New England Patriots receiver Stefon Diggs has pleaded not guilty to felony strangulation and other criminal charges in connection with an alleged dispute with his private chef over money she said he owed her for her services.
Five days after playing in Super Bowl LX, Diggs appeared for his arraignment Friday morning at Massachusetts’s Dedham District Court. The four-time Pro Bowl player stood and was attentive but did not speak during the hearing, which lasted less than two minutes.
After attorney Michael Schuster entered the not-guilty plea on behalf of his client, Diggs was released on his own recognizance and ordered to have no contact with his accuser. A pretrial hearing was set for April 1.
“He is completely innocent of these false allegations that have been alleged against him,” Schuster told reporters outside the courthouse after the hearing. “We are confident that after the facts and evidence are reviewed in this case, he will be completely exonerated. … When they are presented it will paint a very different picture and we’re very confident that he will be exonerated.”
Diggs did not speak to reporters.
The alleged incident is said to have occurred at Diggs’ house Dec. 2. His accuser reported it to Dedham police two weeks later, according to court records, stating that Diggs had “smacked her across the face”and “tried to choke her using the crook of his elbow around her neck.”
Diggs was charged with felony strangulation or suffocation and misdemeanor assault and battery at a court hearing Dec. 30.
The arraignment hearing was originally scheduled for Jan. 23 but was postponed until after the Super Bowl. Diggs had three catches for 37 yards in the Patriots’ 29-13 loss to the Seattle Seahawks.
The Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots 29-13 in Super Bowl LX.
This is the second time the Seahawks hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in four visits to the NFL’s championship game.
After joining the NFL as an expansion team in 1976, the Seahawks didn’t make it to the big game until Super Bowl XL following the 2005 season. Coached by Mike Holmgren and led by quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, Seattle went 13-3 during the regular season and defeated Washington and Carolina in the playoffs.
In the Super Bowl, the Seahawks gave up a 75-yard touchdown run to Pittsburgh Steelers running back Willie Parker to fall behind 14-3 early in the third quarter. Seattle closed the gap with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Hasselbeck to Jerramy Stevens, but Pittsburgh got a touchdown on a trick play — a 43-yard pass from Antwaan Randle El to fellow receiver Hines Ward — midway through the fourth quarter to help seal a 21-10 win.
The Seahawks’ next visit to the big game came following the 2013 season. They went 13-3 and defeated New Orleans and San Francisco in the playoffs before facing the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XLVIII.
It was no contest. Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch had a touchdown run. Quarterback Russell Wilson had touchdown passes to Jermaine Kearse and Doug Baldwin. Malcolm Smith had a pick-six. Percy Harvin scored on a kickoff return. And coach Pete Carroll led Seattle to a 43-8 victory and its first Super Bowl championship.
After a 14-14 halftime tie, the Seahawks took a 10-point lead in the third quarter, only for the Patriots to score two touchdowns in the fourth for a 28-24 advantage just before the two-minute warning. Wilson led the Seahawks 79 yards on the ensuing drive — but they needed 80 yards.
On first and goal from the Patriots’ one-yard line with 26 seconds remaining, Wilson’s pass for Ricardo Lockette was intercepted by Patriots rookie Malcolm Butler to seal the win for New England.
The Seahawks didn’t return to the Super Bowl until this year. Coach Mike Macdonald and quarterback Sam Darnold led Seattle to a 14-3 record and wins over San Francisco and the Rams in the playoffs.
Kicker Jason Myers was responsible for all of the scoring in the first three quarters, connecting on four field goals for a 12-0 Seattle lead. The Seahawks scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Sam Darnold to AJ Barner for a 19-0 lead early in the fourth quarter. Myers made Super Bowl history with his fifth field goal, and teammate Uchenna Nwosu scored on a 45-yard interception return.
SANTA CLARA — Sam Darnold did not really know what to say.
So as the Seattle Seahawks quarterback stood on stage at Levi’s Stadium after becoming a Super Bowl champion, he made a few comments thanking teammates and fans before ultimately boiling it down to this:
“Just a job well done,” he said.
The words were simple. Concise. And captured the essence of a player who traveled a road filled with disappointments and setbacks but always believed in himself.
On Sunday, Darnold was far from spectacular. But the former San Clemente High and USC star played error-free, tossed a touchdown pass and let running back Kenneth Walker III, kicker Jason Myers and a dominating defense do the rest in a 29-13 victory over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.
It was the Seahawks second Super Bowl title, their first since 2014.
This year’s defense dubbed itself the “Dark Side.” All-Pros do not abound. Individual personalities lean more toward quietly confident rather than brash.
