The Superstar
Stefon Diggs was regarded as one of the top wide receivers in football just a few years ago. From his time with the Minnesota Vikings, where he became a household name following the “Minnesota Miracle”, to his time with the Buffalo Bills, where he helped establish Josh Allen as an MVP-caliber quarterback. Diggs has had a very successful career in the NFL.
The Diva
He’s also had his shortcomings. His departures from both Minnesota and Buffalo left him with the label of a diva. Following those stints, he relocated to Houston to get his career back on track, but suffered an ACL injury that ended his 2024 season.
He finished the 2024 season with just 47 receptions, 496 yards, and three touchdowns. Stefon Diggs, a guy who had earned two All-Pro honors and three Pro Bowl selections, was now viewed as a toxic personality coming off a serious ACL injury at 31 years old. His future in the league was coming into question.
The Patriots were desperate for talent at the receiver position. They finally felt like they found an elite quarterback in Drake Maye, but the rest of the offense needed serious upgrades. New England struck out on guys like Tee Higgins, Terry McLaurin, and Brandon Aiyuk. Eventually, the team landed Stefon Diggs, which had some mixed reactions.
The Leader
People were questioning why Stefon Diggs would choose a team that was coming off back-to-back four-win seasons. There were also people wondering if Stefon Diggs is the right type of personality to pair with a young quarterback still trying to find his footing in the league. The first thing we heard out of New England was videos of Diggs partying on a boat in Miami while his teammates were preparing for training camp. Since then, Diggs made it his mission to prove to the Patriots that this partnership was going to work.
Stefon Diggs has stepped into a leadership role for this young team. Not only for the receiving corps, but the entire team as well. We regularly see him giving the pregame pump-up speech before the team takes the field. He’s talked a lot about buying in and being an extension of the coaches on the field. “I don’t know how (Vrabel) does it. He got me to buy in, I’ll tell you that.” Said Diggs to Mike Reiss of ESPN when asked about Vrabel’s impact on the team. He says the right thing in every media session, and other players in the locker room have praised his leadership throughout the year. For a guy who had been labeled a diva and saw his career in the NFL hanging in the balance, he’s played a huge role on and off the field that a lot of fans did not see coming.
What was it that made him switch his mentality? It could be that Diggs wanted to prove people wrong about him as a person. He also may have gained a new perspective after his injury. Diggs understood what he needed to change internally to add value to teams. Mike Vrabel’s program and culture may have been enough to get him to completely buy in. It also might just be him getting older and maturing. Any one of those things could be the case, or it could be a mixture of them all. Whatever led to this version of Stefon Diggs that we are seeing this year, he deserves a lot of credit for his mentality and approach throughout this season.
Main Photo Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
The post The Character Arc of Stefon Diggs: From Superstar to Diva to Leader appeared first on Last Word on NFL.