So, you know that Boston Herald story about Tom Brady threatening to skip the New England Patriots’ offseason organized team activities if he doesn’t receive a contract extension in line with the one San Francisco 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo signed Thursday?
Yeah, it’s fake news.
Not only did a source tell NESN.com’s Doug Kyed that the story is not true, but a radio caller identifying himself as “Nick in Boston” also revealed Friday morning on WEEI’s “Kirk & Callahan” that he pretended to be Brady’s agent, Don Yee, in a text message exchange with the Herald’s Ron Borges.
Borges then ran with the story for a column published in Friday’s edition of the newspaper.
“Somebody tweeted Ron Borges’ phone number and I just picked it up and for some reason I just thought, ‘Hey, I’ll text him and say I’m Don Yee.’ And he just went with it for some reason,” Nick in Boston said, per ProFootballTalk’s transcription. “Here’s the funny part. Well, it’s all funny but here’s the funnier part: He tried to call me three times and I just didn’t answer. But then I was just like, whatever, screw it, I’ll just call him and he’s gonna know it’s not Don Yee. But I called him and I was just like, ‘Hey, Ronnie, it’s Don.’ ”
Here’s the text message exchange between “Nick in Boston” and Borges that led to the false reporting, per the “Kirk & Callahan” Twitter account:
Garoppolo became the NFL’s highest-paid player by signing a five-year contract reportedly worth $137.5 million, so it’s fair to wonder how Brady feels about his former backup landing so much money, especially with TB12 taking below-market contract offers in recent years. That said, let’s be real here. Did you really think Brady was going to kick up a fuss?
A source told Kyed to “trust your instincts,” which is good advice, unless you have Borges’ instincts, in which case you probably should do a little more research.
