At this stage it’s he said-she said.
New England Patriots star receiver and one of its team leaders, Stefon Diggs, was charged with felony strangulation/suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery for an incident on Dec. 2, the night after the Patriots beat the N.Y. Giants on Monday night.
The woman making the charges was his full-time chef beginning in late July, a woman who lived in Diggs’ home.
Speaking on behalf of his client, attorney David Meier noted Diggs “categorically denies the allegations.”
Their issue was money. She claimed she hadn’t been fully paid. She also expected him to pay for a week in which he told her he didn’t need her services, from Nov. 7 to Nov. 14, with family coming to town.
She said, he claimed that she had been paid.
The problem is what happened after their verbal squabble.
The woman claimed that at one point Diggs slapped her before choking her with his arm around her throat. She was able to grab his arm and he, she said, threw her on the bed.
Did Diggs do what she said?
If he did half of what she had claimed, that would be really bad and really stupid, considering the position he is in as one of the most important Patriots on their very good roster.
Diggs followed up the incident with text messages to his former chef that are both embarrassing and rather ugly.
“I won’t be paying you bleep”
“Is you high bitc (sic)”
“And you can get whoever you want. You got my address, tell them come take the money, then (bleep) you”
Those texts aren’t criminal, but they don’t resemble the guy we’ve seen almost since the day he arrived in March.
Sure, he had the summer “boat incident” with some bag “of something,” but it surprisingly never became an issue thanks to head coach Mike Vrabel.
The Patriots have taken on their fair share of “character” risks over their history. Some have worked, including Corey Dillon and Randy Moss, while a few have not, particularly Antonio Brown, who lasted one game and 11 days.
Prior to signing his 3-year, $63.5 million deal with the Patriots, with 1-year, $22.5 million guaranteed, Diggs’ issues on the field, first in Minnesota and then in Buffalo – not getting the ball enough – were well documented and forced him out of both football hotbeds.
There was a recent allegation in November that didn’t get much play here in New England.
An on-line influencer, Christopher Griffith, a stylist who Diggs apparently hired to help promote and design his fashion label, claimed Diggs drugged and attempted to sexually assault him at Diggs’ Maryland home 18 months ago.
Diggs lawyers claimed Griffith was told to leave a party and these charges are made up.
That appears to be an issue to be dealt in the courts sometime after this season.
This is not what the New England Patriots needed, having its best and electric season since the 2018 Super Bowl run over Kansas City and later the L.A. Rams.
What happens now?
Despite the Patriots insistence via a team statement that they “support Stefon,” that’s not enough.
Coach Vrabel has been a master at running a tight, clean ship since being hired last January.
On the field, Diggs could not have been a better player or teammate, with not only his apparent leadership on the team, but no issues with getting the ball more.
He is coming off one of his greatest games and best reception as a Patriot. He also hit a $500,000 incentive bonus on his touchdown catch on Sunday in New Jersey.
While there appears to be wiggle room in terms of court appearances – post-Super Bowl, etc. – Diggs has to speak for himself here and put this to bed.
The Patriots didn’t need this. But innocent or guilty, or somewhere in between, none of it is surprising.
You can email Bill Burt at bburt@eagletribune.com.