Stefon Diggs controversy shouldn’t come as a surprise to Patriots or their fans

Henry McKenna

NFL Reporter

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Leave it to Northeasterners to get carried away with their pearl clutching. New England is astonished at a celebrity conducting himself like … a celebrity.

Yes, New England Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs went viral last week after a series of videos appeared on social media showing him partying on his girlfriend Cardi B’s yacht. In the initial leak of videos, she was nowhere to be seen. One video showed Diggs surrounded by a group of women that he eventually handed an unidentified pink substance.

Not long after, Cardi B posted photos and videos that indicated she was a part of the party, after all. That quieted criticism about Diggs’ behavior with the other women. But, of course, that pink substance has been much discussed.

What is it? We may never be sure.

I don’t condone Diggs’ actions. I’m just not surprised that he has created issues off the field. Nor do I think the Patriots should be. Certainly, new head coach Mike Vrabel’s response didn’t surprise me.

“It’s something that we’re aware of,” Vrabel said when asked about the video of Diggs with the pink substance. “Obviously, we want to make great decisions on and off the field. … Any conversations that I’ve had with Stefon will remain between him, I and the club.”

Diggs clearly made mistakes over the course of the party on the yacht. One of them was letting the passengers keep their phones. You’d think Cardi B and Diggs might’ve had a “no phones” rule like many other celebrities in the spotlight. And this made it abundantly clear that Diggs is in the spotlight.

He was once one of the best receivers in the NFL. He was also engaged in the fashion world. And since he started dating Cardi B, Diggs isn’t just a football player anymore, just like Travis Kelce is much more than a Pro Bowl tight end. By dating two queens of pop music, they’ve ascended into a celebrity status that makes them interesting to people outside the NFL sphere.

That means increased scrutiny.

That also means increased speculation, including that the Patriots might release Diggs over this incident. After all, he doesn’t have financial security because he hasn’t passed his physical yet, which means the Patriots could slip free from his contract. But according to reports, that’s not happening.

The Patriots have bought into Diggs, with all his baggage.

And he’s got plenty of baggage. He’s the master of the cryptic tweet, sending out confusing messages that occasionally cast doubt about his future with just about every team for which he’s played. That’s when he’s passive-aggressive. But he’s been more overtly critical, too. He was upset with Josh Allen on the sidelines during the Buffalo Bills‘ playoffs after the 2022 season. Then he left the locker room after the game before the assistant coaches made it down from the box. Diggs later missed practices during Buffalo’s mandatory minicamp, which led coach Sean McDermott to say he was “very concerned” about the receiver.

When the Patriots signed Diggs, they had to know they were getting a hassle. They signed on anyway, mainly because he was the only hassle who would have them.

Over the past few years, New England has tried to cultivate young receiver talent. When that didn’t work, the Patriots tried to trade for Brandon Aiyuk and attempted to sign Calvin Ridley and DeAndre Hopkins. Star receivers — even declining or mercurial ones — have avoided New England because of its offensive decline and uncertainty.

That’s why they turned to Diggs, a 31-year-old wideout who seemed to be in decline even before he tore his ACL last October. Diggs had nowhere else to go. The Patriots had no one else to turn to.

This isn’t to say that Diggs is without virtue. To this point in his career, it’s true he’s been a hassle, but he’s not a cancer — not even in Buffalo, where Allen and Diggs said constantly that they had a close relationship. Diggs is an enormously hard worker. He was present for practice on Monday and participated in everything except for full-speed competitive drills, an impressive showing for a guy just seven months removed from ACL surgery. He took part in some half-speed walkthroughs and ran routes. He led the wideouts through their receiver drills.

“I know he’s staying up on the information and the material,” Patriots OC Josh McDaniels said of Diggs. “There’s so many things and opportunities for us to teach all of our guys going forward, between the rest of the practices here in the spring and then going into the summer and the many days we have before we actually kick the ball off in September. I’m not concerned about Stef in that regard.”

I get that there’s more to the world than football. Kids look up to Diggs, and he let those kids down. We can all acknowledge that a mistake is a mistake. But since we’re being honest, celebrities don’t often make great role models. It’s a waste of energy to act disappointed or even surprised that Diggs is causing a stir.

Let go of those pearls, folks. You’re holding on too tight.

Before joining FOX Sports as an NFL reporter and columnist, Henry McKenna spent seven years covering the Patriots for USA TODAY Sports Media Group and Boston Globe Media. Follow him on Twitter at @henrycmckenna.

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