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FOXBORO - The Patriots' march to the AFC Championship Game took an unexpected turn back into controversy today.

Randy Moss, for all of this season a model citizen in the Patriots' locker room despite a checkered past, was hit with a civil restraining order Monday from a Fort Lauderdale-area court, filed by a woman whom the veteran wide receiver claims to have known for more than a decade.

The civil complaint was filed in the domestic violence court of Broward County 17th Judicial Circuit Court by Rachelle Washington, 35, of Fort Lauderdale, who claimed that the Patriots' wide receiver committed battery upon her and refused to allow her to seek medical treatment.

The alleged incident was to have taken place Jan. 6 at her home, according to published reports.

The temporary restraining order, granted by Judge Matthew Destry, orders Moss to not to come within 500 feet of Washington, her residence or her car, or to possess or use firearms. A hearing date of Jan. 28 has been set at the Fort Lauderdale courthouse. No criminal charges have been filed in the matter. Should the Patriots defeat the San Diego Chargers this Sunday in the AFC Championship Game, they would be scheduled to depart for the Phoenix area on Jan. 27 to begin their preparation for Super Bowl XLII.

Meeting with reporters in the Gillette Stadium locker room Wednesday afternoon, Moss called the accusations an attempt at "extortion" by Washington, whom he called "a friend." But according to the Boston Herald, which obtained court records from Florida, Washington claimed in the filing to have had an "intimate relationship" with Moss since 1997.

"I've know this woman 11 years," Moss said, surrounded by reporters and cameramen in the middle of the locker room. "I don't wish anything bad on this woman. That's the love I have for her as a friend. Even though these allegations are false or whatever she's claiming, I really can't be mad at that because if that's what she's doing, that's what she's doing. If she's hurt and she needs money, that's on her.

"The friendship's over," he added, "but, like I say, I'm not mad, I'm not bitter. I am mad at this situation of extortion. Yes, I'm mad about that. For an accident to occur, I mean, it happens. Stuff does happen."

Moss said he could not reveal details of the incident because of "a pending lawsuit," but he called it "an accident" and offered a surprisingly aggressive and impassioned defense of himself as he fielded reporters' questions.

"My situation is where I felt that I did nothing wrong," Moss said. "It was an accident. Whatever happened, it was an accident. I wish I could sit here and tell you all really what happened, but there is a lawsuit or whatever it is coming against me. I can't really explain or tell y'all what's going on. All I want to say is, I'm going to continue to play football."

Moss said emphatically that he has never struck a woman in his life.

"Battery? I didn't hit no woman," he said. "I've never laid my hands on a woman. So for you to say battery, I think if there was such a thing in the court system as an accident, then that's what I'm guilty for. But for you to say physically, in an angry manner or whatever the manner may be, put my hands on a woman physically, I have never done that.

"I think the best thing is you can check my resumé," he said. "Ask around. I've never hit a woman. I do not hit women. That's not what I'm supposed to be doing. I've got a job to do and that's to provide for my family and help raise my children. That's what I do.

"It's unfair to athletes if a person makes a false claim," he said. "You know, there is nothing we can do. The only thing we can do is either pay up or sit back and listen to what's been said or what's being written. I can honestly say I am a … I don't know what the word is to use … that's what position I'm in. For someone to make a false claim about me, I'm kind of furious." Moss said that the woman's legal representation was seeking "six figures" from him, so he went to Patriots' coach Bill Belichick with details of the pending court action last Friday.

"The only reason I went to Coach (was) because I knew the magnitude of something like this, how it was going to take off," Moss said. "Like I said, if I'm guilty, I am truly sorry. I'm going to stand up for what's right. I really am.

"I can't never be happy because this is something negative or a black cloud hanging over my head and that's something that I did not want coming into the season is anything negative," he said. "Everything I've tried to do from getting here early and making sure I eat the right food all the way to practicing and playing here, I wanted all that to be an A-plus."

Moss said he was speaking to the media because he felt it necessary to clear his name, given the public perception of him from other incidents that took place during his high school and college careers, as well as early in his pro career.

While with the Minnesota Vikings, Moss was criticized by quarterback Daunte Culpepper and others for leaving the field with 2 seconds left in a regular-season loss to Washington. He bumped a traffic control officer with his car in 2002, verbally abused corporate sponsors on a team bus in 2001 and squirted an official with a water bottle in 1999.

But with the Patriots, for whom he caught 98 passes for 1,493 yards and caught an NFL-record 23 touchdown passes, he has been regarded as a hard worker and a locker-room leader.

"That's one thing that I want to do because throughout this whole season everything's been positive," he said. "So why would I bring something negative on what we're trying to do and hopefully what's going to happen if we do things right in the next month?

"I've know this young lady 11 years," he said. "This is supposed to be a friend of mine … I mean, all you men and ladies around here, you've know somebody for over 11, 15 years, and you wouldn't think in your wildest dreams that something like this is going to happen to you."

Belichick did not address the accusations against Moss during his daily press conference, which took place before the receiver met with reporters in the locker room.

"This is my last thing and I'm going to say it," Moss said after more than 20 minutes of answering questions. "Today, tomorrow, next week, y'all are going to say what y'all want, but make sure, very sure before you rush to judgment that you know what you're talking about before you say it."

MARK FARINELLA may be reached at 508-236-0315 or via e-mail at mfarinel@thesunchronicle.com