Bruschi Lives!
A bizarre rumor that that Patriots linebacker Tedy Bruschi died on Monday is swirling through New England.
I'm in Atlanta and I've gotten four phone calls and two e-mails asking whether it was true.
Happily, it is not.
How did it get this far? Well, the answer won't really drape the journalism industry in glory.
Apparently, an anonymous e-mail to the Fox affiliate in Boston came in Monday afternoon saying that Bruschi had gone to Jesus.
The smart move would have been to try and confirm with the Patriots. Instead, the reporter who took the e-mail tried to confirm with three other media members which put them all on red alert and caused them to start calling every contact they could to find out if tragedy had struck Bruschi and the Patriots again.
The rumor mill has continued churning through the day on Tuesday.
Bruschi, who suffered a stroke after the 2004 season, has been tremendous with the media throughout his career but abhors having his privacy invaded by the media. This episode, which he is aware of, is not going to be a hit with him.
Posted by Tom Curran on July 24, 2007 07:58 PM |