Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - BREAKING: Stefon Diggs Facing Felony Allegations | Patriots & NFL Respond

Starting point is 00:00:00 Breaking news as Stefan Diggs is facing felony charges from an alleged incident that happened a few weeks back. This is Locked on Patriots. You are Locked-on Patriots, your daily New England Patriots podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcasts Network, your team every day. I am your host, Nick Cattles, born and raised in New England, been covering the paths for past 16 years. Also the co-host of the Greg Bedard Patriots podcast with Nick Cattels and a sports radio veteran. Welcome to Lockdown Patriots, part of the lockdown podcast network. Now the number one sports podcast network, your team every day. A breaking news episode regarding Stefan Diggs. Everything was going great for the Patriots over the past few days. AFC East Champions 13 and

Starting point is 00:00:55 three heading into the final weekend. Drake May was once again, superb. on Sunday against the Jets. Even Will Campbell is practicing. But now today, we find out that Stefan Diggs is facing felony charges. This is from Boston 25. This incident allegedly happened on December 2nd, which is the following night after the Patriots had beat the New York Giants on Monday night football. Diggs is facing felony, strangulation, or suffocation, and misdemeanor assault and battery charges.

Starting point is 00:01:30 Diggs' attorney, Michael D'Stefano, disclosed to the court that Stefan Diggs has made a financial offer to resolve the dispute with the alleged victim in this case. The veteran-wide receiver is scheduled to be arraigned on Friday, January 23rd. The judge also agreed to consider a request to extend Diggs's arraignment date to March. Now, the New England Patriots did release a statement, quote, The New England Patriots are aware of the accusations that have been made regarding Stefan Diggs. Stefan Diggs has informed the organization that he categorically denies the allegations. We support Stefan Diggs. We will continue to gather information and will cooperate fully with the appropriate authorities and the NFL as necessary.

Starting point is 00:02:11 Out of respect for all parties involved and given that this is an ongoing legal matter, we will have no further comment at this time. The NFL released a generic statement talking about how they are aware of what's going on. So there was this back and forth between Stefan Diggs's lawyer and the judge on whether or not certain documents should be impounded regarding this case. The judge decided to rule against Defon Diggs and made these documents available. So here's the gist. I'm going to run down what the alleged victim says and who this alleged victim is.

Starting point is 00:02:49 So the alleged victim showed up at the Deadham Police Department to file a report. The alleged victim is a female private chef, Mila Adams. The alleged victim and Stefan Diggs end up arguing about a payment that she says is owed to her. There's a brief text exchange, which was part of the documents that were released today. There's a brief text exchange between Stefan Diggs and the private chef about this payment. Stefan Diggs obviously disagrees that he owes her any money. This goes back and forth quickly. Then the alleged victim told a female officer that Stefan Diggs entered her unlocked bedroom.

Starting point is 00:03:31 The private chef alleges Stefan Diggs slapped her across the face. She also alleges that Stefan Diggs tried to choke her with the crook of his elbow. The private chef alleges Stefan Diggs was behind her with his arm wrapped around her. And she said she felt as if she could have blacked out and tried to. to pry Diggs's arm away from her neck. Now, Stefan Diggs allegedly tightened his grip as the private chef was trying to pry his arm away. Stefan Diggs then allegedly threw her on top of the bed. The alleged victim went back to Stefan Diggs's house to pick up her stuff and was told that if

Starting point is 00:04:13 she wanted to get paid, she'd have to sign an NDA. She declined signing anything. Then you fast forward on December 22nd, the alleged victim makes the decision to file charges. And of course, those charges as we know, again, felony, strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery charges. So that's the story. Those are the details we know. I want to remind everybody, every time we have this type of story, especially in the sports world, everybody is just, so quick to judge. The rush to judgment happens. And I would like to remind everybody

Starting point is 00:04:55 that everyone in this country is innocent until proven guilty. Innocent until proven guilty. That's number one. Number two, the allegations are ugly. There's no doubt slapping a young woman across the face, putting her in some kind of a chokehold, throwing her onto her bed. the allegations are ugly, but I would like to remind everybody, these allegations are from one side. We have no idea what Stefan Diggs is going to say. We have no idea what his story is and how things played out on this given night. We have one side of the story. And until we have the other side of the story, it's always dangerous to treat the first side and one side as quote unquote the side. This is one side of the story right now. So I think we should all take a beat

