The Lions, Patriots and even the former head coach of Matt Patricia's alma mater say they had no idea about his sexual assault indictment prior to the Detroit News' report this week. How could this be?
In a statement, Lions president Rod Hood said the team was ignorant to Patricia's arrest. Patriots head coach Bill Belichick also said he didn't know, and defended Patricia's character. Patricia's college coach at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Joe King, told TMZ he was previously unaware of the case. King hired Patricia to serve as his graduate assistant for the '96 season. The case wasn't dropped until January 1997.
On Wednesday, the Detroit News resurfaced the allegations. According to the paper, Patricia and one of his college football teammates burst into the hotel room of a 21-year-old woman while on spring break on South Padre Island in Texas and "took turns violently sexual assaulting her."
A grand jury indicted Patricia and his friend, Greg Dietrich, on one count of aggravated sexual assault, which carries a maximum sentence of up to life in prison in Texas. But the charges were dismissed and Patricia never stood trial. The accuser declined to testify.
Patricia vehemently denies the accusations. The Lions head coach professed his innocence in a press conference Thursday, calling the story an unfair attack on his character. At the presser, Patricia said his indictment has never come up in a job interview.
The Patriots have legal cover. Under Massachusetts law, it is illegal for employers to ask about arrests that did not lead to convictions. Patricia worked for the Patriots from 2004 –– 2017, serving as defensive coordinator for the last five years.
In Michigan, however, employers can ask job applicants about arrests that didn't result in guilty verdicts.
And regardless, it does seem strange neither the Patriots nor Lions knew about Patricia's past. The indictment can be found on the public search database LexisNexis. As Lions head coach, Patricia is the face of the organization. It's astonishing they wouldn't conduct a complete background check.
This is what comes up when you run a simple background check on Matt Patricia. The Lions, I guess, chose not to click on details. pic.twitter.com/RGY7jwc5VA
— Kirk & Callahan (@KirkAndCallahan) May 10, 2018It's possible the Patriots and Lions are lying, of course. But given the 22-year-old case was dropped, they didn't have to go the ignorant route. They could've said the arrest never led to a conviction, and they believe Patricia's denial. The Lions are tacitly saying that now, since Patricia is still their head coach.
If no other details come out, it's likely the story will fall to the back of the news cycle. But if more credible information is revealed, all of Patricia's employers will have some explaining to do.
