Report: Patriots Didn't Allow Darrelle Revis' Mom To Attend Super Bowl Ring Party
BOSTON (CBS) -- Robert Kraft hosted a party to hand out Super Bowl rings to the Patriots on Sunday night, but former Jet-turned-Patriot-turned-Jet-again Darrelle Revis was unable to attend due to a prior commitment. This news was reported over the weekend.
Yet a new wrinkle unfurled a day after the event, as ESPN.com's Rich Cimini reported that Revis sent his mother -- Diana Askew -- to attend the ceremony in his place. But the Patriots reportedly told her that she could not attend.
"Askew flew to Boston on Saturday, but she never made it to Kraft's home, as she was informed on Saturday the invitation was non-transferable," Cimini reported.
Cimini also reported that Askew picked up Revis' ring on Monday morning at Patriots headquarters.
Attending such a ceremony is a tremendous honor for any athlete who's spent his entire life trying to reach that goal. And for a parent, seeing a son reach the peak of his sport is about as great as it gets. That's why Devin McCourty took his mother as his guest to the event.
Think back to Tom Brady's pregame speech to his team: "It's about honor. It's about respect! We win this game, you're honored. Your kids are honored! Your families are honored!"
That much is certainly true. But not for Revis.
Revis was in attendance for the Patriots' team trip to the White House to be honored by President Barack Obama, but since that date, he has made some disparaging remarks regarding the Patriots in the midst of the ongoing DeflateGate saga.
"If [the NFL] feels [Tom Brady] did the crime or he did something and they want to penalize them, then that's that. [The Patriots] have a history of doing stuff. You can't hide that. ... Tom was there when they did that stuff in the past," Revis said. "New England's been doing stuff in the past and getting in trouble. When stuff repeatedly happens, then that's it. I don't know what else to tell you. Stuff repeatedly happened through the years. You got SpyGate, you got this and that and everything else. Obviously in those situations in the past, they had the evidence. So they did what they needed to do."
Obviously, those aren't the words of somebody who felt much like defending the honor of the team he was part of and the team which won the Super Bowl. Of course, in discrediting Brady and the Patriots, he was devaluing his own achievement, almost declaring that he was on a team that cheated its way to a title. From the standpoint of bolstering his own legacy, Revis seemed instead intent on tearing it down, likely to appease his New York fan base. (In case you weren't aware, Jets media and fans are 110 percent obsessed with the New England Patriots. Just look at the front pages these tabloids churn out on a regular basis.)
But in doing so, he also might have made himself and his family personae non gratae at the residence of Robert Kraft.
Really, it's hard to imagine the Patriots rejecting a current player's mother from attending instead of the player. And even if, say, new Houston Texan Vince Wilfork was unable to attend, you'd have to believe that Kraft would have welcomed Vince's wife, Bianca, to the event.
But Revis said his piece, essentially painting the team for which he played as a deceitful, cheating bunch. And as a result, his mother traveled to Boston for nothing.
The rivalry -- dormant for the past few years -- may be rekindled. The Patriots get to see Revis and the Jets on Sunday, Oct. 25 at 1 p.m. at Gillette Stadium. It's a showdown that might be worth watching.
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