Starting point is 00:05:51 and wait to see how this unfolds as far as the details and what Stefan Diggs might say about these allegations. Now, there are some possible issues for this alleged victim. There are some possible obstacles that I see. Number one, there are no witnesses. There are no witnesses mentioned in this report. This was in a bedroom. It was between allegedly Stefan Diggs and this private chef. From what I have read, there are no witnesses to actually what happened. Number two, there's no arrest. Stefan Diggs was not arrested. The police were not on the scene. This was the alleged victim walking into the police station, into the dead police station and allegedly pointing the finger at Stefan Diggs and saying this is what

Starting point is 00:06:48 happened. So no witnesses, no arrest. Another issue for the alleged victim here is that there are no photos. The female officer who spoke to the alleged victim at the Dedham Police Department asked if there were documentation to the injuries or any injuries that she was alleging that had happened at the hands of Stefan Diggs, and there are no photos. So there are, there's no photo evidence of any bruising, any marks on the body. There's nothing. The alleged victim told the female officer at the police department that she had, quote, unquote, some redness on her chest, and that was it.

Starting point is 00:07:26 So I'm sure one of the things that Stefan Diggs is going to say is look at me, look how big I am. I'm a professional football player. I put her in a chokehold, but there are no photo. of any bruising, any marks, and even the alleged victim told the police officer, the female police officer that was on the clock in the Dedham Police Department, that she didn't have any photos and she just had, quote, unquote, some redness. Now, it doesn't mean Stefan Diggs did not do anything. It doesn't mean any of that. But these are things that you look for, right? When you're

Starting point is 00:07:57 investigating, when you're investigating, when you're trying to figure out, especially when there are no witnesses, there's a he said, she said, you're trying to figure out what actually happened. Is there photo evidence? Are there witnesses? All that stuff is critical. Now, Stefan Diggs's lawyer has responded to the documents that were released. And here's what David Meyer said in a statement, quote, Stefan Diggs categorically denies these allegations. They are unsubstantiated, uncorroborated, and were never investigated because they did not occur. The timing and motivation for making the allegations is crystal clear. They are the direct result of an employee-employer financial dispute that was not resolved to the employee's satisfaction.

Starting point is 00:08:44 Stefan looks forward to establishing the truth in a court of law. So that statement from Stefan Diggs's lawyer tells us that as of right now, if there's no settlement here, Stefan Diggs is looking forward to defending himself in a court of law and telling his side of the story. And again, that's how this country works. That's what should happen. We have one side of the story. Let the other side of the story be told as well. And as Stefan Diggs's lawyer said in the initial hearing, there have been, according to

Starting point is 00:09:17 Stefan Diggs's side, there have been conversations about a possible settlement. So you wonder if this will eventually get settled and everybody will just move on from this. But this is a major story, Stefan Diggs, if you're just jumping in, is facing charges of felony, strangulation, or suffocation, and misdemeanor assault in battery charges. Stefan Diggs denies this. We went through what the alleged victim had to say and some of the obstacles that she's going to have to face if she wants to continue this case in the court system. And I think some of these aspects of her side and the fact that she doesn't have the witnesses, the arrest, the photos, It's going to make it an uphill climb for her to battle Stefan Diggs in court.

Starting point is 00:10:09 But that's what we know so far. All right. So that's the background. That's the gist of this case. Now, all eyes are on the NFL and the Patriots to see if either of them decide to keep digs away from the Patriots facility. We'll talk about that next as we continue with this breaking news episode of Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team,

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Starting point is 00:12:14 And don't forget to subscribe. We appreciate every single one of you. All right, let's look at this now from the Patriots and the NFL point of view. Stefan Diggs, we have the allegations, we gave you the background. The Patriots initial statement of support is different from the brief statement they gave on Gibral Peppers. You go back to 2024 when Gibral Peppers was going through his legal situation, the Patriots kept it short and sweet, did not mention any type of support for Gibral Peppers.

