On Feb. 2, 2008, the Boston Herald reported that a member of the New England Patriots’ video staff taped the St. Louis Rams’ walkthrough on the day before Super Bowl XXXVI. While the Boston Herald based its Feb. 2, 2008, report on sources that it believed to be credible, we now know that this report was false, and that no tape of the walkthrough ever existed.
Prior to the publication of its Feb. 2, 2008, article, the Boston Herald neither possessed nor viewed a tape of the Rams’ walkthrough before Super Bowl XXXVI, nor did we speak to anyone who had. We should not have published the allegation in the absence of firmer verification.
The Boston Herald regrets the damage done to the team by publication of the allegation, and sincerely apologizes to its readers and to the New England Patriots’ owners, players, employees and fans for our error. Link
The Boston Globe has a story mentioning the apology, and the Associated Press got comment from Patriots owner Robert Kraft:
New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft is pleased the Boston Herald apologized for a story that said his team videotaped a St. Louis Rams walkthrough before the 2002 Super Bowl.
Kraft said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press he doesn’t know why former New England video assistant Matt Walsh didn’t refute the story soon after it came out in early February, when the Patriots were preparing for this year’s Super Bowl.
Another bad Herald mistake from last month is here.
One Comment
Lots of sportsters ran with this one. There should be a plethora of corrections in the nation’s sports pages. But there won’t be; sports editors refuse to run corrections.