To their credit, the New England Patriots stepped up to the plate in the defense of Patricia and the Lions and admitted that they knew nothing about this incident either. They then went on to point out what an exemplary individual that Patricia had been during his 14-year stint with the Patriots.
As a matter of fact, they had recommended Patricia highly to the Lions during Detroit’s coaching search.
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Yet, when team president Rod Wood responded to the question about the charges against Patricia stemming from this incident in 1996 with the fact that he was ignorant of the situation, that opened a whole can of worms up. It also brought the Lions entire screening system into question.
Yet, in the few days since, we have heard from other NFL executives or former executives that have admitted that this was their worst nightmare and it could have happened to any team in the league.
Consider this; it was reported at one point that Matt Patricia was going to accept the head coaching position of the New York Giants. In the end, when Patricia didn’t end up there it was because of his decision, not the Giants decision.
They rolled with the news as best as they could, but this would have been playing out on Broadway if he had decided he wanted to return to his New York roots and it wouldn’t have been any prettier.
The Lions said they have checked into the situation, but the background check seemed to be limited to Patricia and his former representatives from the case. That’s a good start, but before they decided they were completely satisfied they should have at least spoken to the prosecution from the case and any of the local authorities from that time to complete their investigation.
There is nothing wrong with doing your due process.