Boston columnist suspended after person parades as Tom Brady’s agent

TOM Brady can’t seem to escape headlines following his side’s Super Bowl loss as a new scandal ended with a suspension.

Tom Brady can’t escape the headlines.

SOMETIMES a source is just too good to be true.

Boston Herald columnist Ron Borges landed what he thought was a major scoop last week: Tom Brady’s agent texted him to say the New England Patriots quarterback wanted a new contract in light of former back-up Jimmy Garoppolo signing a $177 million mega-deal with the 49ers, and the five-time Super Bowl champion was willing to sit out off-season team activities until he got it.

Borges wrote a story, which the Herald published. Apparently the source was not Brady’s agent, but a random fan pretending to be Don Yee, according to screenshots of text messages secured by Boston’s Kirk & Callahan sports radio show.

The con artist pretending to be Yee was apparently “Nick in Boston”, a WEEI listener.

Goodbye @RonBorges. pic.twitter.com/4h7bdRpTdq

— Kirk & Callahan (@KirkAndCallahan) February 9, 2018

The Herald removed the story from its website and suspended Borges’ column.

“A column by Ron Borges in today’s Herald regarding Patriot Tom Brady’s salary discussions was based on information which proved to be false,” read a statement posted on the Herald’s website.

“The Herald apologises to Brady, his agent Don Yee and the Patriots, and to our readers for this erroneous report.

“Borges’ column has been suspended pending further review.”

Garoppolo signed his five-year, $177 million contract with the 49ers on Friday (AEDT).

They landed him in a mid-season trade with the Patriots, and Garoppolo went 5-0 as a starter for San Francisco. Brady, who just won NFL MVP honours at 40-years-old, is signed through until 2019 with the Patriots.

Borges spent 24 years as a writer at the rival Boston Globe, but he was suspended for two months for plagiarism in 2007 and then left the paper two weeks after his reinstatement.

He joined the Herald staff as a columnist in 2008.

Originally published as Boston columnist suspended after person parades as Tom Brady’s agent