attitude changed when he was forced to go back for that second day. "This guy had me thinking I was a small guy, but he gave me that mindset like you can make it to next level," Carr said. "You can make it to college. You can make it to the NFL. ... He put that dog in me."

Dallas Morning News

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07:47 AM ET 05.18 | The goal for the Giants for the upcoming season was to re-fortify a sagging defense while also getting younger and more athletic. Renewed interest in former star defensive back Charles Woodson won't make the Giants younger but certainly would add to their experience and pedigree. The Giants showed some initial interest in the 36-year old Woodson after the Packers released him in mid-February and, according to ESPN, are again showing some interest. An ESPN report stated that Carl Poston, Woodson's agent, sent the following update: "The Giants have just put their toe in the water again for Charles Woodson." Woodson hasn't attracted much interest since hitting the open market. The 49ers, Panthers and Raiders sniffed around and this week he visited with the Broncos but left Denver without a contract. Woodson admitted earlier this month that teams view him as "ancient."

New York Post

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