And on Sunday, it lit up the stadium by harassing Patriots quarterback Drake Maye into three turnovers and sacking him six times.
Linebacker Derick Hall forced a third-quarter fumble that turned the momentum. Safety Julian Love ended any real chance of a comeback with a fourth-quarter interception. And, after cornerback Devon Witherspoon hit Maye’s arm on a blitz, linebacker Uchenna Nwosu returned an interception for a touchdown.
Patriots quarterback Drake Maye throws an interception as he is hit by Seahawks cornerback Devon Witherspoon in the fourth quarter of Seattle’s 29-13 win in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.
(Adam Hunger / Associated Press)
“They lived up to the ‘Dark Side’ today,” Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald said as he held the Vince Lombardi Trophy on the winner’s stage. “It’s going to go down in the history books.”
Myers made history by kicking a Super Bowl-record five field goals. Walker rushed for 135 yards and was voted the game’s most valuable player, the first running back to win the award since Terrell Davis in 1998.
But the story of the Seahawks’ season revolved around Darnold.
The third pick in the 2018 draft endured tough times with the New York Jets and Carolina Panthers before he spent a season as the backup for the San Francisco 49ers. In 2024, he led the Minnesota Vikings to 14 victories but the team did not re-sign him.
The Seahawks welcomed him with open arms, and he became the first former USC quarterback to start a Super Bowl.
Is this what the Seahawks envisioned when they signed Darnold to a three-year deal with $55 million in guarantees?
Seahawks coach Mike MacDonald holds the Vince Lombardi Trophy on stage in front of Sam Darnold and Kenneth Walker III following a 29-13 win over the New England Patriots on Sunday.
(Eric Thayer / Los Angeles Times)
“Yeah, absolutely,” general manager John Schneider said in a celebratory locker room filled with cigar smoke and champagne. “The person, the leader — he’s the ultimate competitor.”
On Sunday, Darnold was not nearly as sharp as he was in a pivotal Week 16 overtime victory over the Rams, and the NFC championship game against the Rams.
But early in the fourth quarter, he connected with tight end AJ Barner for a touchdown that gave the Seahawks a 19-0 lead. He completed 19 of 38 passes for 202 yards. He did not have a pass intercepted. He did not fumble.
“I feel like I could have been a lot better,” he said. “Feel like we could have scored more points, to be quite frank. But again, we got the job done.”
A job well done by Darnold all season, teammates said.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold throws a pass during the second half against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.
“The story that’s been written, my story, I don’t know if I could have written a better ending to this year. Some really tough times this year, and to be in this place, be able to go through this year with these guys, it’s one of the most fun years I’ve had.”
Jones started for the Rams in Super Bowl LVI as a rookie but rather than extending him after his third year, the team traded him to Tennessee before last season. The Titans later traded him to the Seahawks, who gave him a three-year extension last spring.
“It’s amazing, man,” Jones said of being a two-time champion. “Those California Super Bowls — I like those.”
After Darnold’s touchdown pass, it appeared the Seahawks were on their way to the first shutout in Super Bowl history. But Maye came back and fired a touchdown pass to Mack Hollins, pulling the Patriots to within 12 points.
Patriots fans perhaps envisioned a repeat of Super Bowl LI in 2017, when Tom Brady led the Patriots back from a 28-3 deficit to beat the Atlanta Falcons.
But the Seahawks made sure that was not going to happen.
Love picked off a Maye pass, and Myers kicked his final field goal to increase the lead to 22-7. Late in the fourth quarter, Witherspoon hit Maye, and Nwosu grabbed the ball in the air and returned it 45 yards for a 29-7 lead.
The Seahawks were on their way to finishing the season with their 10th consecutive victory.
Maye, runner-up to Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford for the NFL most valuable player award, completed 27 of 43 passes for 295 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.
“They had applied some pressure where they got us a few times,” Maye said, “and we’ve got to be better with the football and make better decisions and I’ve got to make better throws when the game goes like that.”
When it was over, Darnold was holding the Vince Lombardi Trophy on stage.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold, left, and running back Kenneth Walker III celebrate on stage after a 29-13 win over the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX on Sunday.
(Kevin C. Cox / Getty Images)
“I was like, ‘This thing’s a lot lighter than I thought it was,’” he said. “But it was great just to be able to hold that trophy and finally enjoy it.”
Darnold will enjoy something else: He will now forever be known as Super Bowl-champion Sam Darnold.
“It’s special, man,” he said. “I’m not going to lie — it’s a dream come true. It really is.
“Just going to continue to lean in to that, and soak it all in.”
