This is just what the 17-0, history-seeking Patriots needed five days before Sunday’s AFC Championship game in their quest to get to a fourth Super Bowl in the past seven years.
A big, fat, juicy off-the-field distraction.
After stunning much of the NFL by being a model citizen the entire season, not to mention setting an NFL record for most TD receptions in a season with 23, Randy Moss was rocked today when news that a woman in Florida alleged he committed battery against her surfaced publicly.
This, of course, is not in Bill Belichick’s one-moment-at-a-time, focus-first playbook.
The Patriots seemed to survive and even thrive after Spygate unfolded at the beginning of the season. Let’s see if this latest controversy has any effect on derailing this New England football machine.
Moss, whose chats with the New England media occurred about as often as Belichick publicly doles out playbook secrets, vehemently denied the allegations. In fact, he was so talkative in his denial he probably ended up talking more during today’s session than he had in the last month.
Moss said the woman’s charges are false and that she made the claim to get money from him.
“I want to make something clear,” the wide receiver said. “In my whole entire life of living 30 years, I’ve never put my hand on one woman, physically or in an angry manner.”
The woman, identified in court records as Rachelle Washington, 35, of Fort Lauderdale, Fla., filed for and was granted a protection order against Moss, alleging he committed battery against her. The temporary injunction, issued in Broward County (Fla.) court, bars Moss from coming within 500 feet of the woman and from using or possessing firearms. No criminal charges have been filed in the matter, but a hearing has been scheduled for Jan. 28, which is the Monday before the Super Bowl.
Moss, who offered no details of the alleged incident, saying he was restricted by the legal case, said the woman was a friend of 11 years and
that she asked for “six figures” for what Moss said was an accident in which she was hurt.
“They’re false allegations, something I’ve been battling for like the last couple of days of threats going public if I didn’t pay ‘X’ amount of dollars,” Moss said. “So before people rush quick to judgment I think you need to find out the facts about, really, what’s going on. This young lady by no means is hurt. I didn’t hurt her.”
Moss said he spoke to Belichick about the incident. Belichick told the Boston Globe after practice that he “spoke with” Moss and “I support Randy 100 percent.”
Moss said, “I’m very disappointed in the timing.”
The woman alleged in her charges that Moss denied her getting medical attention.
“She lives in her own house and has her own vehicle, so how could I deny her medical attention?” Moss said. “Does that make sense? She has her own house. She has her own car. So how am I going to deny someone medical attention when you live by yourself and have your own vehicle?”
Moss said the allegations have left “a black cloud hanging over my head.”
“That’s something I did not want coming into the season: anything negative,” Moss said. “Everything I tried to do, from getting here early, and making sure I eat the right food, all the way to practicing and playing good, I wanted all that to be an A-plus.”
That grade — at least for the moment — has been tarnished.
Moss, who came to New England with a checkered history, said he’s anxious to clear his name.
“That’s the one thing I want to do, because throughout this whole season, everything has been positive,” he said. “Why would I bring something negative on? Come on. As much as I care and love the game of football and love my teammates and coach, I would never put myself or them in a situation of something like this.”