Starting point is 00:12:45 But this is not the same. Gibral Peppers was arrested. Cops were at the scene that night, so it's immediately different than Stefan Diggs. Stefan Diggs, even though the Gibbrile's case was a he said, she said, and we know how that unfolded and eventually ended. This is a he said, she said case as well, but there's no arrest made with Stefan Diggs. The second difference here is rather obvious. Mike Vrable was not a part of the Patriots organization in 2024. So how Mike Vrable handles these types of things, what types of statements are given when they face these kinds of obstacles and challenges

Starting point is 00:13:26 might be different than the Gerard Mayo era. And really, you look at the Patriots statement, and the ultimate question is, does it really matter? Does it even matter? Let's look at the NFL, okay? Because we'll talk about the Patriots being in an impossible spot in just a couple minutes. But the NFL, the NFL could put Stefan Diggs

Starting point is 00:13:49 on the commissioner's exempt list. That's an option. They can put him on the exempt list. They can keep him away from football until this case is resolved. I think that's tough for the NFL to do in this particular, in this specific situation, with this specific case. And the reason why that I think it's difficult for the NFL to play Stefan Diggs on the

Starting point is 00:14:13 exempt list is because, again, there was no arrest. There was no arrest of Stefan Diggs. There was no police presence at the scene. And so this is the ultimate he said, she said, Gibro Peppers was put on the exempt list, but we just went over the differences between the Gibber's case and the Stefan Diggs case. So I don't think the NFL is going to put Stefan Diggs on an exempt list when the way this thing came about is the way this thing came about.

Starting point is 00:14:43 Now let's get to the Patriots. If we're being objective, if we're being reasonable, if we're being fair to the organization, The Patriots are in an impossible spot. This is so tough as a franchise. If you're the Patriots, what do you want? If you're the Patriots, you would want some kind of physical evidence, right? You would want some kind of physical evidence regarding what happened that night, whether it's photos, whether it's video.

Starting point is 00:15:13 You would want something to go off of. If you're going to quote unquote punish Stefan Diggs, especially on the precipice of the playoffs, You want something tangible in front of you. You want physical or photographic evidence. So you feel really strongly about what you're going to do, the decision that you're going to make. Because if you're going to sit Stefan Diggs down, you better make sure that you feel confident that Stefan Diggs is actually guilty of what is alleged. Meanwhile, Stefan Diggs is denying it all.

Starting point is 00:15:43 He's saying, I've got nothing to hide. I want to share my side of the case. if you want to go to court, I'm going to go to court, I'm going to fight this, I'm going to tell you what really happened. So Stefan Diggs is going back to the organization and saying, I didn't do anything wrong. You have no photographic, no physical evidence whatsoever. So what do the Patriots do? I don't think they do anything. If you sit, and this is the impossible spot, as the Patriots, if you sit Stefan Diggs and he's innocent, boy, is that unfair? You just sat a guy down right before the playoffs based off what, based off one side of the

Starting point is 00:16:27 story with no physical or photographic evidence. That's a rough thing to do, right? That's a really rough thing to do to go back to Stefan Diggs and say, we are going to sit you down for the playoffs because this woman is alleging this, very difficult to do. if you play Stefan Diggs and this thing unfolds and we find out that Stefan Diggs was guilty and did do these things to the alleged victim, then the Patriots are going to get a lot of backlash. They should have handled this differently. They should have done that differently.

Starting point is 00:17:01 How could they actually allow him to play in the playoffs when these allegations were hovering around? So it's almost like you feel like you can't win if you're the Patriots in this specific situation. But I don't think they're going to do anything. And frankly, until something is proven, I don't think they should do anything. Why would you sit somebody down? Why would you punish somebody when we have no earthly idea if these allegations are actually true or not? Yeah, it makes it very difficult. And it makes it difficult to watch the games and watch Stefan Diggs make plays.

Starting point is 00:17:37 And in the back of your mind, you're wondering, you know, did he assault? Did he strangle this female private chef? Is that what really happened? It's all very uncomfortable, and it's all very brutal. But the reality of the situation is, how can you punish somebody without a full investigation being done, without physical or photographic evidence in one side of the story? How can you possibly punish somebody? So I just don't think the Patriots will or should do anything. Now, if something else comes out, if there's a video, if photos do surface somehow, some way, if we get more details.

