A video reportedly depicting the alleged assault victims of New York Jets star cornerback Darelle Revis and another as yet unidentified man surfaced this weekend, adding to the evidence mounting in a case where five men say they were attacked by Revis on the street in the South Side of Pittsburgh. Revis, who turned himself, was charged in the incident, but his lawyers maintain that the football player says he was merely defending himself against the five men. But now, a video depicting two apparently unconscious men and a male voice claiming to have knocked the men out has become part of the case as well.
TMZ Sports posted a video Sunday (February 19) that appears to be from the aftermath of a physically violent altercation with a group of guys, two of whom appear to be unconscious in the video footage, while an unknown male voice can be heard bragging about knocking out the men. The TMZ Sports report noted that since Darrelle Revis was the only person arrested and charged with a crime in the case, Pittsburgh police apparently believe that the voice is that of the New York Jets’ cornerback.
Andrew Stockey of WTAE-TV in Pittsburgh reported via Twitter that Revis’ lawyers denied that the voice that can be heard in the TMZ video was that of their client.
Darrelle Revis attorneys tonight on TMZ video: “The voice and admissions made on the video are NOT that of Darrelle Revis.” pic.twitter.com/eRpYo5M15x
— Andrew Stockey (@astockeyWTAE) February 20, 2017
According to the Bleacher Report , conflicting stories had arisen concerning an altercation between Darrelle Revis and two men in Pittsburgh on Sunday, February 12.
A posting from the Pittsburgh Department of Public Safety revealed that police officers had responded to a call where two men had been rendered unconscious. The investigation into the incident uncovered that the two males, thinking they had recognized the star player, had approached Revis as he was walking down the street. When Revis acknowledged his identity, one of the men took out a cell phone and began recording, following Revis. At some point, Revis objected, snatched the phone, and attempted to delete the video. When the two tried to retrieve the phone, Revis threw it onto the road. After an argument, another man showed up and assisted Revis. The two men said they were punched and the next memory they had was of speaking with police.
At the time, charges were pending against Revis for robbery, terroristic threats, conspiracy and aggravated assault.
As for Revis’ side of the story, a statement was released to KDKA-TV in Pittsburgh by Blaine Jones Law: “Mr. Revis came home to Pittsburgh this past weekend to visit family and friends. During that time, Mr. Revis went by a location in the Southside that he is in the process of developing. Mr. Revis was physically assaulted while at that location by a group of at least 5 people. Mr. Revis feared for his safety and retreated from the aggressors. Mr. Revis was not arrested after this incident. Mr. Revis sought medical attention as a result of the aforementioned attack.”
Revis turned himself in to authorities Friday and was released on non-monetary bond, according to ESPN , having been charged with the aforementioned four felony counts and one misdemeanor count on Thursday.
A statement issued by his attorneys, Robert DelGreco Jr. and Mark Fiorilli, addressed the case, contending that their client disputed the charges and had “feared for his safety” during the altercation. “Darrelle Revis absolutely, categorically and positively did not knock out anyone, did not conspire with anyone to commit an assault, did not say ‘shut up before I knock your (expletive] out next’ and surely did not ‘rob’ another of a cell phone,” “The voice and admissions made on the video are not that of Darrelle Revis. We have no doubt but that further investigation relative to the clothing and voice verification will corroborate the above assertions.”
Darrelle Revis is currently in a five-year contract (that ends in 2019) with the New York Jets and coming off of a poor showing in the 2016 football season that has many, including Cameron DaSilva at Fox Sports writing that the Jets just might cut him from the team. The Pittsburgh incident is problematic for Revis in that it could open him up to NFL suspensions that could hurt his playing time in the upcoming season. DaSilva argued that the Jets would be better off to cut Revis and save the team the money the team it would have to pay him to keep him on the roster for 2017 ($9.3 million). As it is, unless the Jets can find some contractual breach, the team will still lose $6 million already guaranteed the 31-year-old cornerback for the year’s salary. He is also due $2 million as a roster bonus on March 11 (which means, with the other $6 million guaranteed, drops the Jets savings on a Revis release to $7.3 million).
With his poor 2016 showing and his current legal woes, there is very little Darrelle Revis can do about getting released should the Jets choose to do so.
[Featured Image by Seth Wenig/AP Images]