Bombshell Tom Brady story turns out to be a hoax, writer suspended
Patriots fans nearly choked on their breakfasts Friday morning when they read the Boston Herald.
The paper’s back-page headline declared that Tom Brady was mad about Jimmy Garoppolo’s new record-breaking contract and would boycott OTA’s unless New England matched the five-year, $137.5 million deal.
By mid-morning, they were feeling much better after learning the whole thing was a hoax — the result of sloppy journalism.
Controversial columnist Ron Borges fell for a text by someone claiming to be agent Don Yee, who represents both quarterbacks.
WEEI morning show “Kirk and Callahan” revealed the hoax, as a caller identified as “Nick” admitted to being the culprit and shared his misleading text.
Nick in Boston told Ron Borges that he was Don Yee and @RonBorges ran with it. Here is the evidence. pic.twitter.com/xKc4e5XGOy
— Mut at Night (@MutAtNightWEEI) February 9, 2018
Borges not only failed to perform his due diligence, he also failed to apply logic.
First, Brady has consistently been in the middle of the pack when it comes to salaries among quarterbacks. In fact, that’s one of the reasons the Patriots have had so much success; Brady’s unselfishness has given the team financial flexibility.
On top of all of this Nick from Boston/Borges stuff, it blows my mind that someone would find it so easy to believe that Brady, after nearly two decades of doing the team-first thing with his contract, would spin for the jackpot now.
— Chad Finn (@GlobeChadFinn) February 9, 2018
Second, it’s extremely unlikely that a well-respected agent like Yee would ever play two of his clients off one another.
Those two things should have been a huge red flag to any journalist.
Borges has been a lightning rod in Boston sports media for several years. He left the Boston Globe back in 2007 after he was suspended for plagiarizing parts of another writer’s football column.
NFL writer and former ESPN reporter Ed Werder attacked the fake source, obviously glossing over the plagiarism episode when referring to Borges’ “reputation.”
Congratulations on deliberately ruining the reputation of an innocent reporter and jeopardizing his job for laughs. https://t.co/cbXi9OYFbe
— Ed Werder (@WerderEdESPN) February 9, 2018
The Herald pulled the story after learning about its falsehood, and said it was suspending Borges.
BREAKING: Boston Herald suspends Ron Borges’ column. Here’s the statement: pic.twitter.com/QP6FtbshcA
— David Wade (@davidwade) February 9, 2018
It’s hard to imagine Borges surviving at the Herald, especially given his past missteps.
https://twitter.com/ptgilbert75/status/962068470425796608
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