Starting point is 00:18:14 then you might act. But given what we have right now in front of us, it ain't enough. It ain't enough to punish somebody. So my initial thought is that nothing happens until at least after this season is over. I think the Patriots in the NFL, if Stefan Diggs and the alleged victim do not come together and settle this case, I think everybody is going to let this thing fully play out and show patience and take a deep breath and say, let's see how all of this unfolds over the next couple of months. I don't think the NFL is going to do much.

Starting point is 00:18:52 I don't think the Patriots are going to do much. And again, I don't think they should do much. No matter how tough and awkward this is going to be. Because again, as I mentioned at the top of this episode, you are innocent until proven guilty. All right. So we talked about the background. We gave you the gist of the case.

Starting point is 00:19:16 We just talked about the NFL and the Patriots and how they might react. I'm confident. I'm confident that this legal situation with Stefan Diggs is not going to impact the Pats negatively. I will tell you why next. This is Lockdown Patriots, part of the Lockdown Podcast Network, your team every day. Let's be real. No one starts a business for the joy of calculating tax withholdings or managing payroll spreadsheets. That's where Gusto comes in to take the stress out of payroll, benefits, and HR so you can focus on running your business and supporting your team.

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Starting point is 00:20:34 Three months free payroll at gusto.com slash lockdown NFL. One more time. That's gusto. dot com slash lockdown NFL. Don't forget to comment, like, and subscribe, help out this podcast, help out this community as we continue to march towards 8,500 subs. Appreciate all of your, all of your support. It is just unbelievable to see the reaction and the overwhelming support for this podcast.

Starting point is 00:21:06 I can't say enough about Patriots fans. I believe that we can be one of, if not the best. in the locked on community. So help us out. Don't forget to like, comment, and sub. I do not think this Stefan Digg situation will negatively impact the Patriots on the field. I do not think that this story is going to negatively impact the product.

Starting point is 00:21:26 And let me start with the guy who runs this organization. I have full trust in Mike Vrable. I have full trust in the head coach and his ability to keep this team focused, to keep this team on track, to keep this team goal-oriented. I have all the trust in the world in Mike Vrable. We've talked about his connection with players. We've talked about his communication skills, his messaging.

Starting point is 00:21:52 Nothing. Nothing tells me that Mike Vrable will struggle with this type of situation. Absolutely zilch. I have full trust in the head coach that he is going to handle this appropriately. He is going to make sure that this team is on the same page. and when the time comes, when they kick the football off, I am absolutely unequivocally in belief that Mike Rable will have this team focused on one thing and one thing only.

Starting point is 00:22:20 Football. Number two, we don't have to go too far back, unfortunately, for Stefan Diggs to see how a possible distraction will impact this team. Stefan Diggs had the pink substance video back in camp. and it was treated as a big time situation at that at that moment and there were a lot of questions about Stefan Diggs, his involvement, the people that he was hanging out with, what was the pink substance, what wasn't the pink substance. There were all these headlines and the radio, you know, radio shows talked about it

Starting point is 00:22:56 incessantly and what happened? Nothing. Nothing. The first time around with Stefan Diggs, any possible allegations or questionable activity, the Patriots, Mike Vrable, they showed the ability to shut off the distractions. They showed the ability to focus on football. That did not derail their camp. It certainly did not derail this season.

Starting point is 00:23:19 Last time I checked, they're 13 and 3. They were able to get through that situation. They were able to get through that controversy, if you want to call it that, address it, handle their business, and move forward. And I expect the same exact thing to happen this time around. I expect them to handle their business, keep away from the distractions, focus on football, and move forward. Also, let's not forget this, to believe that Stefan Diggs and these allegations will negatively impact the Patriots or it'll be some type of imaginary brick wall they're going to run into. You know what that does?

Starting point is 00:24:03 It disrespects every other veteran on this football team. It disrespects, and I know he's hurt right now, but he is certainly a leader. It disrespects Mack Hollins and Mack Holland's ability to make sure that everybody is handling this responsibly and that they're focused on the right thing. It overlooks somebody like Morgan Moses, who is 34 years old. He's been in the league forever, a true leader of men. It almost disrespects Morgan Moses's ability to have Conversexed. in that locker room to make sure guys are focused on the right thing.

