The Stefon Diggs-Boat "Controversy" Has Been ... Odd

Hopefully, Diggs' answers squashed the story

The Stefon Diggs “controversy” hopefully is behind us.

If you don’t know, during Memorial Day weekend, a video surfaced of Diggs on a boat with an unidentified pink substance while surrounded by three women. What seemed like a funny video turned into panic among Boston sports media and New England Patriots fans.

Diggs addressed the video for the first time Tuesday.

"I want to be as candid with you as possible, but I kind of have a thing where I don't talk about my personal life with people I don't know personally," Diggs said at mandatory minicamp, per ESPN’s Mike Reiss. "I had a conversation with (Mike) Vrabel, obviously, and I'm going to echo everything that he said. He told me he's hoping everybody is making good decisions.

"And I had a conversation with people in the building as well. So everything else is everything else. The particulars are all internal."

Quite frankly, the reactions to the Diggs video were weird.

The 31-year-old was neither convicted of nor suspected of a crime. The veteran wide receiver missed voluntary minicamp but showed up in the final week and participated in mandatory minicamp. What’s the big deal? Why was there this pearl-clutching of wondering whether or not the Patriots would cut Diggs?

Head coach Mike Vrabel stressed players had to make “great decisions on and off the field,” but of course he’s going to say that. He’s a hardass head coach who knows the pressures of winning in New England.

Longtime journalist Bomani Jones shared an interesting perspective on “The Right Time.” Jones wondered to Domonique Foxworth whether or not society lost the “war on drugs.” Now, I understood what Jones meant. He and Foxworth were commenting on how much the culture and attitude around drugs have changed, not the systematic racism and prison industrial complex that the “war on drugs” in the 1980s produced.

And in a way, yes, and I feel like that explains some of the outlandish reactions, specifically on social media. Aaron Rodgers and multiple other NFL players have been open to taking Ayahuasca, a South American psychoactive decoction. The use of cannabis and other CBD oils is commonplace. Now, the pink substance from the Diggs video was more for recreation, but younger generations are used to that. Younger generations also are prone to sharing everything on social media. Diggs himself didn’t, but even friends of Cardi B wanted to, which Foxworth admitted was mindboggling to him, coming from a different generation.

Yes, I know social media comments are a fool’s errand. But I do want to give the benefit of the doubt to morning radio shows and similar media platforms since their coverage of the Diggs story likely is more due to them filling air time; Scott Zolak quickly changed his tune from Diggs getting released to the Patriots need Diggs.

The framing of calling the video and “controversy” a “distraction” is odd. How is this a distraction other than the media choosing to cover it? Cardi B and her friends aren’t anywhere near minicamp. As far as we know, Diggs hasn’t brought the pink substance to the football facility. The veteran is locked in and hopeful to pass his physical.

It’s also baffling since Rashee Rice actually is in the middle of a civil case of his hit-and-run multi-vehicle crash. You don’t even have to be an NFL fan to know that players have done way worse and suffered zero consequences. But Diggs flashing a bag of alleged drugs is cause for concern?

Diggs’ reputation certainly plays a part. Though I think that’s all been generally overblown. I also think the power of the Patriots on local media also is part of it. Football is king in the region, and while a Boston Celtics title is great, the Patriots being good really supercharges fans and the media. So any crack in the boat (pun intended) will create worry.

But if Diggs and Drake Maye can build chemistry and get the job done, we’ll look back on this weird saga and laugh about how seriously some people took it.

Thanks for reading until the end! This is mostly meant to be a personal blog, and I’m a big K-pop and pro wrestling fan, so for every post, I’ll drop a recommended song/album or match for you to check out. Sometimes they’ll be related to the post, and sometimes they won’t. For this post, we’re going with “Different” by Le Sserafim.