Star New England teammates Stefon Diggs and Christian Barmore are living up to the so-called “Patriot Way.”
Their arrests last week on domestic assault raps are just the latest scars for a scandal-plagued franchise that seems to think the rules don’t apply to them.
Wide Receiver Diggs, 32, allegedly slapped and strangled his private chef until she began to black out at his $2.5 million Dedham, Mass., home on Dec. 2, according to a police report. It was less than a month after Bronx rapper Cardi B gave birth to the couple’s first child.
Diggs was arrested after the unidentified victim filed charges on Dec. 23, claiming the assault occurred over a pay dispute with the player, who is signed to a three-year $69 million contract. over payment.
Barmore, a 315-pound defensive tackle on the first-place 13-3 team, threw the mother of his 2-year-old child to the floor in a dispute over food and air conditioning on Aug. 8 at their Mansfield, Mass., home, according to local WCVB, citing court documents.
A Patriots spokesman said the team is aware of the allegations against Barmore and also backed Diggs, stating, “We support Stefon.”
The Patriots’ franchise crowded trophy case is lined with sheen-shattering headlines regarding crimes and controversies over the decades — from the owner on down.
- Aaron Hernandez, a star tight end, played just three seasons before he was charged in three murders. The 23-year-old was convicted in the fatal shooting of Odin Lloyd, a semi-pro football player who was dating the sister of his fiance. While on trial for that slaying, Hernandez was hit with a weapons charge in a 2012 double homicide drive-by shooting of Daniel de Abreu and Safiro Furtado in Boston. Hernandez was sentenced to life in prison for Lloyd’s murder and committed suicide in 2017, hanging himself in his cell in Shirley, Mass.
- The Patriots’ owner, billionaire Robert Kraft, was charged with two misdemeanor counts of soliciting a prostitute in 2019 after being caught on tape paying for sex at Orchids of Asia Day Spa, a strip-mall massage parlor in Jupiter, Fla. The 84-year-old could have been hit with felony charges as part of a broader investigation into human trafficking, but had the lesser charges dropped in 2020.
- Golden boy Tom Brady, widely considered the greatest NFL quarterback of all time, was accused of deflating footballs ahead of the 2015 AFC Championship Game against Peyton Manning and the Indianapolis Colts. The smaller balls gave him a better throwing grip.
Oakland Raiders, ruffling feathers in other franchises. Getty Images
- Longtime Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who famously resigned as head coach of the Jets after less than a day on the job in 2000, had his own trail of controversy — aside from aiding Brady in ball shrinking. In 2007, he ordered a staffer to illegally videotape a practice of the New York Jets to steal defensive signals. He was fined $500,000 for the scheme, while the tea, was penalized $250,000 and a first-round draft pick. Belichick claimed it was merely a misinterpretation of the rules, but the Pats got busted again in 2019 for filming the Bengals’ sideline during a practice.
- Infamous instigator and wide receiver Antonio Brown was signed by the Patriots in 2019 despite a known history of out-of-bounds antics and off-the-field incidents. The one-time pal of Tom Brady was accused of rape and sexual misconduct by a former trainer and was released by the Patriots in late September of that year after just 11 days with the organization.
- Jabrill Peppers, then a Patriots team captain, was charged with assault and battery and possession of cocaine in 2024 after he allegedly beat and choked his then-girlfriend in Baintree, Mass. Peppers was found not guilty on domestic violence charges in January 2025, and now plays for the Pittsburgh Steelers.