Starting point is 00:24:42 And defensively, you also have veterans on this team that should be able to grasp on to what's happening in the moment, understand the gravity of said moment, and realize, acknowledge and appreciate what they can do over the next few weeks on the football field that could be special. Carlton Davis has been in the NFL for a long time. I'm sure this is not his first rodeo dealing with controversy or dealing with a teammate that might have issues. Robert Spillane has been in the league for a while. You know, this is why you bring veterans onto your team,

Starting point is 00:25:15 not because you predict that there's going to be some kind of allegations against one of your players, but you bring veterans on the team, and this is a major reason why this team is 13 and 3, and they've done what they've done this year, because of culture, because of leadership, and how strong is that foundation?

Starting point is 00:25:33 I feel like that foundation is very, very strong with what they've built so far. And I feel like the veterans on this team, they understand what they need to do to function. No matter how tough, no matter how tough the road is, they're going to keep their eye on what they need to keep their eye on. Mack Hollins, Morgan Moses, Carlton Davis, Robert Spillane, and many others. And don't overlook the coaching staff because the players aren't the only veterans.

Starting point is 00:26:00 You've got to look at these coaches. Up and down this list, right? Up and down this list, you've got veteran coaches. Just think about the distraction that Terrell Williams and his very unfortunate health situation, think about what kind of distraction that could have turned into. Your defensive coordinator gets diagnosed with cancer at the beginning of the season. Things could have been derailed. Now it's a different type of distraction, but it is still a very significant distraction that can knock

Starting point is 00:26:35 off. And it didn't. It did not knock this team off. They have veteran coaches that understand that they need to step up and they know what they need to do to keep the players on the right path. I also think there's no good timing for something like this, whether guilty or innocent, whenever a story like this comes out, it stinks out loud and it makes you feel awful. But if you're looking at the timing of this, handling it right now is much better than having to handle it next week. If you were dealing with these allegations and this story on the very week of a possible playoff game, of course, the number one seat is still out there, I think it's unlikely because Justin Herbert not playing on Sunday. But if you had to deal with this story

Starting point is 00:27:29 during the week of the playoff game, that to me is more of a challenge. I still have confidence and then being able to do that. But that's, you know, try to focus on your first playoff game with this type of story barging into your attention and barging into your focus. That could have been more of a problem. I feel like this is going to be settled by the end of this week. I mean, not legally, but I think inside that lock. a locker room, it's going to be settled. And then it's going to be quiet next week, unless more

Starting point is 00:28:04 details come out. But if this is, you know, the case in itself, and these are the details that we get, we might not hear anything for another couple of weeks. Who knows? And so, you know, let this stuff come out. If you're the Patriots, if you're anybody on this team, if you're the coaching staff, if your ownership, you want the stuff to kind of come out right now. Let it come out. on a Tuesday. And then you've got the rest of your week to make sure you sift through all of it. You get everybody on the same page. You play a football game on Sunday.

Starting point is 00:28:39 And then you're back to work next week. And hopefully you're fully focused on, all right, we got a shot to make a playoff run. What happened last week is what happened last week. We're moving forward. But I have confidence. I have confidence in this coaching staff. And I'm not going to look back. If they end up losing the playoffs in the first round,

Starting point is 00:28:59 if they play the wild car round. I'm not looking back and going, oh, it's because Stefan Diggs. No, no, no. Nope, I'm not doing it. I think they can get through this. Whether they play great football or not, it's a different question.

Starting point is 00:29:13 But I think mentally, they'll get through this. All right, don't forget to like, comment, sub. That wraps up this edition, this breaking news episode of Lockdown Patriots. Thank you for making us your first listen and for being an every day. Reach out to me on Twitter. I'm on Twitter at Nick C.

Starting point is 00:29:27 radio. And if you're looking for a gift for someone, make it easy. Ask for the everydayer club, add free episodes of this show, exclusive Discord, server access, and more. Subscriptions can be gifted through lockdownpatriots.supercast.com. Have a great rest of your day, and we will see you tomorrow.

Locked On Patriots - Daily Podcast On The New England Patriots - BREAKING: Stefon Diggs Facing Felony Allegations | Patriots & NFL Respond

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